A Whisper of Cardamom
Eleanor Ford
Murdoch Books
Review: Lauren O’Connor-May
This is the first spicy book that I’ve read where I liked the spice.
Jokes aside, this book is gorgeous. I don’t think I have ever seen a more beautifully presented book. I spent the first few minutes after receiving it just paging through it and feasting on the style, colours, images and overall presentation. If books had beauty pageants, this book would be Miss Universe.
This is more than just a recipe book, it is a compendium of useful information about using spices in desserts. Over and above that, it is about the history of humanity’s love affair with spices.
There are no recipes in the first few chapters, just beautifully presented history, which includes a pretty map of where different spices originated from.
The book then uses colourful pie charts to break down the flavour profiles of the different spices with detailed captions on what they best match with and how to get the best out of each particular spice. The book also teaches about how to store, grind, roast and infuse spices.
When I eventually got to the recipes, I found them varied and interesting. Some used rare and expensive ingredients but others were simple and easy to pull together.
We baked a Bramley apple and clove cake. The recipe was easy although the baking time was long but the cake, which is supposed to be served warm, was barely cooled enough to eat before most of it was gone.
This book is a must-have for bakers who want to spice things up…
