On Spice: Advice, Wisdom, and History with a Grain of Saltiness

I read about this book on a website, thetakeout, and it piqued my interest. It is far more interesting than I expected. The author's stories of her families business combined with the information regarding the history and uses of various spices is far more entertaining than I expected. I'm loving this book.

Even as someone who already knows a lot about spices, I learned a lot of new things and really appreciated the approachable writing style. The family anecdotes are great :) This is a great book for any casual or serious home cook to have on hand.

I gave this to my husband on his birthday because one of our favorite things to do is go over to the Penzey spices store on Roswell Road in Atlanta and smell the spices. He handed it off to me, a small book, and said "It's an easy read." It is, but also a fun one. Penzey-Moog grew up helping in her grandparents' spice store and learned more about food seasonings than most will ever know. She gives a history of each spice (or herb; she decided to go with the broader sense of the definition of "spice" as an additive to food dishes, whether they were from seeds, roots, plants, flowers, etc.) with interesting commentary on history (such as the French and the Dutch basically lost their monopoly on their spice islands because they treated the indigenous workers so badly that they would give away the precious seeds/plants), and chat about plants which were used as medicines. You'll learn what we use as cinnamon really isn't (unless it's from Vietnam, it's probably cassia); that turmeric (the "new" wonder spice) is actually good for you, but not as good as its press insists; why a few threads of saffron are so expensive; and much more. She also talks about what spice mixes contain (Cajun seasoning, five spice powder, jerk, vadouvan, and more), the difference between "peppers" and "peppercorns" (not to mention paprika), and many other items of food trivia.

I'm not a fan of cooking, but an interesting read due to the history.

As a curious cook, I was intrigued by the potential of this publication. Content is OK. It might even be great but the font is such a small pt. size that it makes reading so difficult I was not encouraged to read the text. The physical layout of this book made it a very disappointing purchase.

You need this book if you want to take your culinary adventures to the next level. But you really need this book for its discussion on Salt. Buy it.

Fun easy educational read about spices. Highly recommend if you are curious & like to cook, or just read about food. Very enjoyable!!

We've been Spice House customers for decades. My husband is quite the at home chef. He is enjoying reading & learning from a family we've done business with for a long time.

Everything you ever wanted to know about spices and their uses.

Entertainingly written. Unfortunately the author fails to address the toxicity of cassia or to adequately warn of the toxicity of pink peppercorns. This is a major fail in my opinion. The spice blends lack amounts, so are useless. The recipes are perfunctory and lack interest.

I found this book to be an informative and interesting read.