Spice

Reviews / Votes

Spice is the perfect book to turn to if you want to use spices more adventurously and thoughtfully. Dhruv, the 2010 winner of Masterchef, has an Indian mother and an English father. He spent most of his formative years in India, but this is only one of many countries that have influenced his distinctive, delicious and accessible recipe style. HOUSE & GARDEN Another first book success, this time from the 'palate of an angel' MasterChef winner Dhruv Baker. The recipes span the globe but are just the sort of thing you'll want to cook at home. DELICIOUS If you are a MasterChef fan and your memory stretches back as far as 2010, you will remember Dhruv 'palate of an angel' Baker. He won the competition with a deft use of spices and flavouring, and now he has written a book about cooking with spices. 'My spice cupboard is my haven, my treasure trove of flavour,' he says. 'I want to share this love with you.' Along with more than 100 recipes (chicken chukka, Malabar prawn curry, rum- and star anise-poached figs, cassia custard and so on), Baker has included a spice guide (for example, 'allspice: the dried unripe fruit of the allspice tree, good in desserts') and a flavour map. Thus armed, you can transform a plain diet into a thing of wonder. -- Carolyn Hart DAILY TELEGRAPH So many people are hesitant or become hidebound with their spicing, and yet one of the great pleasures of cooking is in playing with flavours that give food oomph and subtle complexity; spices do not have to mean big-bang taste explosions, though they have their place. This book is, for me, a must-have and it gives me great pleasure to introduce it to you. I've chosen a recipe that highlights one of my favourite spices - cumin - in the form of Cheese and Cumin Croquettes, but there is plenty, plenty more in this book to get the taste buds tingling. -- Nigella Lawson Nigella.com Dhruv Baker, the 2010 Masterchef winner, knows exactly how to use spices to liven up the palate and get your dishes really noticed. An Anglo-Indian background and a childhood spent in Mexico have given him an incredible insight into flavour. Whether he is addding a few cumin seeds and a macadamia crust to cauliflower cheese or slipping vanilla into mashed potato, his ideas are simple but the results are magical. -- Sally Hughes BBC GOOD FOOD MAGAZINE Staying in the zone of aromatics is the brightly designed Spice: Layers of Flavour by Dhruv Baker, a former Masterchef winner and new proprietor of the Jolly Gardeners in south London. Baker uses spices creatively. Green beans are dressed with coconut, black mustard seeds and red chilli; aubergine is grilled, glazed with ginger and miso; beef is roasted with fenugreek and cardamom is added to a lemon and lime curd tart. I'd give this book to anyone who loves cooking as an adventure; and with Baker's palate you are in safe hands. -- Rose Prince SPECTATOR