... there is perhaps no better candidate to write about this cuisine [Malaysian] than Christina Arokiasamy, a formally trained cook of Indian ancestry whose mother was a Kuala Lumpur spice merchant. In addition to recording her fragrantly alive culinary memories, Ms. Arokiasamy delivers plenty of useful instruction about the blending and roasting of spices and herbs.

Despite its "some assembly required" approach, "The Spice Merchant's Daughter" is one of the best culinary adventures I've had all year. Like the best adventures, it left me breathless and exhausted -- and ready to do it all over again tomorrow.

An Indian raised in Malaysia, Arokiasamy's greatest culinary influence was her mother, a spice merchant who taught her all she knew about choosing, using, drying and mixing spices. And now, Arokiasamy, a cooking teacher herself, does the same for us. This well-organized, compact book opens with the Spice Pantry. Arokiasamy explains how to choose, use and store a variety of ingredients from familiar ones like ginger, cloves and fish sauce to less familiar, like Kaffir lime leaves and tamarind.

Part memoir, part primer, Christina Arokiasamy's recent cookbook, "The Spice Merchant's Daughter" (Clarkson Potter, 2008), opens with tales from the author's childhood in Malaysia, where she helped at her family's spice stall.