Book Shopping, Day Sixteen

Posted by elizabeth on Dec 16, 2009 in Books, Christmas Shopping | 4 comments

This is one of those serendipitous books. You know how it happens—you’re browsing for one thing, and you happen across something else so intriguing you must have it now. Here it is—Spice: The History of a Temptation by Jack Turner.

In Roman and medieval times people believed spices came from Paradise, that misty garden of Adam and Eve somewhere far away to the east, and that is part of what made the flavors and scents of spices so precious, costly and mysterious. No, they weren’t really used to make rancid meat edible—fresh meat was less expensive and more readily available than spices were. But they were used with meats (and every other possible kind of foodstuff) to show off one’s wealth and social position. They were also mixed with wine, incorporated into magical potions, and used in sumptuous perfumes and unguents.

Let me just quote a bit from Publisher’s Weekly: “Turner’s lively and wide-ranging account begins with the voyages of discovery, but demonstrates that, even in ancient times, spices from distant India and Indonesia made their way west and fueled the European imagination. Romans and medieval Europeans alike used Asian pepper, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and mace to liven their palates, treat their maladies, enhance their sex lives and mediate between the human and the divine.”

Spice is based on painstaking research and scholarship, but it’s shot through with such fascinating anecdotes and written with such wit and style that even casual readers will find it to their, well, taste. Find Spice: The History of a Temptation by Jack Turner at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, and of course your favorite independent bookstore.