What do Indian garam masala, Lebanese seven spice, French quatre epices, Moroccan ras el hanout and Middle Eastern baharat have in common? It's nutmeg, which lends its bittersweet, fragrant warmth to them all. Eleanor explores the use of spices in cookery, looking at their flavour profiles and how they can be used, combined and layered - how some bring sweetness, others fragrance, heat, pungency, sourness or earthiness. There are 80 spice-infused recipes in this collection from Sri Lanka, Macau, Iraq, Laos, Sulawesi, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, China, Hong Kong. Interwoven with the recipes are stories that explore how spices from across the Indian Ocean, the original cradle of spice, have, over time, been adopted into cuisines around the world.