Recipes + Cook Books

Ranging from Alliums (onions, chives, and garlic) to Zingiber (ginger), the volume's first section provides horticultural information for each of the sixty-three herbs found in the National Herb Garden's Culinary Garden, including common and botanical names, family, place of origin, hardiness, and general light and soil requirements. Botanical sketches accompany many of the entries. Each entry also includes a short history of the herb, gardening basics, and suggestions for using the herb in your kitchen. Culinary herbs without Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) Status are included in a separate section, with an explanation of their history and ornamental value. An informative introduction to this section compares several different definitions of the word herb, explains the advantages of fresh over dried herbs, describes the proper storage and use of spices, and suggests the best timing and methods for harvesting herbs.

In the second part of the book, HSA members offer classic and creative recipes for more than two hundred dishes incorporating a variety of herbs. Learn how to use the aromatic and flavorful herbs in your garden to enhance stews and casseroles, create dips and pestos, and add a new dimension to your favorite liqueurs. Among the mouth-watering recipes featured are Lemon Basil Tea Bread, Chicken Linguine with Fennel and Tarragon, Five-Herb Pasta Salad, and Rosemary Fizz.

The concluding section of the book contains a fascinating personal tour of the two-and-one-half-acre National Herb Garden, which lies in the heart of Washington, D.C., at the center of the United States National Arboretum, and of its various themed areas, including the Knot Garden, the Antique and Heritage Rose Garden, the Dye Garden, the Colonial Garden, the Native American Garden, the Beverage Garden, the Medicinal Garden, and many others. Complete plant lists accompany the description of each garden.

Green thumbs and gourmets alike will find inspiration in these pages to look at herbs in new ways--perhaps to see beyond their cupboards and into their own yards for ways to liven up their meals--and will gain the knowledge and confidence to grow and use herbs effectively. More than a gardening book, more than a cookbook, The Herb Society of America's Essential Guide to Growing and Cooking with Herbs will prove to be an indispensable companion for all herb lovers.

376 pages, 7 Halftones, 32 Line Drawings, 6.25 x 9.25

This extraordinary cookbook, Classic Indian Cooking, amounts to a complete course in Indian cuisine. Elucidated by over 100 line drawings, it systematically introduces the properties of all the basic spices and special ingredients of Indian food, then explains the techniques employed in using them, always with the help of comparisons to familiar Western methods.

It is immediately obvious that Indian food is rich and varied, yet not difficult to prepare. The cooking principles are basic and wellknown. The utensils needed are few and simple. As Julie Sahni says, "If you know how to fry, there are few tricks to Indian food." Every recipe has been especially designed for the American kitchen -- practically all the ingredients can be found in any American supermarket and there are scores of time-saving shortcuts with the food processor and handy directions for ahead-of-time preparation.

Following a lively and absorbing introduction to the history of India's classic Moghul cuisine, Julie guides the cook through the individual components that make up an Indian meal. She begins with delicious appetizers like Crab Malabar and Hyderabad lime soup; continues through main courses, both nonvegetarian and vegetarian (this book is a treasure trove for the non-meat eater); goes on to all the side dishes and traditional accompaniments, from spinach raita and lentils with garlic butter to saffron pilaf and whole wheat flaky bread; and ends with the glorious desserts, like Ras Malai, sweetmeats, and beverages. Clear, illustrated, step-by-step instructions accompany the cook through every stage, even for making the many wondrous Indian breads, both by hand and with the food processor. And at the end of each recipe are balanced serving suggestions for every kind of meal, Among the many special features are ideas for appropriate wines, a useful spice chart, a complete glossary (which might also come in handy when ordering in Indian restaurants), and a mailorder shopping guide that will make Indian spices accessible anywhere.

Most important, Julie Sahni imparts the secrets to mastering the art of Indian cooking. Even the beginner will quickly learn to move within the classic tradition and improvise with sureness and ease.

Julie Sahni has written a masterpiece of culinary instruction, as readable as it is usable, a joy to cook from, a fascination to read.

Everyone knows a little bit of the story, how the desire to control the spice trade drove Western nations deep into the heart of the Age of Discovery, the Portuguese sponsoring Da Gama's push to India; the Spanish underwriting the many attempts of Columbus to get to India another way. The Western madness for spice was just about peaking in this time, and spice would all too soon become--gasp--common, much like the afterthought condiment it is for so many today. Who thinks twice about pepper any longer?

And yet, the history is long and glorious, and the window spice throws open on Western culture yields a glorious view. Jack Turner is a skilled tour guide and story teller. He starts his narrative with the 16th century quest for spice, then loops back into three mains sections of text: Palate, Body, and Spirit. Turner has mined classic and Medieval literature for any and every possible mention of spice and demonstrates how fixated the West became from the time of Augustus in Rome through to relatively modern times. He winds his narrative through the way spice was used in the foods of the wealthy (and puts to sleep the nostrum about rotting food), as a medicine, a sex aid, and as an aromatic channel to the gods of the time and place. He ably demonstrates the constant underlying tension surrounding spice--that it was both attractive and repellent, that it represented fabulous wealth and power for some and, for others, an abhorrence of the exotic East that exists to this day.

This is not an easy story to tell. But Turner makes it appear effortless. Pull a chair close to the fire, pour a draught of spiced wine, crack open Jack Turner's Spice and you'll read your way into the wee hours of the night. --Schuyler Ingle