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sshabein's review
informative
slow-paced
4.0
Though some of the factual asides — those little bits of irresistibly mentionable research that don't quite fit the brief — could maybe have been narrowed, this was still an informative, interesting read. Some of the spices, I'd never heard of, and discussion of others made me want to cook. (I have a bit of a problem when it comes to buying all sorts of herbs and spices.) If a person wanted to do further research, there is also a fairly comprehensive notes section, as well as a small section on different spice blends.
ekmoore11's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book overall! I found the information to be very different from what I'd encountered in other places, often focusing more on the history and culinary or medicinal usage of the plant. I loved some of the stories I found in the text and enjoyed sharing them with my family (who knew that Charles Dickens carried around a personal nutmeg grater... I certainly didn't). All in all, I learned quite a lot and enjoyed doing so. I think my only complaint is that the last book on herbs that I read was broken down and well organized with beautiful pictures, so it has set my standards a little high. The book could possibly have benefited from some better graphics, but really the anecdotal nature of it probably did work better in this format. All in all I'd recommend picking it up if you're interested in learning more about spices.
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