Editorial Director for DK Life, Cara Armstrong acquired World All Language Rights from Emma Bal at Madeleine Milburn Ltd in a four-way auction. The cookbook will be published in hardback and ebook on 9 October 2025 in the UK and 14 October in the US.
Silk Roads: A Flavour Odyssey with Recipes from Baku to Beijing is a rich and delicious celebration of the world’s most famous trade routes, retold through recipes. Shortlisted for the prestigious Jane Grigson Trust Award for New Food and Drink Writers and the Yan-Kit So Award for Food Writers in Asia ahead of publication, Anna Ansari’s debut cookbook takes readers on an unforgettable culinary, historical and personal odyssey across Asia. Anna weaves together a feast of 90 unmissable dishes and eye-opening essays that explore threads of food, trade, and travel, bringing to life the flavours of the Silk Roads, the fabled trading routes that connected East Asia with Western Europe.
From Baku to Beijing, Tashkent to Tbilisi, and beyond, expect dishes evoking flavours from the walnut groves of her Iranian father’s childhood, across Uzbek markets brimming with fragrant melons, to steaming bowls of noodles eaten in the backstreets of China. Discover hearty Azeri-Iranian stews served with crispy-bottomed rice, dill-infused noodles from Western Uzbekistan, zingy salads, all manner of comforting dumplings and breads, refreshing drinks and sharbats, and mouth-watering American- and British-inspired desserts. Essays peppered throughout offer fascinating historical insights, witty anecdotes and personal tales from Anna’s travels tracing the traditions, ingredients and people of a unique food culture.
Anna Ansari has a background in Asian studies, with a BA from Barnard College, Columbia University and an MA from Yale University. Anna’s writing focuses on the intersection of food, family, and history, with special attention to the immigrant experience and foods of the Asian continent. She is particularly interested in the ways food, flavours, and ingredients move across borders, carried in the memories and pockets of travellers and transplants.
Ansari said: “I am thrilled and grateful that I get to tell my story, my family’s story, my culture’s story and the story of often overlooked people, cuisines, cultures and histories in Silk Roads. The book is, of course, about food, but it is also a book about leaving home and about coming home. It is an immigrant story of what we take with us when we leave our homes, what we introduce to others as a way of introducing ourselves, and what remains when we are gone – what pieces and tastes of one culture are introduced and absorbed into new ones. It is a book to remind us, through the connectivity of flavours and ingredients, that borders are geopolitical constructs, and that authenticity and ownership can sometimes be shared, fluid or imagined. Oh, and it’s chock-a-block with seriously delicious and vibrant food, and awesome photography. Silk Roads is a journey across cultures, generations and continents, and I hope you enjoy it.”
Editorial Director for DK Life, Cara Armstrong said: “Anna has brought personality, wit, insight and some truly unforgettable recipes to this unique, personal and culinary exploration of the Silk Roads. This cookbook is a must-have for keen cooks and arm-chair travellers alike, as well as those fascinated by the journey of food and flavours.”
The Silk Roads has already received glowing advance praise:
‘Anna Ansari is a rare kind of home cook who is able to turn the simplest ingredients into pure magic. She’s also one of the best writers I know.’ – Meera Sodha, author of Made in India, Fresh India and East
‘Anna’s love and celebration of ingredients, and her collection of recipes are a wonderful thank you and homage to the incredible people that she has met on her journeys. Truly heartwarming and inspiring.’- Andrew Wong, chef and author of A. Wong The Cookbook
‘An incredibly rich book, full to the brim with history, wisdom and stories, all written in the warmest, most relatable voice. I don’t think I’ll learn more from any other book.’ – Helen Goh, co-author of Sweet and Comfort
‘A book of delicious recipes interwoven with histories, family stories and a good dash of humour is what we all need just now. Silk Roads promises to be such an important and lively book.’ – Olia Hercules, chef and author of Mamushka
‘A fascinating and meticulously researched blend of recipes, history and memoir, this cookbook deserves a place alongside Olia Hercules Mamushka, Sabrina Ghayour’s Persiana and Sami Tamimi’s Jerusalem.’ – Rukmini Iyer, chef and author of The Roasting Tin series
‘Anna Ansari is a wise, witty and hungry guide who takes us on a superb culinary journey along Silk Roads less travelled.’ – Jay Rayner, journalist and food critic
‘With gorgeous recipes and engaging stories, Anna Ansari tells a tale of food which is both personal and global in its scope.’ – Tim Anderson, chef and author of JapanEasy
