Priya Mani Releases New Cookbook Celebrating Global Spices
Photo: Pavan Venkatraman
India-West News Desk
Food historian and writer Priya Mani has a new hardcover cookbook, ‘Spiced: Recipes Celebrating Spices from Around the World.’ Published by Phaidon, the 500-page book features 340 recipes from 100 countries.
The book focuses on 50 spices, covering their botanical origins, flavors, preparation, and uses in different dishes. It also includes cooking tips and techniques, with recipes for salads, condiments, stews, soups, baked dishes, and drinks.
The recipes include Risotto alla Milanese with saffron, Jollof Rice with calabash nutmeg, Massaman Curry with white cardamom, Chicken Paprikash with chile, sumac-roasted chicken and caramelized onions, turmeric doughnuts, and Touba Coffee.
The book also features 20 spice blends, including garam masala, Chinese five-spice, baharat, and ras el hanout, with instructions and background on the blends.
Mani founded Appetite Studio in Copenhagen, where she works on food culture, ingredients, and flavor development. She has written and contributed to several food books and articles, including the ‘Bloomsbury Handbook of Indian Cuisine’ (2023). In 2022, she received the Guild of Food Writers Award and an International Association for Culinary Professionals award.
The book features a foreword by American author Harold McGee, who writes about the science of food and cooking. It also includes historical essays and contributions from chefs and food writers from Indonesia, Hong Kong, Peru, Lebanon, Iceland, and Nigeria.
