Click To View Larger Image

• by:
• Manfield, Christine

Stir sets the foundations for its more than 100 recipes upon the staples of 14 basic spice pastes and similar preparations, inspired in particular by the assertive cuisines of south and southeast Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. Among Trotter’s favorites is Chickpea and harissa soup, a preparation that “explodes with a mixture of elegant flavors—garlic, cumin, mint and tomato—and then is gorgeously touched with the profound, clean heat of harissa.” Other recommendations include Spiced eggplant pickle and yogurt salad, “incredibly simple to prepare, but the resulting flavors are overwhelmingly complex”; and Coconut scallops with pomelo salad, a dish for those who “just want to go straight to the brink.”