We celebrate the work of influential writer Charmaine Solomon with an extract of her celebrated book The Complete Asian Cookbook.

Good cooking is one of the creative arts. Early in life I was fortunate enough to learn from the accomplished and dedicated cooks around me – mother, grandmother and aunts – and found it was one of the most rewarding ways to express myself and give enjoyment to others at the same time. I also discovered that there is no real mystery about being able to cook well – no magic potions or secret charms – just a healthy interest in eating well and getting the most pleasure possible from each meal. A reliable cookbook is also a great help.

For me, the excitement of cooking is found in creating new dishes, improvising on old familiar ones and in trying new recipes from less-familiar cuisines. Presenting such meals to an appreciative family and to friends becomes an experience to be shared and remembered with pleasure.

Just as France has its robust country fare as well as its subtle haute cuisine, so too does Asia have a range of culinary delights that can be simple, complex, fiery, mild, tantalising – and compulsive! Not all Asian food is exotic or wildly unusual. Noodle and rice dishes are as commonplace as the pastas and potatoes of the West. Many of the ingredients will be familiar to anyone who knows their way around a kitchen. The main differences have arisen just as they have arisen in other parts of the world – through the use of available ingredients.

My aim in writing this book has been to make it possible for keen cooks everywhere to explore the cooking of Asia, and to prove that real Eastern meals can be produced in Western kitchens.