Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #217361 in Books
• Published on: 2005-11
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 720 pages

Synopsis
The ultimate vegetable lover's cookbook presents 750 original recipes for a variety of taste-tempting dishes, along with a collection of essays on the world of vegetables and information on unusual vegetables from around the world and practical tips on how to buy, measure, substitute, and prepare all kinds of vegetables. $75,000 ad/promo. Good Cook

Customer Reviews

Quintessential guide to the world's veggies, and 750 recipes
Winner of the Julia Child Cookbook Award and columnist for Gourmet, Family Circle, and Vogue magazines, Barbara Kafka is a passionate chef who has always conveyed her enthusiasm in her writing. This book is no exception. Collaborating here with chef Christopher Styler, a writer and producer of PBS cooking shows, she has now produced the definitive guide to vegetables from all over the world, and she has done so with such style and panache that people will be reading this cookbook and enjoying its recipes for generations.

It is, first of all, a beautifully organized cookbook. Instead of simply presenting the vegetables in sterile, alphabetical order, Kafka (with Styler) has organized them according to the area of the world in which they originated, arranging them alphabetically within sections--Vegetables of the New World; of the Mediterranean Basin, Europe, and the Arab World; of Asia and Africa; and (for onions, scallions, herbs, and vegetables used everywhere) as Citizens of the World. This gives a refreshing unity to the sections based on the fact that the vegetables within each section are related to each other culturally and often blend naturally in recipes. As she introduces each vegetable within these sections, she discusses their histories, and since she is also a gardener, as well as a chef, often gives suggestions for planting and growing.

Fascinating and unique recipes teach home chefs to think outside the box, expanding the thinking of even experienced cooks by suggesting new ways of preparing or of combining ingredients. Eleven pages of recipes using artichokes, thirteen for beets, and twenty for tomatoes, for example, show the depth with which each vegetable is treated, and the creativity of the recipes is reflected in the Ruby Chard Tart, Beet and Apple Strudel, Carrot Sorbet, and Parsnip Flan with Smoked Salmon.

A 150-page Cook's Guide, with green-edged pages for quick reference, presents all vegetables alphabetically, allowing the authors an opportunity to give additional basic, practical information for each vegetable—buying and storing, washing/ways of cutting, yields and equivalents, methods of preparation, possible substitutes, distinctions within each vegetable group, and anecdotes. The entries on beans and peppers are particularly helpful.

A section on Basic Recipes and Techniques includes Vinaigrettes and Dressings, Doughs and Pastries, Stuffings, and an invaluable section on Sauces.

Written with humor and filled with friendly advice, this is a book for everyone, not just the gourmet chef. The suggestions are practical, and the writing is fun to read. Best of all, Kafka TRIES to connect with her reader--she doesn't just refer to an ingredient from the Cook's Guide--she provides the exact page number. Her beautifully organized, 35-page Index coordinates the various sections so you can look up recipes by ingredient. (If you have fish on hand and want to know something interesting you can do with it, there are ten vegetable sauces listed, and if you have tons of zucchini, there are thirteen recipes, from pickles to custard.) Released in time for the winter holidays, 2005, this is a landmark cookbook, which will keep its readers enthralled. Mary Whipple