Product Description

A comprehensive survey of the plants that provide food, beverages, spices, and flavorings, this book will serve as an invaluable reference to gardeners, ethnobotanists, nutritionists, culinary professionals, dieticians, and food enthusiasts. This scientifically accurate guide will allow them to identify all the major plant-derived foods and flavors, research culinary uses, and understand their dietetic and nutritional properties. Introductory chapters cover the various categories of plant use, including cereals, pulses (legumes), nuts and seeds, fruits, vegetables, culinary herbs, sugar plants, beverages, spices, and flavorings. The core of the volume is an encyclopedic description of more than 350 food and flavor plants in use worldwide, with over 1000 color photographs. This accessible, pictorial guide is a concise source of practical information, not readily available elsewhere, and should be on every food enthusiast's bookshelf.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #451437 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 480 pages

Review
Here is another in the series of excellent plant books from Portland's Timber Press. The text, while detailed, is easy to read and well organized. -- Dan Hays Salem Statesman Journal 20060212 A hefty but well-mannered reference approach to the topic, this book packs a serious informational punch. -- Tod Eunker Bloomsbury Review 20060301 Van Wyk presents a superbly illustrated guide to more than 350 commercially important plants that are sources of cereals, nuts, fruits, vegetables, drinks, herbs, and spices. The photos distinguish this work work from similar titles. -- D. M. Rosenthal Choice 20060401 A standout as a book about edible plants. The author ... has made a study of virtually every plant suitable for eating that you might encounter. -- Joel M. Lerner Washington Post 20060520 If you are looking for a terrific guide that will help you identify plant-derived foods and flavors, including their culinary uses and health properties, then Food Plants of the World is the book for you. -- Debra Wasserman Vegetarian Journal 20060101 This book is a gem. It deserves constant use by all who want easily accessible and accurate plant information. -- Jacqueline M. Newman Flavor and Fortune 20060701 The botanical world is richly edible. In Food Plants of the World van Wyck uses vivid images and descriptions to bring the bounty of this diversity alive. This is a major contribution to expanding our culinary tastes and exploring the diverse world of the plant kingdom. -- Joan Edwards Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture 20061001 Readers ... will find much of interest in this book. I strongly recommend it. -- Daniel F. Austin Economic Botany 20060701

About the Author
Ben-Erik van Wyk is a professor of botany at the Rand Afrikaans University, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Customer Reviews

Food and Spice for Thought
... belongs on your kitchen shelf, next to salt and pepper, or right smack on the kitchen table ... you are, what you eat.... so, will learn more about yourself! Hmm!? This is a fantastic book, appatizing, mouth-watering, a must for the 'kitcheneer'... you'll love the crisp, authentic photography! ...and your meals will taste so much better with that extra grain of salt and the provided pepper, I mean, spice for thought! A nice and affordable present - always comes in handy. I keep an EXTRA copy, just in case a friend decides not to let loose of mine. Enjoy!

TCH Cole - hobby cook and botanist -
Heidelberg, Germany

Surprisingly good
I rarely, if ever, write reviews on the many books I purchase via Amazon. After receiving this one, however, I felt I should make an exception. I admit I was not expecting too much, after all how could a book of less than 500 pages even begin to cover most or even many of the numerous food plants in use in the world? Boy, was I wrong. The amount of information packed on every page is quite remarkable, both visually, with usually multiple pictures per species, and in succint yet surprisingly comprehensive texts. Descriptions, origins and history, uses, cultivation, properties, and nutritional information are among the topics covered on every page. I am particularly grateful for the inclusion for every plant of their name(s) in several major languages (including Chinese, Japanese, French, Italian, Spanish, etc.), which, while unavoidably not complete given the often numerous regional variants within each language, is something many similar books do not even attempt to do. Obviously not every food plant in use or cultivation can be covered exhaustively in any single volume, but even the more obscure ones I encountered while traveling in Latin America are at least mentioned somewhere in descriptions of better-known related species. The many Timber Press books I own are good, but this is likely the best. I used to have to waste my time on repeated google searches when looking for basic information on tropical fruits or unusual food plants I knew nothing about; now I just open van Wyk's book.