"The Spice Routes" combines lively travelogue with recipes. Chris and Carolyn Caldicott recount how they followed the trails of the early spice merchants on their search for authentic spice recipes. As they travel through the eastern Mediterranean, the Indian subcontinent, Asia, Africa and the Americas, the Caldicott's explain how indigenous spices were traded and how foreign spices arrived. They explore the effect the spices have had on local cuisines, supplying the recipes for the dishes they discovered along the way. Brought to life by Chris Caldicott's photography, this narrative evokes travel and food in far-off lands in a mixture that should seduce travellers and cooks alike.