A Touch of Spice

After three long decades, Fanis, a grizzled astrophysics professor, returns to his roots and his abandoned home in Constantinople to visit his ailing spice merchant grandfather and mentor. As Fanis takes a trip down memory lane--reminiscing about first loves, the passion for food, and the hard times that shaped him as a person--the spice-scented tale of a close-knit family unfolds: the story of the forced expulsion of the persecuted Greek-Orthodox population of Constantinople in 1964-1965, and how Fanis learned to become a gastronome.—Nick Riganas