Look at any recipe for a savory dish and chances are it will start with this step:fry onions in a pan over medium heat. Onions—and their allium family relatives, shallots, garlic, chives, and leeks—ar
Sweet, succulent, cooling, and often with a beguiling floral fragrance, a ripe melon can be one of the most delicious things you sink your teeth into. As Sylvia Lovegren shows in this book, the melon’
Canada is a country of massive size, of diverse geographical features and an equally diverse population—all features that are magnificently reflected in its architecture. In this book, Rhodri Windsor
Art today may be global, Robert Linsley argues in this book, but it is the same everywhere you go: full of intentional meaning, statements, and even branded images that insist on a particular message.
The Art of Suicide is a history of the visual representation of suicide from the ancient world to its decriminalization in the 20th century. After looking at instances of voluntary death in ancient Gr
A man in profile looks at a woman, who looks away from him and in the direction of the viewer. Eyes of Love shows how the frequency of this composition calls for a reconsideration of a widely held arg
Gardens are sites that can be at one and the same time admired works of art and valuable pieces of real estate. As the first account in English to be wholly based on contemporary Chinese sources, this
The Dutch writer, artist and film maker Armando has lived in Berlin since 1979. Armando grew up near Amersfoort concentration camp in The Netherlands - its peripheries were his playground - and he was
This is the first general and theoretical study devoted entirely to portraiture. Drawing on a broad range of images from Antiquity to the twentieth century, which includes paintings, sculptures, print
Magnificent and mysterious, Tibet has been a source of fascination for outsiders for centuries, and its grand landscapes and vibrant culture have especially captivated photographers. But the country i
Few weeds have been more successful throughout history than the poppy. Hated by farmers for its stubbornness, the poppy has been a favorite of artists and poets, due to its distinct and brilliant colo
There are some of us who can’t even stand to look at them—and others who can’t live without them: chillies have been searing tongues and watering eyes for centuries in innumerable global cuisines. In
Light, healthy, and easily tossed together, salads have been an herbaceous staple for as long as we have eaten food. Sometimes bitter, sometimes sweet—ladled over with buttermilk dressings or gently d
The once-obscure cuisine of Vietnam is, today, a favorite for many people from East to West. Adapted and modified over thousands of years, it is probably best known as a particularly delicious result
How do we really think about the world? We may use words to tell stories about it or draw pictures to represent it, but one thing we do far more than either of those is make calculations of the things
While it is responsible for today’s abundance of flat screens—on televisions, computers, and mobile devices—most of us have only heard of it in the ubiquitous acronym, LCD, with little thought as to e
From wedding bouquets to funeral wreaths, carnations can be seen everywhere in human culture. Their colorful but delicately folded petals have made them one of the foremost decorative flowers, from th
Majestic and awe-inspiring, there is nothing like the sight of a mountain on the horizon. Throughout all of human history mountains have been linked to the eternal, attracting us to their dizzying hei
Pasta and noodles are so ubiquitous and popular that many nations around the world claim them as their own invention. In fact, their origins are as murky as ever, a destination that Kantha Shelke sets
Some photos are haunting, some breathtaking; some are illuminating, and some are beautiful. And some photos—as those of us who have ever been on the internet know—are downright hilarious. But humor ha
