The Silk Road Gourmet

Book excerpt: From the shores of the Black Sea to the sands of the Pacific, the foods enjoyed along the Silk Road whisper tales of connections between the cultures, histories, economies, and regions of Asia. In The Silk Road Gourmet, author Laura Kelley brings the breadth of Asian cooking to your door. Spanning more than thirty countries and including 1,000 recipes, the three volumes of The Silk Road Gourmet explore the cuisines of the countries that traded goods and shared culture along that great lifeline of the ancient world. This first volume surveys the cuisines of Western and Southern Asia from the Republic of Georgia to Sri Lanka and examines the cultural links between the countries that have led them to share ingredients, methods of preparation, and even entire dishes. This cookbook includes recipes for delicious and authentic main-course meat and vegetable dishes as well as appetizers, desserts, sauces, and condiments to grace contemporary, globalized tables. Learn how to prepare Grilled Chicken with Garlic and Walnut Sauce from the Republic of Georgia, Meatballs in Lemon Sauce from Armenia, and Cinnamon Potatoes with Pine Nuts from Azerbaijan. With fully tested recipes and step-by-step instructions, The Silk Road Gourmet brings the exotic home to you. Reviews We tried chicken with apricots in lemon pepper sauce: simple to make and assertively delicious, aromatic, and satisfying. If every dish is as good as this Afghani gem, Kelley's book will prove priceless. --Mick Vann - The Austin Chronicle The Silk Road Gourmet is one of those workhorse cookbooks, the kind that . . . will be kept on the kitchen counter while others get stored on the shelf. --Rose O'Dell King - Ft. Myers News-Post The first volume of The Silk Road Gourmet: Western and Southern Asia has been nominated for an award by Le Cordon Bleu's World Food Media Awards. --Le Cordon Bleu's World Food Media Awards For those who love to learn about history and the origin of foods. The Silk Road Gourmet is an excellent resource.It is a cross between an anthropology textbook and a cookbook. --Sarah Parkin - The Phoenix Examiner Silk Road Gourmet is not an ordinary cookbook. It is a culinary exploration of non-European methods of cooking, tastes and - to a certain extent - a different way of life. --Manos Angelakis, Luxury Web Magazine