Salt, Pepper, Season, Spice

September 1, 2024

Gr 3-7-A lovely, illustrated compendium on the key spices and seasonings that give flavor to cuisines worldwide. Readers are introduced to the origins, historical and cultural significance, and uses of pantry and spice rack staples, such as salt, pepper, coffee, cinnamon, and more. Intricately rendered diagrams, close-up insets, and informative sidebars provide ample background and fascinating facts. Salt was not only used to preserve food hundreds of years ago; it was also used to pay Roman soldiers and ward off evil spirits. It's currently used for food seasoning but also as a key ingredient for cleaners and medical products. The compound in peppers that causes people to sneeze is called piperine, and capsaicin is what causes chili peppers to burn in someone's mouth. Readers are also presented with how plants like cinnamon, cacao, and vanilla are harvested to make the seasonings used in desserts and drinks. The narrative is engaging and accessible with lots to pore over. Diverse cultures are represented in the content and illustrations, especially since many of these spices were first discovered and cultivated in Asia and Latin America. Back matter includes a glossary and index. VERDICT This title can be used to enrich social studies curriculum, for reports, and to engage curious readers. A great choice for middle grade collections.-Shelley M. Diaz

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2024
Budding cooks and history buffs alike will relish this introduction to some common flavor enhancements. Beginning with those stalwarts, salt and pepper, this book dips into chili, mustard, and ginger, then samples sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and chocolate, finishing with tea and coffee. Putting spices on our foods is a way to encounter other lands and cultures--and the past. The text is concise, providing information on whatever history is known, the spice's sources, a bit about its chemistry and uses (occasionally including uses outside of cooking), and describing different versions of each spice, such as black, green, oolong, white, and even herbal tea. Readers learn how mustard and sugar are produced or refined, meet the "young slave" who developed the process of hand pollination for vanilla plants, and encounter some of the ways to brew coffee. Pasquet retells the charming story of the Yemeni goats who are said to have stayed awake all night after eating coffee berries. He also attributes the discovery of tea to an accidental leaf-fall into the cup of the Chinese emperor Shennong in 2737 BCE. Sidebars serve up such related tidbits as the Pepper Imps in Harry Potter and the fairy Mustardseed inA Midsummer Night's Dream. Attractive gouache vignettes offer appealing realistic detail in a stylized presentation. An appetizing menu of culinary complements. (glossary, index)(Nonfiction. 9-12)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

October 1, 2024
Grades 3-6 From salt, chili pepper, and mustard to ginger, cinnamon, and chocolate, this lovely guide exhibits a global perspective of 11 spices, condiments, and confections. In chunked, easily digestible passages, the text offers common elements among the featured ingredients, such as their history in cooking, various forms and varieties around the world, how they are grown and manufactured, and their use in dishes and drinks today. The author also gives unique facts about each food. For instance, Pasquet describes false peppers, like cayenne pepper, which taste like pepper but don't derive from the pepper plant; artificial pollination methods used to grow vanilla plants outside of Central America; and standards considered for fair trade coffee. Still more tasty tidbits, such as the invention of milk chocolate in Switzerland in 1875 or that pepper was once a form of currency to pay taxes or ransoms, keep the narrative high interest. Topping off the presentation are colorful and attractive visuals worthy of the delicious flavors, which will further entice readers to relish this STEM selection about favorite food ingredients.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.