World Spice at Home

September 15, 2014

After explaining how to select, store, and blend whole fresh spices, spice shop owner Bevill (worldspice.com) and cookbook author Kramis Hearne (The Dutch Oven Cookbook) share 75 recipes designed to help readers add global flavors to their everyday cooking. Some recipes, such as Chinese five-spice shortbread cookies and crispy jicama and watermelon salad with sumac, offer just a hint of exotic spice, while others, like grilled salmon with za'atar and herb-caper sauce, are assertively seasoned. Using the table of contents and additional recipe lists, readers can easily browse recipes by course (e.g., small bites, soups and stews, sweets and breads) or by spice blend (e.g., curry, berbere, dukkah). VERDICT Bevill and Kramis Hearnes's spice blends, which contain 7-14 spices (compared to 40-plus in some ethnic cookbooks), taste superior to many premade and shelf-weary equivalents. Their approachable recipes offer home cooks a gentle introduction to new flavorings.

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