A COMPREHENSIVE BOOK ON HOLY HERBS

Book Review: Holy Herbs by Sudhir Ahluwalia

With the words ‘herbal’ and ‘organic’ becoming popular and being in common parlance around the world, there has been rising interest in herbs and herbal remedies. Herbs have been used since times immemorial, and find mention in many ancient texts. The author Sudhir Ahluwalia comes up with the book “Holy Herbs: Modern connections to Ancient plants”, which details about the herbs that have been mentioned in the Bible, and their usage from the biblical times to the modern world.
The book draws on extensive research which has been done by the author during his tenure in the forestry department, and also on knowledge drawn from the Bible, perhaps one of the biggest references for herbs.
Unlike most contemporary book on herbs which delve into the historical, botanical, culinary, medicinal or cosmetic aspect of the herbs singularly, this book dives into all these realms simultaneously with élan. We get to know about the historical overview of the herbs, and how they got transported along various land and sea routes connecting the Indus valley, Egypt, Greece, Rome, China and the Americas. The usage of herbs for various religious rituals has also been described, and the herbs primarily used for this purpose were Myrrh, Cinnamon and Cassia.
The author has also described the herbs used for making incenses and perfumes, their health benefits, how they were used in ancient times, and their modern usages. Their nutritional benefits and culinary usages in ancient Egyptian, Jewish, Greek and Roman food have also been described. The herbs which have been detailed include Cedar, Date Palm, Sycamore, Olive, Pomegranate, Willow, Myrtle, Aloeswood, Galbanum, Costus and Henna.
However, as Indian audiences are not much familiar with many of the herbs mentioned in the Bible, and because these Mediterranean herbs are seldom used in Indian cooking, Indian readers should read this book if they are interested in the topic or if they’re foraying into making Western cuisines. However, this treatise is a storehouse of information for Western audiences, as they get to know more about the herbs that they’re commonly using in the kitchen.
The author employs narratives that are well-researched and will surely be of interest to the reader. The language used is also simple, yet astute, which makes the book an entertaining, yet informative read. However, technical and academic facts may sometimes bore the general reader, but will fascinate those who like to read academic books and books with technical terminologies.
This book is a rigorous, illuminating and lucid contribution to the literature on herbs, and should adorn the library bookshelves of colleges for the benefit of the students in the field of Botany, Agriculture, Herbal medicine, Ayurveda, Herbal Cosmetology and Food sciences.