The Nutmeg Trail: Recipes and Stories Along the Ancient Spice Routes Spiral-Bound | May 24, 2022
Eleanor Ford
The Nutmeg Trail: Recipes and Stories Along the Ancient Spice Routes
*Winner of two Gourmand World Cookbook Awards*
*Best International or Regional Cookbook, Guild of Food Writers*
“What a deep dive this is into the world of spice. . . . And then the recipes! Recipes which allow the reader to travel from Asia to the Middle East along the spice route, taking in so much flavor and so much context on the way.” —Yotam Ottolenghi
Through 80 spice-infused recipes, spectacular images, and a mouthwatering culinary journey along the ancient spice trail, award-winning author Eleanor Ford’s luscious new volume reveals how centuries of spice trading and cultural diffusion changed the world’s cuisine and how to best stock and enjoy spices in your own home.
From humankind’s earliest travels, people have followed and sought out the spice routes. These maritime trading trails acted as the central nervous system of the world, enabling the flow of goods and ideas.
In this richly illustrated volume, Eleanor Ford uses recipes as maps as she takes readers on a culinary journey that weaves through history and around the world. She explores both the flavor profiles and the spread of spices—from cardamom to cinnamon, ginger to sumac—and provides fascinating insights such as how nutmeg unites the spice blends Indian garam masala, Lebanese seven spice, French quatre epices, Moroccan ras el hanout, and Middle Eastern baharat, lending its bittersweet, fragrant warmth to them all.
This unparalleled volume provides 80 flavorful recipes for entrees, appetizers, sides dishes, and more, enabling you to make a divine garlic clove vegetable curry, jasmine tea-smoked chicken, Indonesian seafood gulai, as well as staple spice pastes and mixtures to have on-hand. The result will enable you to stock up and to have a home kitchen rich in international flavor and fragrance.
Praise for The Nutmeg Trail
“The Nutmeg Trail: Recipes and Stories Along the Ancient Spice Routes . . . peels back layers of history—spice by spice, starting with nutmeg—from the many seasonings that have elevated food since antiquity. . . . Spices shine in recipes like Keralan black pepper chicken, and superb green peppercorn asparagus.” —The New York Times
“A transportive blend of stories and meals that are as enlightening as they are piquant.” —Publishers Weekly ✰STARRED REVIEW ✰
“Eleanor Ford is a cook and a historian, a culinary detective, and, as she says, a gastronomic archaeologist. What a deep dive this is into the world of spice. It’s a deep dive, a culinary history, a spice library, anatomy, and miscellany. And then the recipes! Recipes which allow the reader to travel from Asia to the Middle East along the spice route, taking in so much flavor and so much context on the way. It’s the green coconut hot sauce from Somalia first up for me, followed by the green peppercorn asparagus from Thailand.” —Yotam Ottolenghi, chef, restaurateur, and author of Plenty, Jerusalem: A Cookbook, and Ottolenghi Simple
“Capable of transporting readers to tables around the world from their own kitchens.” —USA Today, selected as a top summer 2022 cookbook
“Packed with fascinating history, stylish photography, useful guidelines and recipe descriptions as mouthwatering as the dishes themselves, The Nutmeg Trail is an international cookbook you’ll want to savor.” —BookTrib
“A fascinating, transporting read, packed full of intriguing recipes I can’t wait to try.” —Felicity Cloake, food writer for The Guardian and New Statesman, and author
“A fragrant, intoxicating, and mesmerizing voyage into the history and global spread of spice. With recipes every bit as delectable as the prose.” —Tom Parker Bowles, food writer and author of The Year of Eating Dangerously
“The Nutmeg Trail offers a historical account of the spice trade with invaluable advice on the use of culinary spices—how to prepare and combine them, when to introduce them, and what delights to expect. Mouthwatering.” —John Keay, historian and author of India: A History and China: A History
“In The Nutmeg Trail, Eleanor Ford takes us on a mouthwatering culinary voyage to the fabled ‘spiceries,’ those semi-mystical islands of the East Indies. A heady blend of history, adventure, and deliciously authentic recipes, this book will make you hungry!” —Giles Milton, author of Churchill’s Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare and Nathaniel’s Nutmeg
“A fascinating and evocative journey along the spice routes, the ‘central nervous system of the world.’ The author’s blend of history, geography, taxonomy, and enticing recipes offers a fresh look at these small, potent ingredients that bring magic to our kitchens.” —Fuchsia Dunlop, author of The Food of Sichuan
“I am completely enraptured with The Nutmeg Trail. It is the perfect balance of being fascinating and mouthwatering at the same time.” —Georgina Hayden, author of Taverna
“A tantalizing treatise on the intoxicating world of spice. Eleanor has coupled essays on the history and cultural significance of spices with very enticing recipes. I cannot wait to read, meander, and cook my way along the ancient spice routes that Eleanor has so cleverly traced in this beautiful book.” —Helen Goh, recipe columnist
“The eclectic collection of recipes from across the world will make the reader want to head straight into the kitchen to conjure up heady meals to share with their family and friends.” —Anissa Helou, author of Feast: Food of the Islamic World
“Eleanor Ford’s enticing cookbook The Nutmeg Trail explores the global history and use of spices—not just in cuisine, but in medicinal remedies, incense, and aphrodisiacs. With instructive photographs and charming graphics, as of tigers prowling alongside cinnamon sticks, The Nutmeg Trail is a heady, informative trip through the realms of spices and time.” —Foreword Reviews
“A charming read from beginning to end. . . . a remarkable book perfect for anyone who loves the culinary arts and cooking, anthropology, history, and travel. The Nutmeg Trail invites readers into an ancient and exotic era that changed the course of history and the food of today.” —Culinary Historians of Canada
Reviews for Fire Islands
“A spirited and flavorful roundup of 100 recipes culled from Java, Sumatra, and elsewhere within the world’s largest archipelago.” —Publishers Weekly
“This book has real spirit, bold flavors, and beautiful words to boot. In short: it has it all.” —Meera Sodha, author of East, Made in India, and Fresh India
“This book is a great pick . . . a dazzling primer to Indonesian cuisine.” —Tara’s Multicultural Table
Eleanor Ford is a food writer and recipe developer who has traveled widely to collect eclectic, evocative recipes. Her book Fire Islands: Recipes from Indonesia (Apollo Publishers) received two Gourmand World Cookbook awards, was named Food and Drink Book of the Year at the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards, won Der Deutsche Kochbuchpreis Bronze, and was awarded the Regional Cookbook first prize at the Guild of Food Writers Awards 2020. She is also the coauthor of Samarkand: Recipes & Stories from Central Asia and the Caucasus, which was named a book of the year by The Guardian and Food52's Piglet Tournament of Cookbooks, and awarded a Food and Travel Prize by the Guild of Food Writers. Eleanor started her career as a recipe developer and editor for the Good Food Channel and was later the local editor for Zagat's Hong Kong restaurant guide, a Zagat Buzz restaurant blogger in London, and a Time Out restaurant reviewer specializing in Asian and international foods. Her popular Instagram can be viewed at @eleanorfordfood. Eleanor lives in London, England.