The Encyclopedia of Spices and Herbs: An Essential Guide to the Flavors of the World

When I picked up Padma Lakshmi’s The Encyclopedia of Spices and Herbs last weekend, I knew what I was getting into. This book was not going to be exciting. It was not going to have a lot of recipes and it certainly was going to be very different than her memoir, an audiobook that I had finished not too long ago. I read this book cover to cover in a little over 4 hours, with some inevitable help from Google to look at photos of things described. This was also one of those pieces of media that remind me that yes, English is my second language.The book lives up to what you would expect from something that has the word Encyclopedia in the title. It is well organized, with an alphabetized list of spices and herbs from around the world and their botanical names. The book refers to itself on a lot of pages, and you do not have to read it all alphabetically. I read the section on Chillies first, and then Salt, and then went to page 52 to see how Padma describes Chaat Masala. Spices, their taste, origins, preparation methods and food pairings are explained well.The most interesting thing I learned was how many types of Thyme are there, and the many ways they can be used. I also finally have a handle on how Mustard and Fenugreek are different from each other. The photos are beautiful, too- which makes it a decent coffee table prop for those of us who sometimes obsess over aesthetics.Overall, 4 out of 5 stars. 5/5 if I compare it to how I felt about Padma’s memoir.

This is the first book of Padma Lakshmi's I have purchased. My wife is a great explorer in the kitchen, preparing a great variety of foods, and spices are an important element in her recipes. This book has very broad coverage of spices both well known and obscure, and to give an idea of the variety of spices and herbs covered, by my count it contains:- 175 total entries, including:--- 61 cross-references to cover spices with more than one common name--- 13 sub entries of pepper (I've only counted this as 1 in the total entries count above)--- 25 sea salts and 13 salts described in detail (counted as 1 in total above)--- 34 sub entries of chile (counted as 1 in total above)--- 5 sub entries of curry powder (counted as 1 in total above)Aside from a short introductory essay, this book is entirely comprised of the entries on specific spices and herbs, alphabetically arranged. There are photos on perhaps a quarter or more of the pages, sufficient to illustrate the majority if not all of the spices and herbs covered.Each of the articles discusses the origin of the specific spice or herb, giving examples of usage and a good explanation for each.There are a large variety of similar books available, and I can't say that this is the best - however I did do some spot checking against other popular spice books available here on Amazon. Looking at  The Spice Companion: A Guide to the World of Spices , for example, I found that there is a broader coverage of spices and herbs in this book by Lakshmi. The Spice Companion book does include considerably more discussion on subjects such as 'sourcing spices' and 'how to blend spices', and in the individual entries the descriptions are presented with illustrations of each spice and recipe ideas and recommended pairings. For someone shopping for a book on spices I would recommend browsing through the books available here using Amazons 'look inside' feature to select the book that best suites your interests.This book is sturdily printed with a glossy hard binding that will wipe clean, and is a smaller size that will fit on the counter for comfortable reference and without taking up too much space (6 ½ x 7.8 inches). I'm pleased with it and I think that we will be using it as a helpful reference for years to come.

While the spices are alphabetically organized there is no organization, of convince, to search for specific food to use the spices. what i am saying is, i want to know which spices go well in bread dough but i would have to go through all of the spices list to find out. going to return this book to amazon

I found the Encyclopaedia of Spices and Herbs to be an excellent resource book.It gives the reader an in-depth knowledge on the different spices and herbs available.An extensive guide, it is very well organized, has beautiful photographs, and has almost all of the spices and herbs from around the world.The list of the different spices and herbs are in alphabetical order and their botanical names are included, which makes it easy if research needs to be done when more information is required.A must for those who love cooking. Highly recommended!

The encyclopedia meets my needs well. I did not expect it to contain recipes. That was not its stated purpose although it does make suggestions for possible uses. What it does contain is a rather extensive guide to spices and herbs and descriptions of the flavors of those with which the reader may be unfamiliar. I am considering purchasing additional copies for a couple of friends.

This book tells the story of Padma Lakshmi's life through food. Her memories of spice shopping a d how it so deeply effected her is the lifeblood of this tome. Written as party history, part encyclopedia, I couldn't put it down when I started to read it. I learned more about the spices and herbs that I was familiar with, and have learned about a whole world that I wasn't. It inspires my creativity in the kitchen. It makes me want to cook amazing food. Brava!

This is an excellent book. It's especially useful if you come across a recipe that uses a spice that is unfamiliar to you. You'll want to know what that spice's flavor is and how you could approximate its taste if it's difficult to obtain.For example what if you've found a recipe that uses mahlab. This book will tell you that this spice is ground from the pits of sour cherries grown in the Middle East. It smells like cherries and almonds and tastes "a bit like cherries, with a nutty bitter-almond undertone; the aftertaste, though, can be quite bitter." So sour cherries would be a possible substitute, with maybe some bitter almond.

I was interested to learn more on spice, and this book did not disappoint on that front. What is a pity is that whilst she discusses global spice blends, she doesnt give any recipes for them. More images of the spices would be helpful, it is nonethless a good book to have whenever you need information on an unfamiliar spice.

Serious about cooking, this is a must have. Exactly the book I was looking for, to learn more about the spices and how/where/when to use them.Absolutely brilliant.

There is a lot of information in this book but I would have liked to have an index that would help you to see the different spices she recommends for a chicken for example. The way it's laid out works if you want to know about a specific spice.

Love this book!

Beautiful pictures and great explanation of many spices.