I once was lost... in a spice shop

Oh man! I should have know I was on a dangerous endeavor, but ever since it opened (about two months ago) I've wanted to head downtown to that spice & cookbook shop. I stopped by today after visiting Finn at the office to bring her some coffee and a bagel (because that's how good a girlfriend I am). The shop was right on my way home so I went in - and got stuck there for about an hour I think.

I originally only wanted to buy some curry powder, and maybe some cumin. By no means was I planning to get a cookbook. Because I don't know where to put my collection as is. But then I saw all those cookbooks, rows of books stretching from mediterranean to middle east to creole. I didn't even glance at the Austrian cookbooks because that's just not my cup of tea. And since I'm having a harder time each week finding recipes to cook for dinner, which don't take forever, are somewhat healthy and of course tasty, I figured why not buy one. I was going for Morrocan, leafed through a couple of those but couldn't really settle on one. Some had no pictures at all but unfortunately pictures are what triggers my appetite/willingness to try something. I know that the foods on the fotos are not really food but that's just how I work. Other's were not written in a manner I liked; for me it's gotta be fast, if I want to read I'll grab a fiction book. Other's were simply just not up to par. But damn, the variety!

I drifted further and further from the middle eastern food section and suddenly I was reaching for a book on carribean cuisine. Not usually what I go for, given the climate difference between here and there... but I swear this one was calling to me somehow.

 

Considering I'm a person who knows buyer's remorse quite well I decided to give the other Caribbean books a chance as well but after leafing through those I was still sure the first one was the one. So I grabbed it. Over all this took me probably about half an hour.

Then I went to collect my spices: grabbed some cumin, garam masala, and two curries: fiji and colombo (I barely refrained from buying the ceylon blend on top the other two). I was already on the way to the checkout when I saw this:

 

... and all I did was open in on two or three pages, glance at the price and take it with me! Just like that. *facepalm* But thank god I spent 30 minutes on selecting the other book... I still haven't had time to look through it properly because I basically just came home, looked at the Caribbean one and wrote this blog post. But I think my rash decision might have been a good one anyway.

The other book certainly look gorgeous, I can tell you that so far. The recipes are Sylvie Clément who came from France to Guadeloupe 20 years ago and built a life there with her husband Georgeand her five sons. Literally built it, since George is a carpenter and built all the little huts of their holiday village Tendacayou with his very own hands. The pictures are beautiful and I'm really looking forward to trying them out - though most of them will probably have to wait til summer, when I'll be thankful for this type of cuisine.