Seductions of Rice

One of my all time favorite books, and it's somewhat of a cookbook, although I've never cooked anything from it, is Seductions of Rice. I bought it off a sale rack for $5.99 at least eight years ago.

What I love about the book is that it's part travel log, part memoir; equal parts cookbook and coffee table photography. I've spent hours contemplating the work that went into it and the adventure. And I've wondered what happened to the couple that did it. Did they publish one book that ended up on a sale rack and then get office jobs?

Today my question was answered. There's a short interview with the couple, Jeffrey Allard and Naomi Duguid, on Culinate. I couldn't remember their names but after reading the first two paragraphs I was sure it was them.

Their eyes sparkle and they speak about food with a light hearted reverence that is what attracted and keeps pulling me back to their book on rice. They give a context to food beyond a list of ingredients and instructions. They care about where food comes from and they take their time. A lot of time.

They have a new book Beyond The Great Wall and have published several others about food and place, all of which I can't wait to discover.