Keeping Kosher and celebrating the Jewish holidays are given an added, joyful dimension, with practical guidelines interwoven with spiritual insights into many aspects of Jewish life and observance. Recipes range from traditional favourites such as blintzes and chicken soup to Szechuan chicken, aduki-squash soup and many other international, gourmet and natural specialties. All in a clear, easy-to-use format with helpful symbols and numerous charts and illustrations.

Spice up your cooking skills! If your idea of kicking up a dish is using salt and pepper, there’s a rich and fabulously varied world of spices waiting to be discovered. Mace, coriander, mustard seed, fennel, saffron, and paprika don’t have to be those scary, untouchables on the supermarket shelf. Cooking with spices can actually be fun, interesting, enjoyable and, most of all, delicious. Using spices will vastly improve your cooking and make you feel, finally, in command of your kitchen. Cooking with Spices For Dummies is for anyone who’s ever wondered how the great chefs whip up their fabulous-tasting dishes—but wasn’t sure how. And if you’re something of a veteran in the kitchen, you’ll get new, crowd-pleasing tips on how to add sparkle and zip to tried-and-true dishes, like hamburgers and spareribs or sweet potatoes and green beans. Most likely, you’ll find the answer to any question you’ve ever had about spices—plus a lot more—in this handy one-volume guide, like: What makes up a basic spice collection Advice on essential tools—including mills, graters, and mortar and pestle Preparing spices for cooking—including knowing which spices to toast, sauté, or grate A tour of the world of spices by region and country Menu planning and menu samplers arranged by country Once you’ve become familiar with the basics, it’s on to the fun stuff—cooking with spices. After you’ve followed the simple tips on making the most of your ingredients, you’ll be able to comfortably test your skills on the delicious assortment of over 200 recipes, which feature: Basic rubs and spice mixes—including Cajun, Caribbean, Indian Curry powder, Jamaican, and Southern Barbecue Marinades and sauces—including South of the Border Marinade and Teriyaki sauce Salsas and salads—including Tomato Salsa, Plum Salsa, and Spiced Fruit Salad Vegetables and legumes—including Mashed Spiced Butternut and Vegetarian Bean Chili Pasta, potatoes, and grains—including Pasta Puttanesca, Roasted Potatoes with Garlic and Cumin, and Curried Barley Pilaf Chicken, meat, and seafood—including Down Home Barbecued Chicken, Indonesian Beef Sate, and Shrimp Curry Complete with such indispensables as a spice quantity guide (showing exactly how much you should use), a glossary of cooking terms, eight pages of tempting, full-color photos, and humorous cartoons, Cooking with Spices For Dummies gives you just what you need to know to cook with confidence and create delicious, exciting dishes for your family and friends.

The Ultimate Guide to the One-of-a-Kind Flavors of the Middle East Delight your senses and excite your palate as Yaniv Cohen, aka The Spice Detective, leads you on a culinary tour through the exciting world of Middle Eastern spices–including turmeric, cumin, sumac, za'atar, clove, cardamom, caraway, baharat, coriander, dukkah, paprika, anise, nigella, allspice and cinnamon. With a lineup of delicious recipes, Yaniv highlights each spice's unique flavor. In a blend of traditional and modern cuisine, he expertly reveals the fullness of Middle Eastern spices in such dishes as Baharat-Scented Lamb Loin with Mint Pesto, Tunisian Caraway Carrot Salad, Cardamom Yemenite Beef Soup, Cinnamon-Scented Moroccan Couscous with Dried Fruit, Fresh Strawberries Stuffed with Clove-Spiced “Cheesecake” Mousse, Pan-Fried Cauliflower Steak in Nigella Seed Batter and Spiced Coriander Banana Cookies. To anyone looking to add vibrancy to their dishes: This cookbook belongs on your shelf.

For centuries herbs and spices have been an integral part of many of the world’s great cuisines. But spices have a history of doing much more than adding life to bland foods. They have been the inspiration for, among other things, trade, exploration, and poetry. Priests employed them in worship, incantations, and rituals, and shamans used them as charms to ward off evil spirits. Nations fought over access to and monopoly of certain spices, like cinnamon and nutmeg, when they were rare commodities. Not only were many men’s fortunes made in the pursuit of spices, spices at many periods throughout history literally served as currency. In Culinary Herbs and Spices of the World, Ben-Erik van Wyk offers the first fully illustrated, scientific guide to nearly all commercial herbs and spices in existence. Van Wyk covers more than 150 species—from black pepper and blackcurrant to white mustard and white ginger—detailing the propagation, cultivation, and culinary uses of each. Introductory chapters capture the essence of culinary traditions, traditional herb and spice mixtures, preservation, presentation, and the chemistry of flavors, and individual entries include the chemical compounds and structures responsible for each spice or herb’s characteristic flavor. Many of the herbs and spices van Wyk covers are familiar fixtures in our own spice racks, but a few—especially those from Africa and China—will be introduced for the first time to American audiences. Van Wyk also offers a global view of the most famous use or signature dish for each herb or spice, satisfying the gourmand’s curiosity for more information about new dishes from little-known culinary traditions. People all over the world are becoming more sophisticated and demanding about what they eat and how it is prepared. Culinary Herbs and Spices of the World will appeal to those inquisitive foodies in addition to gardeners and botanists.

Explores the culinary wonders along the legendary spice route, from Zanzibar to India to Bali and everywhere in between. Part travelogue, part cookbook, this colorful volume captures the spirit of each region and reveals the origins of the spices now used in everyday cooking across the globe.