No history is richer in trickery or intrigue , prestige, greed, wealth, danger, suffering and death than those of the innocent looking little jars and cans of spices that sit on our kitchen cabinet shelves. Loris Troup 

{HISTORY}

Although cooking with herbs and spices and seasoning blends had been around for centuries, they could be confusing ingredients for the mid- 20th century cook,. These budding culinary enthusiats were coming up in "modern" kitchens with shortcuts at hand in the form of canned goods and frozen foods that were exciting new novelties, not to mention timesavers in the kitchen.  

Here to help was Loris Troup, who put together a 286 page book that is part encyclopedia, part food history and part recipe book centered entirely around food flavorings of the fresh and dried, powdered and preserved, liquid and blended varieties. She called her book The Tasting Spoon and published it in 1955, complete with 130 different seasomings to picque the curiosity of any endeavoring cook. 

Fun to read like a novel page by page, this book is laid out alphabetically beginning with Allspice and ending with Worchestershire Sauce. In between there are fun facts galore, tidbits, Loris' favorite recipes, cooking tips and stories pertaining to the history of each subject matter. All your typical herbs and spices are here along with lesser mainstream ones like fenugreek, costmary, rue and safflower. Unexpected flavor stories also appear in the form of cracklings, tabasco, margarine, nasturtiums and the now dreaded but often prolific novelty of mid-century cooking - Monosodium glutamate.

Page by page, Loris' joy for her subject matter carries readers through an epicurean garden of her favorite recipes  - all containing simple whole ingrediants and of course, a wealth of seasonings. 

The end of the book contains a section on flavor pairings and complimentary notes for a variety of foods, which is ideal for quick reference, a crash course in what goes with what, and an inspiration station should you desire to offer something unexpected on the menu.

{SPECIAL FEATURES}

- 1955 First Edition with original dust jacket 

- 286 pages

- Interesting recipes include Cheese Strata, The Old Red Rooster, Spicy Pecan Pie, Lovage Pecan Balls, Ginger Refrigerator Cookies, PearPreserves, Dilly Cookies, 1850 Queen Cakes, Scalloped Eggplant, Spicy Devil's Food Cake and Candided Apricots

{CONDITION}

In lovely vintage condition. The dust jacket bears a bit f sun fading on spine as well as some very minor chippy areas along top and bottom edge. The inside front endpaper is pulling away a little bit from the binding. (Please see photo). The interior of the cookbook is in excellent shape with no spots, stains or markings.

{SIZE}

Measures 8.25" inches (length) x 5.5" inches (width) x 1" inches (depth) and weighs 1lb