ckbk: The ultimate online cookbook library

With more than 88,000 brilliant recipes, ckbk is the ultimate digital subscription service for cooks. Subscribers get unlimited access to the complete content of every cookbook in the collection, so ckbk offers a seamless way to search for, find and cook the best cookbook recipes.

If you’ve been experimenting with spice blends and spices from Seasoned Pioneers, tapping into the vast wealth of knowledge available at ckbk will help you add layers of complexity to your dishes, and allow you to capture the personality and flavour of recipes from around the globe.

Here’s just a taster of what you’ll find…

Spice mixes: the world in your spice rack

From Japan to Jamaica and Morocco to Mexico, spice blends are the heart and soul of regional cuisines.

Here are six spice blends available from Seasoned Pioneers – and a couple dishes to make with each of them – to get you started.

Chinese five-spice

Star anise and cassia/cinnamon give Chinese five-spice a subtle, aromatic sweetness.

• Spicy-sweet vegan Five-Spice Snap biscuits from Hannah Kaminsky
• Vietnamese-style roast pork from Luke Nguyen

Bengali panch phoran

This Bengali blend of five spices gives great flavor to dal, as well as vegetable and fish dishes.

• Chicken Korma from Dina Begum
• Spicy Cauliflower Samosas (phulkopir sangara) from Peter Kuruvita

Moroccan ras al hanout

The fragrant heart of many Moroccan recipes. The name of this spice blend translates roughly as ‘head of the shop,’ meaning it was the purveyor’s signature creation.

• Velvety Butternut Squash from Melissa Joulwan
• Creamy Spice Market Kale from Melissa Joulwan

Japanese shichimi togarashi

This blend of dried spices and citrus peel (the name means ‘seven spice’ but many recipes contain more than just seven) includes dried chilli for a bit of heat.

• Soothing veggie soup noodles, Japanese-style, from Diane Morgan
• Easy spiced chicken wings from Maori Murota

Jamaican jerk seasoning

Jerk is both a spice/seasoning blend and a style of cooking. Jerk seasoning and jerk cooking are closely associated with Jamaica.

• Meat-free Hot Sweet Potato Wedges with Jerk Butter from Levi Roots
• When chicken meets coconut, it’s magic: Piña Colada Chicken from Melissa Joulwan

Ground mixed spice

Ground mixed spice (not to be confused with allspice) is the key to many a sweet bake in Europe and the U.S.. Its close relation, pumpkin spice, has reached new heights of fame thanks in large part to latte-lovers.

• Old-fashioned Spicy Gingerbread from Ghillie Basan
• Creamy, spice-rich Pumpkin–Spice Cheesecake from Kristine Kidd

Spice world: ckbk’s spiciest cookbooks

With more than 400 carefully curated titles on the ckbk site and almost 10,000 spicy recipes on ckbk, access to top authors and recipes is guaranteed.

Put your Seasoned Pioneers spices to use with these three top recommendations.

Mighty Spice Cookbook

Author John Gregory-Smith shows how simple it is to cook with spices and create recipes that are full of flavor. Try your hand at recipes from all over the world, from China to Mexico.

Key spices: nutmeg, tamarind, saffron

Lands of the Curry Leaf

A feast of vegetarian/vegan recipes from the Indian Subcontinent, from Sri Lanka (where author Peter Kuruvita grew up) to Nepal. Kuruvita gives detailed information about how to use spices to give life and character to dishes, and the recipes are broad-ranging and enticing, yet achievable.

Key spices: chaat masala, chilli powder, cardamom

Pepper: The Spice That Changed The World

Pepper-meister Christine McFadden collects of more than 100 recipes from around, from Steak au Poivre and Black Pepper Crisps, and documents pepper’s importance in world culinary history.

Key spices: black pepper, quatre-epices, pink peppercorns

Unlimited Access to the World’s Great Cookbooks

ckbk and Seasoned Pioneers have teamed up to bring you 30 days free ckbk Premium Membership, no credit card required. Premium Membership gives you unlimited access to hundreds of the world’s best cookbooks, in their entirety, plus access to more than 87,000 recipes, with thousands more added each month.

Curated by top food writers, ckbk’s has a range of content that is unparalleled in diversity and quality, featuring more than 400 titles including timeless classics, contemporary bestsellers and renowned reference bibles. 

GET 30 DAYS FREE CKBK PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP WITH CODE: SEASONEDPIONEERS 

After your 30-day free trial you will have the option to continue your ckbk Premium Membership with a 25% off the regular price of £4.99 (monthly) or £39.99 (annual).

The ckbk app is now available from the App Store!

We’ve listened to many users of the ckbk website who said they would really appreciate the speed and convenience of a ‘native app’ for phones and tablets, so last month we released the ckbk app for iPhone and iPad. Please give it a try – we can’t wait to hear how you get on.

We’ve tuned everything for use on a small screen, and now (at last) you can cook a recipe without your screen going to sleep.

Many further app-specific features are in the works, including Kindle-like browsing, allowing you to swipe from recipe to recipe and chapter to chapter within a cookbook. Be sure to set your phone to automatically install the latest app updates so you don’t miss a thing. If you’re an Android user, don’t worry – our Android app is almost ready for release and we’re on the lookout for testers. Please email [email protected] if you’d like to be one of the first to try ckbk’s Android app.