About this item
From the Emmy-nominated host of the award-winning Top Chef, an A-to-Z compendium of spices, herbs, salts, peppers, and blends, with beautiful photography and a wealth of explanation, history, and cooking advice.Award-winning cookbook author and television host Padma Lakshmi, inspired by her life of traveling across the globe, brings together the world's spices and herbs in a vibrant, comprehensive alphabetical guide. This definitive culinary reference book is illustrated with rich color photographs that capture the essence of a diverse range of spices and their authentic flavors. The Encyclopedia of Spices and Herbs includes complete descriptions, histories, and cooking suggestions for ingredients from basic herbs to the most exotic seeds and chilies, as well as information on toasting spices, making teas, and infusing various oils and vinegars. And no other market epitomizes Padma's love for spices and global cuisine than where she spent her childhood - lingering in the aisles of the iconic gourmet food store Kalustyan's, in New York City. Perfect for the holiday season and essential to any well-stocked kitchen or cooking enthusiast, The Encyclopedia of Spices and Herbs is an invaluable resource as well as a stunning and adventurous tour of some of the most wondrous and majestic flavors on earth.
About the Author
Emmy-nominated Padma Lakshmi is known internationally as an actress, food expert, model and award-winning author. Lakshmi recently wrapped her twelfth season as the host of Bravo's Emmy award-winning Top Chef. Lakshmi was born in India and grew up in America. She graduated from Clark University with a Bachelor's degree in Theater Arts and American Literature. Known as India's first supermodel, she began her career as a fashion model, working in Europe and the US. Lakshmi established herself as a food expert early on in her career, having hosted two successful cooking shows and writing a best-selling cookbook Easy Exotic, for which she won the International Versailles Event for best cookbook by a first time writer. Lakshmi followed this success with the publication of her second cookbook, Tangy, Tart, Hot & Sweet, released by Weinstein Books, which has over 150 recipes from around the world alongside intriguing personal memoirs. In addition to these current projects, Lakshmi is a savvy businesswoman with multiple companies of her own. Her debut home décor line, The Padma Collection, hit floors in Bloomingdale's stores nationwide with tabletop dishware, stemware and hand-blown glass décor pieces. She has also created Padma's Easy Exotic, a collection of culinary products including frozen organic foods, fine teas, natural spice blends, as well as hard goods. For The Food Network, Lakshmi hosted Padma's Passport where she cooked diverse cuisine from around the world. Lakshmi has also hosted Planet Food, a documentary series broadcast on The Food Network and worldwide on the Discovery Channel where she journeyed to countries such as Spain and India. Lakshmi is Emmy nominated for her role as host and judge on Bravo's Top Chef which has recently been awarded an Emmy for Outstanding Reality Competition Show. Other television credits include co-hosting Rai Television's Domenica In, Italy's highest rated program.Lakshmi is also an accomplished writer. In addition to her food writing, she has contributed to such magazines as Vogue, Gourmet and British and American Harper's Bazaar as well as had a syndicated column on fashion and food for The New York Times. Originally known as the first internationally successful Indian supermodel and often noted as a global style icon, Lakshmi has been featured as People magazine's 100 Most Beautiful People and 25 Most Intriguing People, AOL's Top 20 Style Influencers, Gotham magazine's Best Dressed New Yorkers, and part of The Elle 25.She recently penned her first book of prose, entitled "Love, Loss and What We Ate," published by Harper Collins/ECCO, which hits shelves in March of 2016.
