Author: Jack Bishop

Publisher: Morrow Cookbooks

Pub. in: April, 2001

ISBN: 0060192216

Pages: 416

Measurements: 9.1 x 7.2 x 1.5 inches

Origin of product: USA

Order code: BA00968

Other information: 1st edition
ISBN-13: 9780060192211

Bishop is a well-known cookbook author and food writer who writes frequently about vegetables for the New York Times. He is a senior editor of Cook's Illustrated and Natural Health magazines and author of several other cookbooks celebrating vegetables.

Jack Bishop, together with the rest of the Cook's Illustrated crew, can be seen each Saturday on most PBS affiliate stations in the marvelous TV show "America's Test Kitchen". He has spent a lot of time in Italy and is an expert on vegetable cooking in general and Italian cooking in particular. It should come as no surprise then that he is the author of this and several other excellent cookbooks on Italian and vegetable cooking. The current book is a more encyclopedic vegetable guide and cookbook, but by no means a "vegetarian" one.

There are uniform articles on 66 different vegetables, a veritable celebration of the variety of vegetables available through part or all of the year round. Among these 66, there are the old favorites such as broccoli, carrots, celery, mushrooms, potatoes, tomatoes, and onions. Alongside these there are new favorites brought to our attention by hours of watching Mario Batali, Bobby Flay, and Jaime Oliver such as Artichokes, Broccoli Rabe, Cardoons, Celery Root, Dandelion Greens, Fava Beans, Fennel, Soybeans, Turnips, and Zucchini. At the far end of familiarity are Boniato, Burdock, Calabaza, Chayote, Jerusalem Artichokes, Kohlrabi, Malanga, Sorrel, Taro, and Yuca.

Every article, regardless of how many recipes may be given, has the same 7 paragraphs in the introductory article. The first paragraph simply introduces you to the vegetable and gives you a general idea of the appeal and usability of the vegetable. The next paragraph on availability gives the best season for the produce and whether or not the vegetable is currently available year round in American markets. The third paragraph on selection gives us criteria for whether we want to pick up today's selection of a species or let it alone. The paragraph on storage is especially useful, as there is probably very little wisdom handed down from your Eastern European grandma on storing tomatillos, taro, or jicama or from your Mexican mom on dealing with arugula, bok choy, or burdock. The basic preparation paragraph can be simple for leafy greens or very complicated for artichokes. The very short section on best cooking methods is primarily useful for totally unfamiliar vegetables. A very useful last entry gives recipes on other vegetables in which the titular ingredient appears.

Bishop is not only intent on providing things to do with newly available produce, he is intent on making cooking all vegetables, especially the old standards with a new set of recipes to make them more interesting and to make cooking them more fun. One excellent case in point is asparagus that everyone either boils or steams and dresses with some creamy sauce. Since everyone already knows how to do this, Bishop doesn't bother to give recipes for these. Rather, his nine asparagus recipes include three roasting methods, a grilling recipe, two sautee recipes, a recipe with Chinese noodles, a recipe with a vinaigrette, and an asparagus frittata. One of the most enjoyable discoveries in Bishop's book is to find ways to treat certain vegetables in totally unexpected ways. Two cases are shallots and garlic. Both are most commonly thought of as herbs to enliven dishes where some other vegetable or protein is the main ingredient, but if you are willing to pay the price, shallots make a great main ingredient, not really much different in cost from, for example cippolini or wild mushrooms.

One corollary of Bishop's objective in preparing this book is that this is not a reference for the most commonly prepared recipes. But, this is not universally true. While the traditional steaming or poaching methods for asparagus is absent, classic mashed potatoes and the traditional Greek salad with tomatoes are here.

Very highly recommended as a vegetarian and general cook's reference for recipes and buying advice.
- From quoting B. Marold and Richard W. Miller

Target readers: Food lovers, housewives, professional cooks, or hotel and restaurant managers.

Better with Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone :

			2 Buy with : ¥ 666.00
			Quantity:  +112345678910