Silk Roads: A Flavor Odyssey with Recipes from Baku to Beijing

For a limited time we have copies signed by Anna Ansari.

A deeply researched tour of Central Asian cooking for adventurous cooks and readers who want rigorous recipes anchored in history and place.

Iranian-American writer Anna Ansari traces the ancient silk road trade route through kitchens and markets, tying technique to origin—why tomatoes show up in Uzbek dishes, what fat-tailed sheep mean for flavor, and how methods change from Baku to Xinjiang. The result feels lived-in and instructive, not just scenic.

The repertoire is both traditional and refreshingly uncommon: Uyghur cumin tofu; a Bukharan rice dish with risotto-like texture; Kyrgyz rolled dumplings (oromo), alongside dill-laced noodles, sharbats, and more. Ansari’s step-by-step detail helps cooks who haven’t trained locally assemble dishes with confidence.

Silk Roads reads as well as it cooks—short essays, family photos, and about 90 recipes that connect pantry choices to cultural context. Ideal for building a serious regional shelf or planning a focused weekend menu.

A production note: the book’s design uses small type and occasional dark backgrounds behind instructions, which can be harder to read. The content more than repays the extra attention.

Hardcover. Color photographs throughout.