The Complete Spice Book

This is a very quick and enjoyable read. It is clear almost to the point of being textbook, but with a humor that makes it fun rather than dry. Each spice gets a chapter. Infomation on each spice includes history and legend, current medicinal uses, crafts and household uses, as well as other interesting factual tidbits about the spices such as the coffe rituals of Arab cultures. And, of course, there are recipes that you can nearly taste as you read them. I checked this out of the library and now I am buying it for my own reference collection of cookbooks. It would be a great gift for anyone who cooks (or wants to learn).