Mastering Spice: Recipes and Techniques to Transform Your Everyday Cooking: A Cookbook

by Lior Lev Sercarz, Genevieve Ko

Spices are the fastest, easiest way to transform a dish from good to spectacular. In his new book, Lior Lev Sercarz, the country's most sought-after spice expert, shows you how to master flavor in 250 inspiring recipes, each counting on spices to elevate this collection of everyday and new favorites.

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

Spices are the magic ingredient in Lior Lev Sercarz's newest book, Mastering Spice, and all it takes is a pinch to bring your meatballs, roast chicken, or brownies to the next level. Owner of New York City spice shop La Boîte, and a professionally trained chef who has cooked at some of the world's most renown restaurants, Lior's simple and straightforward approach showcases how spices and spice blends can take a recipe for chicken soup, meatballs, or brownies into a whole new and exciting direction. Every section begins with a master recipe and technique--then Lior teaches readers how to change the spices or some of the ingredients to get a profoundly different dish than what you began with. By mastering the techniques and playing with the variations, you'll learn how to use spices to become a more creative and intuitive cook, and how spices can endlessly heighten your eating experience.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Reference

272 pages, Hardcover

Published October 15, 2019

Reviews

[Sylvia Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did learn of spices and herbs I have not used before so it was useful. I would have liked something like the Flavor Bible demonstrating how the spices enhance each other and the foods. I would have liked more main dish vegetarian dishes also. Recipes for mixing spice blends were included. All were in dry form. I do prefer fresh garlic, cilantro, parsley as the flavors are not as good in dry form. The book though was a start for me to experiment with different combinations.

[Missy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful cookbook, not only pictures, but recipes. The master spice recipes and how these can be tweaked to change the flavor of the dish. There are some spice and herbs not used in my kitchen. The author had a wonderful glossary at the end of the book to fully explain the spices and herbs used. Great addition to any kitchen.

[Jobie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoy this book. Cooking techniques are simple, which is how I prefer to cook.

The actual spice part is more complex which is what I was looking for. I especially like the way to vary the recipes or use the leftovers of a dish.

I’ve already tried one recipe and will try more.

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful photos. Would make a stunning gift to give to experienced home cooks or anyone looking for a culinary coffee table book.

[Andrew Brooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

While there is a fair amount of useful information on a wide list of spices; the information on blends is somewhat lacking. While there is some useful cross linking, I didn't find any recipes which the book claimed to contain. There were descriptions of spice blends which included lists of spices commonly or sometimes included, but this doesn't make a RECIPE. A recipe would need to include measurements so that you could blend the proper RATIOs of spices

[Aasinathena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just brilliant !!!!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inventive use of spices. Minus one star for over-reliance on fennel, carraway seeds and ajwon.

[Bethany · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite cookbook!! I’ve learned so much about making flavorful foods from Lior. Many of these recipes are now in our regular rotation of meals.

[Roma · Rating 5 out of 5]

How can I read this book?

[Dray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book on spices. I liked the master recipe, 5 extension recipe format.