[Sca-cooks] Book opinion request

[Johnna Holloway]

There are so many of these spice trade and spice route books out there 
that it's hard to say
which brings what to the table and how useful any single title would be 
to any given person.

In the past few years we have had:
Jack Turner's *Spice: The History of a Temptation.
*Michael Krondl's* **The Taste of Conquest: The Rise and Fall of the 
Three Great Cities of Spice
*John Keay's* The Spice Route: A History
*Andrew Dalby's* **Dangerous Tastes: The Story of Spices
*Charles Corn's* **The Scents of Eden: A History of the Spice Trade
*Wolfgang Schivelbusch's *Tastes of Paradise: A Social History of 
Spices, Stimulants, and Intoxicants

*Next month* **Out of the East: Spices and the Medieval Imagination *by 
Paul Freedman is coming.

Add in the various handbooks, guides, and encyclopedias of spices and 
herbs, and cookbooks like
*Where Flavor Was Born: Recipes and Culinary Travels Along the Indian 
Ocean Spice Route *and* *one has dozens
of titles to choose from.

There's a full description of John Keay's book at 
http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/10668.html
I will say that he emphasizes the routes and the trade and less on the 
product. It does include footnotes
and a bibliography. I have to admit that I have not read all of this one 
yet.
It's certainly worth looking at though and you might well like it and 
want it for the shelves at home. I would try and see it from a library 
first or
maybe you can come across it in a larger bookstore. Check it out before 
purchase unless it's cheap enough to buy
sight unseen.

Johnnae




Christina Nevin wrote:
> Has anyone seen this book:
>  
> The Spice Route: A History, by John Keay. Berkeley: University of
> California Press, 2006, [first published by John Murray Ltd., London]
>  
> Opinions please? MTIA,
>  
> Al Servizio Vostro
> Lucrezia
>
>