The title of today’s diary entry is unashamedly stolen from the first novel by an Indian author living near San Francisco, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, which I loved passionately. It has that gorgeous air of the mystical that so many claim and so few deliver. Its chapters are named after the spices and the ‘Mistress’ uses her spices and her intuition to cure the ills (whether emotional or physical) of the community around her store. How wonderful is that?

I am always drawn to books that combine cooking and life – Like Chocolate for Water, Under a Tuscan Sun, The Man Who Ate Everything and of course Chocolat – all of these have been read, digested and, having just picked them all off my bookcase to remind myself of the titles, I’ve discovered them splattered with food from having been propped open on the kitchen work surface while I try to follow the recipe (sometimes published in full and sometimes left a bit to the reader’s imagination).

Today, after lunch, we sat and watched Sophie Grigson making a cashew nut curry on UKFood and I have been inspired (again) to spend some time in the kitchen and cook up a good, spicy supper for us both. Her curry was based on a simple curry paste that she made up from ingredients that I always have in my own spice cupboard. That’s one of the luxuries of having extended the kitchen – I can now devote a whole cupboard to spices and don’t have to pile everything in on top of one another. It means I can find that pack of nutmegs or those cinnamon sticks or whatever without half a ton of stuff falling over me while I’m ferreting around in a small space!!

This spice grinder was bought in the spice market in the centre of Istanbul for a very small sum of money when I was there on business a few years ago. I don’t often get the chance to go to exotic places and even if I do, I rarely see outside the hotel. It’s usually just a fly in, do the presentation or the meeting, then fly out again. Conferences are different though, it’s widely recognised that they are one of the few ‘jollys’ that remain available to business people these days. Two years in a row I was invited to present a paper at two different conferences in Istanbul and was able to get around the city and see quite a bit of the architecture and culture. It was absolutely magnificent, exciting and vibrant. On the visit when I bought the spice grinder, I dined in a ruined castle on the banks of the Bosphorus, sailed through the city on a boat and did all sorts of other fab things.

The spice market was superb. Even better than Southall because instead of everything being packaged, the spices were loose and sold by weight. The aroma was phenomenal. I just loved this spice grinder, though truth be told it’s not actually that good at the job. I find it quicker and easier to grind using a pestle and mortar or a small electric blender that I have.

Anyway, Sophie Grigson has inspired me and tonight David will get a feast. I have a stinking cold and I’m hoping that it will clear my head too!