SpiceLines

A Covert Affair: Julia Child and Paul Child in the OSS, Jennet Conant. Glamour, spies and a lot of alcohol. Exhaustively researched tale of how the couple met in Asia while helping to build an intelligence network for “Wild Bill” Donovan’s OSS. Shy, gawky Julia got her first taste of love and curry from the more sophisticated and artistic Paul. The book also tells the tragic story of Jane Foster, a rich bohemian artist and friend of the couple who was destroyed by the McCarthy inquisition. Full of excerpts from the couple’s letters, to and about each other.

The Sweets of Araby: Enchanting Recipes from the Tales of the 1001 Arabian Nights, Leila Salloun Elias and Muna Salloun. Twenty-five recipes for Baghdad’s “sweet delights,” each accompanied by a retelling of the tale in which it is mentioned. The authors, who are sisters, combed through six medieval manuscripts for the recipes which they adapted for the modern kitchen. Rosewater, ground almonds and saffron are frequently used ingredients. Vibrant illustrations by Linda Dalal Sawaya; a riot of color.

Try This: Traveling the Globe Without Leaving the Table, Danyelle Freeman. The founder and editor of Restaurant Girl wrote this book for “anyone who’s had a plate put before them and wondered what the hell was in it.“ In 14 chapters she “demystifies” unfamiliar national dishes such as mariscada (Spanish shellfish stew), bibimbap (Korean bowl of rice topped with meat, fowl, raw egg, vegetables) and chaat (Indian “finger food,” often fried and eaten as snacks or appetizers). A helpful read if you’re headed to a country (or restaurant) where menus may be puzzling.

Savoring Spices and Herbs: Recipe Secrets of Flavor, Aroma, and Color, Julie Sahni. An out-of-print treasure, only in the giveaway because somehow I have 3 copies. Over 100 recipes from around the world including Pot Roast of Chicken with Rosemary, Figs and Pine Nuts, and Green Chili Vinegar Shrimp Fritters. Great chapters on 28 everyday spices and herbs, 22 uncommon spices and herbs, 10 spice and herb blends. Grilled Squab with Fragrant Spice Rub is seasoned with ground mustard, cumin and fennel seeds, black peppercorns, whole cloves, and dried thyme and rosemary.

My Little Paris: The Best Kept Parisian Secrets, translated by Catherine Taret. A compilation of 54 “insider” secrets from the My Little Paris website. Learn how to Eat Live Noodles (at Les Pates Vivantes in the 9th), Spice Up Your Walls (to-die-for photo wallpaper from Le Collection in the Marais) and, this being Paris, Have One Orgasm a Week (actually a recipe for “a luscious blend of chocolate, ginger and black pepper.”) Favorite quote: “If you play by the rules, you’ll miss all the fun.” (Katherine Hepburn) Adorable illustrations.

The Spice Trail: One Hundred Hot Dishes from India to Indonesia, Sandeep Chatterjee. Recipes from Asian spice routes by a restaurant chef who’s cooked in London and Australia. Many are for kari or curry, most but not all are seasoned with very spicy ground chillis or pastes. Dishes include Caramelised Chicken with Ginger and Coriander (Vietnam), Pineapple Shrimp Curry (Thailand) and Spiced Chickpeas with Tomatoes and Coriander (Punjab). Additional recipes for homemade curry pastes and powders.

A Tiger in the Kitchen: A Memoir of Food and Family, Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan. Tan grew up in Singapore, but wound up in New York where she became a journalist and obsessive cook. On trips home, she was reluctantly drawn back into the bosom of her large, sprawling family when various aunts and cousins tried to teach her to cook the food she remembered from her childhood. Chapters alternate between Singapore (where she makes a hash of her Tanglin ah-mah’s bak-phang dumplings) and New York (where she nearly burns down her kitchen during a Twitter bread-baking challenge). A very funny, self-deprecating memoir with recipes, including pal Simpson Wong’s Popiah, or spring rolls with shrimp, jicama and scallions. (Wong’s new restaurant just won 2 stars from The York Times.)

Morocco: Recipes and Stories from East Africa, Ghislaine Benady and Najat Sefrioui. Over 90 family recipes, shared by two friends from Fez. Intriguing dishes include Sardines in Wedlock, essentially two filets marinated in lemon, garlic and parsley, then pressed together and lightly fried, and Couscous with Cinnamon and Milk, often served as a light evening meal. The book, “the product of a real Judeo-Arab friendship,” is beautifully photographed, with yummy shots of markets, food simmering in clay pots and zellij tiles.

World Cuisine: Morocco, with dishes by Mohamed Fedal, Frederic Fetiveau and Fatema Hal. 50 recipes by three restaurant chefs—Fedal runs the kitchen at Dar Moha in Marrakech, while Fetiveau and Hal cook in Madrid and Paris respectively. A mix of humble and upscale dishes ranging from a traditional Salted Lemon and Roasted Pepper Salad to luxurious Lobster Coucous. A tempting selection of desserts includes Fedal’s Apple Shukshuka, a pastry flavored with saffron, orange flower water and cinnamon.

A Life of Style, Rebecca Moses. Fashion designer Moses has thought a lot about personal style: The result is a charmingly illustrated book that is also a great deal of fun to read. Among my favorite items: a two-page spread featuring a handwritten list of hundreds of ways to express your own style (“thick eyebrows,” “no eyebrows…”), jazzing up your “utilitarian” kitchen with a crystal chandelier, and thinking of a dinner party guest list as “the most original, the most intriguing meal” in which “each guest is like a flavor…a spice…a texture…The mix is everything!”

The Indian Spice Kitchen: Essential Ingredients and Over 200 Authentic Recipes, Monisha Bharadwaj. A useful encylopedia of more than 100 key ingredients in Indian cooking, each presented in a few pages with recipes. For instance, the section on mint includes photographs of the herb along with info on how it grows, appearance and taste, buying and storing, and medicinal and culinary uses. Recipes include Pudine Ki Chutney, aka mint chutney, and Murg Hariyali, or Green Chicken in which drumsticks are marinated in yogurt with lots of mint, coriander and spices, then sautéed with other spices and simmered till done.

Artisan Farming: Lessons, Lore and Recipes, Richard Harris with Lisa Fox. A fond celebration of small New Mexican farmers and the markets in which they sell their mostly organic produce. I especially like the chapter on chiles which has recipes for Green Chile Bison Stew and Enchiladas Durango-Style, made with red chiles and dark chocolate. Profiles of farmers and winemakers, with many photographs, including an interview with Stanley Crawford, novelist and garlic grower, whose farm I visited a few years ago. Autographed by the authors.

The Order of Things: Hierarchies, Structures and Pecking Orders, Barbara Ann Kipper. A fat little reference book that you can hold in one hand. Mind-boggling information: a complete chronological listing of the emperors of Japan, the ph values of everything from stomach acid to drain cleaner, and a graph of the Morse code. The dining section has a list of cooking utensils by function and a chart depicting beef cuts. As The Dallas Morning News wrote, “Kipper… Understands the Unbearable Frustration of Unanswered Questions.”

And here are two Moleskine Passions:

The Recipe Journal, with super-organized sections for your handwritten notes on everything from Cocktails to Desserts. Jot down ingredients, wine pairings and cooking times, then rate the recipe from 1 to 5 stars. In the back there are blank sections which you can label using the enclosed stickers: My Favorites, Restaurants, Shopping Online and so forth. Black cover embossed with kitchen tools.

The Wellness Journal. In the same vein, an organized approach to recording your inspirations, personal goals, diet and exercise. Each page has spaces for different events, with challenge levels, participants and results. You can add green stickers that say things like “best ever!” and “eye opener.” The back has blank spaces which you can label with other stickers for Music, Books, Workouts, etc. Black cover embossed with silhouettes of athletes in various poses.

And from Ordning & Reda, the hip Swedish stationary shop, two spiral bound notebooks with transparent covers and pocket-pages for recipes or other clippings. A spatterproof way to file and preserve family recipes that are so often jotted on envelopes or other scraps of paper. Make your own cookbook!