This is a fantastic book for anyone who experiments with herbs and spices, and who feels a recipe is a guideline rather than a hard and fast set of instructions.

It includes every possible name each spice is called, and breaks down each one into easily-understandable flavour descriptions and categories, to make it easier to construct your own spice blends. It also includes history of the spice and how it's used in various cultures.

At times the tone is a bit familiar and repetitive, but unless you read it cover-to-cover in one sitting, the way I did, you probably won't notice. ( )