The Spice Merchant's Daughter: Recipes and Simple Spice Blends for the American Kitchen

An excellent and wonderfull cookbook! I really enjoyed the stories associated with the recipes. As the recipes involved some spices which I had not used before, I was initially a bit sceptical but was pleasantly amazed on how fantastic the food turned out. My favorites recipes were the chicken and tender beef curry as well as the meatballs wrapped in Lettuce which were simply mouth watering. Christina has made the art of cooking with spices a delight to the senses.

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!

Having taken many of Christina's classes, I can guarantee you that her recipes are the BEST. I wasn't fond of SE Asian cuisine until I took her classes. Her passion and knowledge of cooking are superb. This comes through in her book. She does a beautiful job teaching the reader to use spices in multiple ways. You will never use those little grocery store cans of spices every again. A top notch book by a terrific chef.

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.