Acknowledgements

Writing this book often seemed like a solitary process, but I am inevitably bowled over by the number of people who directly or indirectly helped to make it happen. My sincerest thanks to the following friends and colleagues:

Meg Avent at Absolute Press for her enthusiasm for the book.

Chef But and his wife Su at the Memories of China restaurant for information on how the Chinese use pepper.

Amy ‘Curly’ Carter for stoically testing recipe after recipe.