The Taste of Conquest: The Rise and Fall of the Three Great Cities of Spice

The smell of sweet cinnamon on your morning oatmeal, the gentle heat of gingerbread, the sharp piquant bite from your everyday peppermill. The tales these spices could tell: of lavish Renaissance banquets perfumed with cloves, and flimsy sailing ships sent around the world to secure a scented prize; of cinnamon-dusted custard tarts and nutmeg-induced genocide; of pungent elixirs and the quest for the pepper groves of paradise. The Taste of Conquest offers up a riveting, globe-trotting tale of unquenchable desire, fanatical religion, raw greed, fickle fashion, and mouthwatering cuisine–in short, the very stuff of which our world is made. In this engaging, enlightening, and anecdote-filled history, Michael Krondl, a noted chef turned writer and food historian, tells the story of three legendary cities–Venice, Lisbon, and Amsterdam–and how their single-minded pursuit of spice helped to make (and remake) the Western diet and set in motion the first great wave of globalization. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the world’s peoples were irrevocably brought together as a result of the spice trade. Before the great voyages of discovery, Venice controlled the business in Eastern seasonings and thereby became medieval Europe’s most cosmopolitan urban center. Driven to dominate this trade, Portugal’s mariners pioneered sea routes to the New World and around the Cape of Good Hope to India to unseat Venice as Europe’s chief pepper dealer. Then, in the 1600s, the savvy businessmen of Amsterdam “invented” the modern corporation–the Dutch East India Company–and took over as spice merchants to the world. Sharing meals and stories with Indian pepper planters, Portuguese sailors, and Venetian foodies, Krondl takes every opportunity to explore the world of long ago and sample its many flavors. The spice trade and its cultural exchanges didn’t merely lend kick to the traditional Venetian cookies called peverini, or add flavor to Portuguese sausages of every description, or even make the Indonesian rice table more popular than Chinese takeout in trendy Amsterdam. No, the taste for spice of a few wealthy Europeans led to great crusades, astonishing feats of bravery, and even wholesale slaughter. As stimulating as it is pleasurable, and filled with surprising insights, The Taste of Conquest offers a fascinating perspective on how, in search of a tastier dish, the world has been transformed.

Krondl, Michael

Travel

Ballantine Books

The Taste of Conquest offers up a riveting, globe-trotting tale of unquenchable desire, fanatical religion, raw greed, fickle fashion, and mouthwatering cuisine–in short, the very stuff of which our world is made. In this engaging, enlightening, and anecdote-filled history, Michael Krondl, a noted chef turned writer and food historian, tells the story of three legendary cities–Venice, Lisbon, and Amsterdam–and how their single-minded pursuit of spice helped to make (and remake) the Western diet and set in motion the first great wave of globalization. Sharing meals and stories with Indian pepper planters, Portuguese sailors, and Venetian foodies, Krondl takes every opportunity to explore the world of long ago and sample its many flavors. Along the way, he reveals that the taste for spice of a few wealthy Europeans led to great crusades, astonishing feats of bravery, and even wholesale slaughter. As stimulating as it is pleasurable, and filled with surprising insights, The Taste of Conquest offers a compelling perspective on how, in search of a tastier dish, the world has been transformed. Praise for The Taste of Conquest “An altogether rich, perfectly seasoned slice of world history.” –The Boston Globe “As a chef I have always been deeply intrigued by the mystique of spices. Michael Krondl’s book awakens and transports the reader into this mysterious world, showing us how our lives and history have been transformed by the sensuous odors of cardamom, nutmeg, and turmeric.” –Gray Kunz, chef and owner of Café Gray and Grayz, co-author of The Elements of Taste “Fascinating . . . spicy reading for food and history lovers alike.” –Associated Press “A delicious treat.” –The Vancouver Sun “Witty and erudite.” –Financial Post “Enticing.” –Chicago Tribune

Cookbooks, Food & Wine

Cooking by Ingredient

Random House Publishing Group

Pumpkins are one of those few ingredients that can do it all-soups, salads, starters, side dishes, dinners, and desserts. Make it sweet or make it savory, this native American makes any meal a little more festive. Here, Michael Krondl offers a staggering selection of choices from the traditionally familiar to the exotically ethnic.

The Great Little Pumpkin Cookbook

Religion & Spirituality

Celestial Arts

In this engaging, anecdotal history of food, world conquest, and desire, a chef-turned-journalist tells the story of three legendary cities-Venice, Lisbon, and Amsterdam-that transformed the globe in the quest for spice. Written in a colorful style that will appeal to fans of Mark Kurlansky and Michael Pollan, this ambitious yet accessible book travels effortlessly from the Crusades to the present day. Michael Krondl explains that it was the desire for spices that got international trade up and running on a scale that had never occurred prior to that time. This explosive growth of the spice trade led to the successive rise-and fall-of Venice, Lisbon, and Amsterdam. Krondl, a gifted food writer, travels to each of these great cities and begins his visit with a great meal. Gradually, he merges the menu he's enjoying with the city's colorful past, and readers are off on a gastronomical tour that teaches them not only about food and spice but also about history and commerce.

Tantor Audio

Business & Money

From the sacred fudge served to India’s gods to the ephemeral baklava of Istanbul’s harems, the towering sugar creations of Renaissance Italy, and the exotically scented macarons of twenty-first century Paris, the world’s confectionary arts have not only mirrored social, technological, and political revolutions, they have also, in many ways, been in their vanguard. Sweet Invention: A History of Dessert captures the stories of sweet makers past and present from India, the Middle East, Italy, France, Vienna, and the United States, as author Michael Krondl meets with confectioners around the globe, savoring and exploring the dessert icons of each tradition. Readers will be tantalized by the rich history of each region’s unforgettable desserts and tempted to try their own hand at a time-honored recipe. A fascinating and rewarding read for any lover of sugar, butter, and cream, Sweet Invention embraces the pleasures of dessert while unveiling the secular, metaphysical, and even sexual uses that societies have found for it.

Sweet Invention: A History of Dessert

Desserts

Chicago Review Press

More than 150 traditional American recipes, selected from a variety of historical American cookbooks, reflect the rich regional and ethnic diversity of America's culinary history in dishes that have been updated and tested for today's kitchen. IP.

Around the American Table: Treasured Recipes and Food Traditions from the American Cookery Collections of the New York Public Library

Regional & International

Adams Media Corp.

The love for the donut in the United States is longstanding and deep-rooted. Gourmet donut shops have popped up in trendy neighborhoods across the country and high-end restaurants are serving trios of donuts for dessert, while Dunkin’ Donuts, Krispy Kreme, and Tim Hortons have amassed a devoted following. In this captivating guide to the delectable dessert, culinary historian, chef, and donut lover Michael Krondl has put together an entertaining social history of the donut throughout the ages and from around the world. Among the interesting facts Krondl brings up are the donut’s surprising role, not only as a traditional prelude to Lent, but in Hanukkah and Ramadan as well; the serving of donuts to American doughboys in the trenches of World War I; and the delivery by Red Cross Clubmobiles of essential comforts of home to World War II soldiers such as music, movies, magazines and—what else?—donut machines. Mindful that the information might have readers itching to run to their nearest bakery, Krondl also offers a baker’s dozen of international donut recipes—with accompanying color photos—including those for Chocolate-Glazed Bismarcks with Marshmallow Filling, Nutella Bombolocini, Frittelle di Carnevale, and Dulce de Leche Raised Donuts with a Salty Caramel Glaze, among others.

The Donut: History, Recipes, and Lore from Boston to Berlin

Baking

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Krondl, Michael. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Krondl, Michael

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Krondl, Michael. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Taste of Conquest: The Rise and Fall of the Three Great Cities of Spice

The Taste of Conquest: The Rise and Fall of the Three Great Cities of Spice

The Great Little Pumpkin Cookbook

The Taste of Conquest: The Rise and Fall of the Three Great Cities of Spice

The Taste of Conquest: The Rise and Fall of the Three Great Cities of Spice

Sweet Invention: A History of Dessert

Around the American Table: Treasured Recipes and Food Traditions from the American Cookery Collections of the New York Public Library

The Taste of Conquest: The Rise and Fall of the Three Great Cities of Spice

Sweet Invention: A History of Dessert

The Donut: History, Recipes, and Lore from Boston to Berlin