With so many exciting varieties of herbs and spices now available, cooking with them has never been so inspiring. Here you will find enticing recipes for Soups and Salads, such as Mint and Parsley Salad, and original Starters and Light Meals like Baked Ricotta and Herb Terrine. Main Courses include Fried Bream Thai-Style and Coriander Chicken with Fenugreek, while Vegetables includes Sage Buttered Baby Leeks and the aubergine dish Imam Bayildi. Pasta, Rice and Bread are given wonderfully intense flavours in dishes such as Purple Basil Ravioli with Truffle Butter and Perfumed Persian Pulow. Finally, Sweet Things features the indulgent Fig on a Cushion with Thyme-scented Syrup and the delicious Mexican Chocolate with Vanilla Cream.

Linda Tubby is a leading London food writer and food stylist. Her work appears in magazines such as Food and Travel, BBC Good Food and Waitrose Food Illustrated. She lives in West London. Manisha Gambhir Harkins won the Guild of Food Writers' Award for Food Journalist of the Year in 1999. She lives in Dubai.