Plants
We Eat , a new series of 10 books on the major food plants of the world,
is beginning to roll off the presses now. The books examine where plants
originated, how and where they traveled, how they are grown and processed,
how they influenced culture in their original homes and their impact on
their new environments. Authored by The FOOD Museum’s Meredith Sayles Hughes,
the first four colorfully illustrated volumes are these: Buried Treasure:
Roots and Tubers; Cool as a Cucumber, Hot as a Pepper: Fruit Vegetables;
Glorious Grasses: The Grains, and Stinky and Stringy: Bulb and Stem
Vegetables. Published by Lerner Publishing in Minneapolis, the series
is officially aimed at schools and libraries, for middle school readers.
Having researched and written these books, however, I can truly say there
are no other books like them aimed either at adults or kids. Check with
the Lerner marketing department at 1 800 328 4929 if you’d like to acquire
the series.
Ginger:
Common Spice and Wonder Drug, by Paul Schulick, Herbal Free Press,
Brattleboro, VT, 1996, Third edition. A remarkable compilation of detailed
information on the generous ginger plant, this book should answer every
question you ever had on ginger’s power over an amazing number of ailments.
The author is the founder of a Brattleboro, Vermont herbal supplement company
called New Chapter, whose Ginger Wonder Syrup is a versatile product. A
work with over 30 pages of references, as well as 13 pages on the chemical
makeup of ginger alone, this is one for your herb-skeptical friends.
Home
Cooking, by Laurie Colwin, Harper Perennial, New York, 1993. Not every
book we present is brand new. Some are just old favorites we want others
to know about. Laurie Colwin, a novelist of great warmth and humor, wrote
this perfect series of essays about the simple delights of cooking and
eating well-prepared foods. She includes a few recipes, several hints,
and many hilarious stories. Who wouldn’t want to delve into these chapters:
Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant, Feeding the Fussy, and How to Avoid
Grilling.
Great
Salsas by the Boss of Sauce by W.C. Longacre and Dave DeWitt, The Crossing
Press, Freedom, CA, 1997. Every salsa in this book contains chiles (New
Mexican approved spelling ) from the hottest of tiny chiltepins, to the
bland but pleasing familiar green bell. Salsa in Mexico means sauce and
applies to both cooked and uncooked preparations. Now that salsa has surpassed
ketchup as the nation’s most popular condiment, this book rushes in to
teach us how to concoct them all, from true Mexican, to New Mexican to
Tex-Mex to tropical. Consider apple-citrus salsa for seafood, apricot ginger
red chile salsa for roast pork, pickled cactus and tequila salsa for chips.
The
Hot Flash Cookbook by Cathy Luchetti, Chronicle Books, San Francisco,
1997. No, not another chiles tome, this book grew from the author’s desire
to eliminate her own hot flashes through a diet of Vitamin E rich foods
and foods filled with plant-based estrogens. Her research prompted a bout
of cooking, countless Hot Flash dinners with friends and chefs, and finally,
this offering of recipes. With an emphasis on fish, lamb, vegetables, fruits,
nuts seeds and tofu, the recipes keep fat at bay, and include inventive
seasonings. The book does not bore you with calorie counting, nor does
it neglect dessert: Midlife Trifle combines coconut tapioca with sponge
cake, mango slices and lime sauce.
Seed
to Civilization, by Charles B. Heiser, Jr., Harvard University Press,
Cambridge, 1990. Subtitled "the story of food," this slim book is indeed
a swift yet compelling look at the basic foods we eat around the world,
with an emphasis on plant foods. The author is a botanist who has written
a number of fine books on plants, including one all about the sunflower.
Heiser not only relates food history--he has concerns about the future
of food resources and the need for improvement in the way we go about growing
and processing our foods. Illustrated with numerous photos and drawings.
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