This past June, local author and ethnobotanist, Gary Paul Nabhan, who’s well-known in southern Arizona for his creativity and numerous award-winning books, won a James Beard Award. The award recognized “AGAVE SPIRITS: The Past, Present, and Future of Mezcals” as the “best book without recipes that focus on beverages, such as cocktails, beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, or juices.”
Now, Nabhan is excited to debut a brand-new book he co-authored with Beth Dooley: “Chile, Clove, and Cardamom.”
Right now, “Chile, Clove, and Cardamom” — a gastronomic journey into the fragrances and flavors of desert cuisines — is available for preorder. The new book features recipes from the UNESCO desert cities of gastronomy as well as nine other desert countries in Asia and North Africa.
The official publish date is October 31 but as mentioned earlier, you can preorder the book online now!
“Follow the new spice roads as climate change forces some of the world’s most pungent and floral spices and herbs into new latitudes,” said Janos Wilder, local James Beard Award-Winning chef. “This sumptuous, optimistic journey reveals how to combine and cook with ancient flavors in both time-honored and entirely new delicious recipes.”
More About the Authors
Gary Paul Nabhan, world-renowned ethnobotanist, desert ecologist, and literary naturalist, has written extensively about foods from the Middle East to the desert Southwest.
Beth Dooley, a food writer and James Beard Award–winner (The Sioux Chef, 2018), has explored both Indigenous and perennial foods, the two have created a unique, stunning collection of over 90 recipes that honor the tastiness of cuisines that have influenced how all of humanity eats today.
Article written by:
Matt Sterner
More about MattAt a very young age, Matt Sterner was gifted with the artistic ability to masterfully roll a burrito to the highest of standards, but the wrapped medley of delicious innards wasn’t his first love. Matt’s first true love was a combination of reading, writing, and creating. He grew up reading comics, the ingredients list of his shampoo and conditioner bottles, choose-your-own-adventure books, and the Scrabble dictionary — something he found useful when challenging his grandmother to a game.
He attended college at New Mexico State University and graduated with a degree in Digital Filmmaking. One of his favorite classes was screenwriting because he became responsible for the story’s birth before it came to life on-screen. After school, Matt took on numerous positions at a local television station in Tucson. From dealing out stories about heartbreak to producing “fluffier” content for a lifestyle broadcast, he learned what it takes to adapt to the many emotions the world of media can stir. Since 2017, Matt has dabbled in the culinary world of Tucson as well as San Diego, California from time to time.
If you’re in the mood for strange stories, head over to his pride and joy, wonkytimes.com. And in case you’re curious — yes, after all of this time, he still manages to roll a killer burrito.
