Product Description

It was the aroma. The exotic scent of spices: rich, alluring, and almost magical. A scent that would sometimes overpower the freshness in the air and sometimes subtly mingle with it to create a tantalizing bouquet. A scent that would always bring me back to my childhood.

Growing up enveloped in the aromas of her mother’s spice stall in Kuala Lumpur, Christina Arokiasamy developed an artist’s sense of how to combine and use spices in traditional and innovative ways. In The Spice Merchant’s Daughter, she shares her family’s spice secrets, expertly guiding and enticing home cooks to enliven their repertoires.

Christina weaves evocative stories of cooking at her mother’s side with real-world practical advice gleaned not only from working in professional kitchens but also from tackling the nightly task of getting a home-cooked dinner on the table for her family of four using American ingredients. She shows how easy it is to build layers of complex flavor to create 100 tempting Southeast Asian–inspired recipes, including Lemon Pepper Wings, Spicy Beef Salad, Steamed Snapper with Tamarind-Ginger Sauce, Cardamom Butter Rice with Sultanas, and Coconut Flan Infused with Star Anise. She unlocks the transformative power of homemade spice rubs, curry pastes, and sauces, as well as chutneys and pickles, enabling home cooks to bring new depth and dimension to their favorite dishes.

With lush photography and a chapter identifying and defining key pantry ingredients and aromatics, The Spice Merchant’s Daughter both inspires and empowers, awakening the senses and unlocking the alluring world of spices.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #88113 in Books
• Published on: 2008-08-05
• Released on: 2008-08-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 240 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780307396280
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. The perfumes of Malaysia practically float off the pages of this beautifully composed cookbook. With a Proustian nostalgia, cooking instructor Arokiasamy follows her nose back to Kuala Lumpur, where her mother ran a spice stall (and her great-great-grandfather transported spices for the English East India Company), mangoes were delivered to their home by bicycle and baths were enhanced with ginger-scented water. Her aim is to introduce turmeric, star anise and saffron to readers in a country where the term spice blend usually refers to Colonel Sanders's secret recipe. Here, spices are the very foundation of cooking; Arokiasamy demonstrates how concentrated sambal made from shrimp paste or a garam masala can be prepared in advance to simplify dishes in a time-strapped kitchen. Recipes circle her native Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. Though Braised Pork in Caramelized Soy Sauce and Rice Noodles with Seafood and Basil, for example, are densely flavorful, they are also relatively easy to make. Arokiasamy is a natural teacher, offering useful cook's tips with how-tos for makingrice powder and peeling shallots. Suggested spice pairings, a list of shopping resources and a chapter defining the components of a spice pantry give cooks the tools for improvising on their own. Illuminating her techniques with vivid personal anecdotes, Arokiasamy offers a tantalizing glimpse of a rich, vibrant culture and all its scents and flavors. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author
CHRISTINA AROKIASAMY, of Indian descent, was raised in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She began her culinary career working in her family’s kitchen and spice stall before cooking in various Four Seasons resorts throughout Southeast Asia. Arokiasamy opened the Spice Merchant’s Cooking School in the Pacific Northwest, where she lives with her family.

Customer Reviews

I do not know the author nor have taken her cooking class.
If you notice the other reviews I think they all know the author personally or have taken her cooking classes at some point. Most of them have only written one review for Amazon and that being this book. A couple of them have written 2 so that leads me to believe that the other reviews while well meaning aren't necessarily unbiased. I would like to offer that review as I do not know the author, have never taken a cooking class nor have been paid by her to review the book.

This is it.

I enjoyed reading the book. While it is a cookbook it is also almost a diary. I enjoyed the first chapter where the author describes her childhood and growing enchantment with spices. I too have a similar memory but in rural Kentucky our smells were fat back and chitlins. Everyone remembers their own sweet smells from childhood. Ms. Arokiasamy does a wonderful job of leading us to hers.

One of my pet peeves is people describing most asian cooking as Thai cooking when in fact it is not. And the author knows that and shows us the differences between broad southeast asian cooking and its traditions. The author suggests introducing these spices slowly so that your family will become accustomed to their taste. I think I've heard you need to expose a child 10 times to a new food before they can truly decide if they like it or not.

She as many recipes for making your own spice blends and suggests adding the spice at the beginning of the cooking process if you want it milder in flavor and at the end if you want it strong. Helpful information to know about any spices.

There are recipes for curry powder, garam masala, fiery curry powder, lemon pepper rub, steak and chop rub. The steak and chop rub was delish. I used it over t-bones and the whole family loved it, even the kids. It was not too harsh and added a different flair. I made mine with Worcestershire but you could use soy as well.

The official review by Amazon included words like luscious photography...that is not so. The book is printed on recycled paper so the pictures look like they've been printed on recycled matte paper. They are not beautiful and not really appealing. There are only a few pictures anyway so it doesn't really add anything.

I would have liked more white space in the book to add my own notes and my own takes on the different spice combinations. But I can still do that if I want.

I hope this provided an unbiased review of the book if you were considering getting it I would suggest you do so. And if I'm ever in the Pacific Northwest I'll have to make a point of meeting Ms. Arokiasamy and taking one of her cooking classes.

The Spices of Life, Revealed!
This wonderful book brings the knowledge, wisdom, and passion for cooking to the world at large, that until now has been known to those of us fortunate enough to have taken part in Ms. Arokiasamy's cooking classes, at her Spice Merchants Cooking School, here in the Pacific Northwest. I received my (three!) copies today, and am delighted by the beauty and overall quality of the book.

Christina is a very gifted teacher and story teller, and in this book her passion for cooking and life comes through, almost as well as if she were in the kitchen with you, the reader, cutting up veggies, grinding spices, stirring sauces, and swapping stories.

This book is unlike any "cookbook" you may have ever read. It teaches you about spices, what they are, where they come from, and how to use them in your own cooking. There is a world of difference between the small, ridiculously expensive jars of "spices" found in most stores, to the real thing, which are surprisingly affordable, and available here in North America, if one knows where to find them, and how to use them.

Once you have tasted the dishes in this book, you will know that there is a lot more to Southeast Asian cuisine than what we have commonly seen in the West. When you try these recipes on your guests, they will demand that you tell them where you learned to cook this way. It's all in this fantastic book, which I wholeheartedly recommend to one and all.

A party in your mouth!
The Spice Merchant's Daughter: Recipes and Simple Spice Blends for the American Kitchen

I have had the great fortune to spend 6 very full fabulous days, learning from Christina herself, how to cook recipes from this book. I feel extremely lucky that I can hear her voice every time I open the book. If you ever get the chance to attend her cooking school, do not pass it up. It is the chance of a lifetime!

This book is written very simply so the reader can understand the recipes. The stories that accompany the chapters help the dishes come alive. She is an amazing story teller and her passion for cooking comes across the pages. The begining of the book has an explanation of spices and herbs and advice on how to have a well stocked spice pantry so that you have all the tools to make these recipes happen.

The photos of the dishes are totally accurate and you can count on your dishes to look just as appealing. The colors and the flavors are nothing like American food. Since the class with Christina, I have had a very hard time "settling" for anything that didn't burst with flavor and cause a "party in my mouth" the way Christina's recipes do each and every time!

Christina believes in natural and healthy ingredients. I cannot wait until she writes another book that gives us even more!

I have had the pleasure of introducing her and her recipes to a University food service program and the guests are blown away by the offerings. People who used to dislike SE Asian food or Indian inspired flavors are asking for more. My point is that the recipes can be used for individuals or multiplied and used for groups.

The price is a steal for what you get from this book!

Keep an eye out for Christina's future works......this is only the begining!