I have been searching for guides like these for years and if you enjoy wandering the aisles of ethnic groceries and markets nearly as much as I do, marveling at the wondrous and mysterious foods and ingredients, I'll bet you've been looking for these books too.

Linda Bladholm has done extensive research, living abroad in Asia and traveling in India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Korea, Laos and Vietnam, to write these invaluable guides. She gives a detailed tour of nearly every spice, ingredient, mix and dish you're likely to encounter in Indian or Asian grocery store. A sampling of chapters include Rice and Rice Products, Breads and Flours, Spices and Seasonings, Aromatics and Herbs, Vegetables, Teas, Dairy Products, Canned Goods, Pickles and Chutneys, Sweets and more.

The guides have made all the difference in the world for me, when shopping at local ethnic markets. Instead of looking at the shelves as a tourist might, curiously wondering what all these exotic sounding ingredients could do, I can actually experiment and start using some of them. Obscure ingredients that I had heard of but didn't know where to find have always been readily available, but now I know the secret of where to find them.

The books can even save adventurous cooks money as ethnic grocery stores typically carry ingredients that normal markets consider exotic and as such, usually offer them at much lower prices. This is especially true of spices, where an Indian Grocery store can be a frugal shopper's best friend.