The Essential Spice Cupboard

For spices to achieve their full potential in cooking, it is of paramount importance to be aware of the practicalities of their proper management and use. Your first tentative steps into the wonderful, seductive world of spice will involve becoming familiar with specifics of taste and smell and how each spice variety works in the alchemy and art of cooking. This familiarisation is not difficult, nor is it a test. It is best approached with a passionate heart and an inquiring mind.

Discover the unlimited and exciting world that awaits your palate — learn what spices are and where they come from, how to store them to their best advantage, how to deal with them, the specific techniques involved in their preparation and the sort of equipment you need to have on hand.