Outline

April 10, 2023

What effect / impact do I want my spice book to have?

Rainbow structure…not an analogy I actually plan to use in the final book it just feels like an easy way to describe the different feelings I want the book to produce! Also rainbows are the best.

Red ~ Action! 

How to get started using more spices with confidence / How to approach unfamiliar palates, such as global cuisines you like but aren’t sure how to cook without buying an entirely new pantry. Red because we think of it being intense and urgent.

This effect of the book is illustrated by concrete tips and recipes, and why having a minimum variety of spices (say, 8?) is useful in cooking an array of foods. In other words, taking the sometimes-dizzying effect of too-many spices or choices and narrowing it down so its approachable and actionable. It’s important that the recipes in this book aren’t inaccessible because of the ingredient lists – too many cookbooks have that, and it feels like a stumbling block, or discouraging to beginners. The point is to show someone that you just need good quality and some basics to cook better food with spices. That you don’t need to be paralyzed by an overwhelming number of flavors or ingredients to cook a variety of foods from different places on the planet. 

Example: Cumin can flavor beef for Mexican-inspired tacos and also make crispy cumin chickpeas, Moroccan-style.

Orange ~ Inspiration

The word means on the one hand to breathe in, on the other hand the ‘process of being mentally stimulated.’ Emphasis on the sensory role of spices to inspire connection, ideas and creativity. Orange because we think of orange being uplifting, quirky and awakening – like the smell of a freshly peeled orange.

A plant did not make one of its distinct parts simply to entertain us and give us pleasure, such as the cinnamon tree making a bark that gets us thrilled to bake snickerdoodles. We as humans decided at some point (in our long history of surviving on earth) that this plant-part was useful in living a better life (spiritually, medicinally or flavorfully). The idea is that the book sparks inspiration to create your own recipes, traditions or meals based on getting in touch with your senses, which, when it comes to spices, means mostly your sense of smell but a little bit of other senses too. The effect is that by reading the book you’re inspired to engage more with your own sense of smell. Good memories inspire us to create more good memories. Good memories smell good, ha.  

Example: Using cassia cinnamon for its aroma in a baked good (sugar balances out the heat), versus its heat/sensation in a onion/lamb dish (like Garam masala, which translates to warming spices). 

Yellow ~ Joy/Wonder 

Spices can be joyful because they are the key to changing a drab ingredient into a fabulous dish. They are the extra lift that we need when we’re stuck with the same old routine, or the new sense of wonder when you change one ingredient for another. There could be a whole category of spices devoted just to creating a yellow effect (turmeric, saffron, achiote)! A golden color in food is desirable (why?)…and yellow is often synonymous with happy/sunshine/joy. Yellow is one of my favorite colors, and saffron is my favorite spice! Am I the definition of happy person, prob not but I aspire to be!

This effect is especially key but hard to describe how it would be engineered. I want the book to make people literally feel good, perhaps by the book being visually fun and beautiful, with paintings, collages, etc. 

Green ~ Make a positive impact in the world

Color association is obvious here! Be green etc.

This effect has to do with differentiating my book from other spice books specifically because of the mission-related work we do at Curio. From our work direct-sourcing spices from origin to eliminate intermediaries and therefore get the farmers better $ for their spices, to the community engagement like understanding food waste, doing a land acknowledgement, or choosing a local business over a big corp one, there is lots people can do to make a positive social/environmental impact wherever they live. 

I’d like this effect to not be too preachy or doomsday, the way many environmental-type text can be. Also not cliché (everyone knows they should recycle and I don’t need to tell them that) but rather get people excited about being a better world citizen starting with their spice cabinet! Increasing awareness about people (social responsibility) means caring about who made or grew your thing as opposed to being a mindless consumer. It also means knowing what appropriation is and what exploitive travel is etc. Improving environmental sustainability can be buying things in bulk to reduce packaging, reusing things like containers, and understanding things like the term ‘circular economy.’  An authentic approach to doing better. 

Blue ~ Clarity / Calm and also openness - spontaneity? 

Blue because the sky is blue and a blue sky is often a symbol of clarity and vision. Background/Story of starting and running my business and understanding how to balance my life while seeking to do something I loved and that felt important/impactful. I have anxiety that runs in my family, so naturally it has been my unwelcome companion for my life. Cultivating a sense of calm during uncertainty has been necessary to my life and my success as an entrepreneur but it’s also a human necessity! I have found that when I focus on smelling things and paying attention (aka breathing, ha!) I gain an incredible sense of calm. If you cook when you’re angry or upset the food won’t taste good, so too when we are sad we often don’t eat healthy. There is a strong connection between food and emotions. How to write about this in a fresh way?

Cultivating a sense of purpose can be as simple as having clarity about what’s for dinner, and often that eludes me so it seems like having a book full of recipes is helpful!

The effect this story (my story?) is meant to have on the reader is to be vulnerable and invite a connection with me as a person, and see that maybe they have their own challenges with balance (work/life or goals/energy) but that connecting with your senses on the daily is key to keeping chaos at bay and maintaining calm, even during scary times. I find a lot of cookbooks show the chef/writer in an idealistic light that is not very real, and I’d like this to be different. 

Also use the example of the pandemic and how lots of us cooked more b/c we were stuck at home but also because it was a concrete thing to help us feel good. We don’t need a global pandemic to remind us that flavor is essential to keeping our spirits up, but it was a good reminder, and cooking can be an unintimidating way to address imbalance.

 

Purple ~ Mystery / Curiosity

The mystical quality of spices and the unknown! Your spice cupboard is your own curiosity cabinet – the concept of a cabinet of wonders is something where you collect rare and amazing things from nature or from travels and share them with friends. Spices are no different!

This effect is meant to emphasize the importance of curiosity and being a life long learner. Embracing knowledge and also continually accepting that the more you know the more you don’t know. 

By looking at what’s behind spices, such as what plants they come from, where they grow, who grew them, how they’ve traveled…readers can feel inspired and engaged. Each spice can serve to uncover an array of stories, histories and foods/drinks based on cultural associations, personal contexts, even geography.