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100 Vegetables and Where They Came Fromby William Woys Weaver, Signe Sundberg-Hall (Illustrator) Hardcover - 288 pages (October 20, 2000) Algonquin Books ISBN: 1565122380 Dimensions (in inches): 1.09 x 7.33 x 5.28 Check price @ amazon.com , amazon.ca , amazon.co.uk Book Description A perfect leek from France. Flavorful zucchini from Italy. An infamous potato from Ireland, and a humble lentil from Ethiopia. 100 VEGETABLES offers a veritable cornucopia of vegetables and stories from around the world--from Argentina to Zimbabwe, from Australia to the United States. William Woys Weaver--veggie connoisseur, gardener, and historian--guides us through a range of peppers, potatoes, peas, gourds, onions, tomatoes, greens, and a whole lot more. From Booklist Frustrated with the uniformity of potatoes, carrots, peppers, and peas found in most grocery stores, connoisseurs of vegetables have turned to ancient and rare varietals to add color and taste to their tables. Gardeners have risen to the challenge of raising something unusual in their plots. Instead of rows of popcorn, gardens yield crops of nunas, popping beans first cultivated by South American Indians. Potatoes come up from underground in innumerable shapes, sizes, colors, and flavors. And they carry odd names such as the Beauty of Hebron. Gardeners also have taken these heirloom plants to heart for their often-remarkable flowers and foliage. Few plants look as dramatic as Jamaica's Little Nubian Pepper, its leaves so dark green they're almost black. Weaver has tracked down the history of 100 of these rediscovered glories and recorded their fascinating origins and characteristics. His comprehensive source list for seeds and lengthy bibliography make such exotic plants easily accessible to every gardener. Renewed fascination with heirloom vegetables makes this book a valuable addition to library collections. Mark Knoblauch Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Customer Reviews Reviewer: from Washington State USA A Tour Through Our Extraordinary Culinary Heritage. A fascinating history of vegetables from around the world & onto our platters for supper. You will find sidebars extolling the virtues of efficiency & flavor of just about every plant W3 hunts down, together with hints for gardeners about spicing up beverages & other mildly improper culinary secrets. From the Aji Dulce Pepper (Capsicum chinense) from Venezuela - smoky flavored without the "hot pepper overkill and the sensation of fiery lava flowing through the body" ... to the Zwollsche Krul Celery (Apium graveolens) found in the salt marshes of the Netherlands - a curly leaf celery that falls under the general English category of smallage - parsley & such - used boiling or stewing. Part of the history of the plants we've cultivated for hundreds of years(What was the Lumper Potato?) is also part of the history of our language of cooking. You will find terms such as landrace or smallage. The plants which W3 pursues are noncommercial or "backyard" varieties that have been under cultivation for a very long time. They are the real ingredients of peasant cookery & often provide regional cookeries with their distinctive flavors. Which vegetable delicacy did our Third President set upon his table for his guests? Would you know what Cardoon is? W3 knows & now so do I! Enough already! Talk about digging for the roots of our roots! A garden book for cooks or a cook's guide to ancient gardens - either way - if you like veggies, you're going to want your own copy of W3's latest! Reviewer: vera_lynn from Southeastern Virginia, USA This book amazes me: The author has managed to combine two activities I don't usually do (cooking and seed propagation) with two of my least favorite subjects (history and social studies) in a reference-style format compelling enough to read in bed. Mr. Weaver has a flair for culinary description combined with an unabashed enthusiasm for both plants and people. When he describes a plant's origins, he doesn't just state a place and a time, he takes you there, he tells you how he found it, he describes the husbandry behind it, and THEN he tells you what it's like to eat it. And what it goes well with. And how it might look in a garden. And what its virtues are. And so on, invoking an exotic world of color and taste such as never graced your local grocer's vegetable shelves! So: ...If you've ever enjoyed thumbing through cookbooks to savor the taste of imagined dishes... ...If you've ever enjoyed reading a travel journal and experiencing people and customs through the eyes of others... ...If you've ever enjoyed browsing through seed catalogs and plotting away the winter with dreams of exotic varieties (--all yours for the mere price of a seed packet!) ...Or if your shopping for anyone with an interest in "foodways"... ...Then this book is well worth the price. Reviewer: Dennis Littrell from SoCal In one sense this is a popular book, easy to read with helpful line drawings of the vegetables (gracefully rendered by Signe Sundberg-Hall). Weaver even gives phonetic guidance on how to pronounce the names of the vegetables, which include peppers, beans, potatoes, lentils, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, eggplants, etc. Part of the book is a celebration of those names and an appreciation of their history. While reading this I made a mental note to get to my local Whole Foods or Begonia Farms store more often and try something new and exotic! In another sense this is an advanced book for gardeners and culinary experts, not because the book is technical, but because for most people most of the vegetables presented will not be found at the local supermarket, nor will their seeds be found at the local garden and seed store. Additionally it is not always clear to this amateur how these exotic varieties differ from their more prosaic fellows at the local A&P. Weaver helps by attempting to describe the taste (hard to do!) and advises on things like texture, color and spiciness (e.g., wear gloves when cooking Aji Lemón peppers, and don't breath the fumes!). He includes some recipes and advice on complementary foods to go along with the featured veggies. He gives some recipes, sometimes from the culture of origin. For gardeners there are five pages of seed catalogue stores and their web addresses. For botanists he includes the botanical names and the plant's family name. No fungi, by the way. There are varieties from "every continent, except the frozen one," e.g., "Shungiku Edible Chrysanthemum," from Japan, "Pepino Dulce Melon" from South America, "Jaune du Poitou Leek," from France, even the "Petaluma Gold Rush Bean," from my native California. Among the exotic names I found some terminology new to me. Some vegetables are referred to as "heirloom" varieties and/or "cultivars." Weaver uses the term "landrace," which I couldn't find in any of my dictionaries, defined on page two as a noncommercial or "backyard" variety in cultivation for a long time. Weaver has himself cultivated all the varieties presented here on his farm in Pennsylvania where he grows three thousand or so vegetables on a rotating basis. His knowledge about vegetables and his love for them is very impressive. His appreciation of the culinary arts is evident. This is a pretty little book from Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill that would make a nice present for someone you know who loves cooking or gardening. Reviewer: Midwest Book Review from Oregon, WI USA William Weaver's 100 Vegetables And Where They Came From text picks a hundred vegetables from around the world and shares their stories of development and consumption. Read here about the Pennsylvania Winter Luxury squash which can be eaten like an apple, or the Botswana cowpea, which is a creamy dish in Africa. Excellent folklore for vegetable fans. A Beginner's Guide to Vegetable Gardening by B. Rosie Lerner CD-ROM (August 1, 2001) Purdue Research Foundation ISBN: 093168286X Cubed Foot Gardening : Growing Vegetables in Raised, Intensive Beds by Christopher O. Bird Paperback - 175 pages (October 2001) The Lyons Press ISBN: 1585743127 The Tomato in America : Early History, Culture, and Cookery by Andrew F. Smith Paperback - 224 pages Reprint edition (December 2001) Univ of Illinois Pr (Trd) ISBN: 0252070097 Heirloom Vegetable Gardening : A Master's Guide to Planting, Seed Saving, and Cultural History by William Woys Weaver Hardcover - 442 pages (April 2002) Book Sales ISBN: 0785814299 Melons for the Passionate Grower by Amy Goldman, Victor Schrager (Photographer) Hardcover - 160 pages (May 25, 2002) Artisan ISBN: 1579652131 The Fragrant Chilli by Michael Bailes Paperback - 160 pages (August 2001) Simon & Schuster (Paper) ISBN: 0743218167 Growing Great Vegetables in the Heartland by Andrea Ray Chandler Paperback - 223 pages (April 2001) Taylor Pub ISBN: 0878332588 Growing Vegetables by Tony Biggs Paperback (March 1, 2001) Trafalgar Square ISBN: 1840001526 Landscaping With Fruits and Vegetables by Fred Hagy, Clare McCanna (Illustrator) Hardcover - 280 pages (February 15, 2001) Overlook Press ISBN: 1585671207 100 Vegetables and Where They Came From by William Woys Weaver, Signe Sundberg-Hall (Illustrator) Hardcover - 288 pages (October 20, 2000) Algonquin Books ISBN: 1565122380 The Midwest Fruit and Vegetable Book : Illinois by James A. Fizzell Paperback - 312 pages (March 2001) Cool Springs Press ISBN: 1930604165 Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties : The Gardener's & Farmer's Guide to Plant Breeding & Seed Saving by Carol Deppe Paperback - 384 pages 2 edition (December 2000) Chelsea Green Pub Co ISBN: 1890132721 The Fruit & Vegetable Garden by Richard Bird Paperback - 168 pages (September 2000) ISBN: 0754806103 Vegetables by J.I. RODALE Paperback - 112 pages 1st edition (March 2000) ISBN: 0875968406 Peppers : Vegetable and Spice Capsicums (Crop Production Science in Horticulture Series) by P. W. Bosland, E. J. Votava Paperback (March 2000) CABI Publishing, CAB International ISBN: 0851993354 My Vegetable Love : A Journal of a Growing Season by Carl H. Klaus Paperback - 344 pages (March 2000) University of Iowa Press ISBN: 0877457077 Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades : The Complete Guide to Natural Gardening by Steve Solomon Paperback - 368 pages 5th edition (March 2000) Sasquatch Books ISBN: 1570612404 Edible Pepper Garden, The (The Edible Garden Series) by Rosalind Creasy Paperback - 108 pages (March 2000) Periplus Editions ISBN: 9625932968 How to Grow Organic Vegetables in Containers (Anywhere!) by Eileen M. Logan Paperback - 128 pages (March 2002) ISBN: 0595217729 You Bet Your Tomatoes: Fun Facts, Tall Tales, and a Handful of Useful Gardening Tips by Mike McGrath Paperback - 96 pages (February 2002) Rodale Press ISBN: 0875968708 Gardener's Table : A Guide to Natural Vegetable Growing and Cooking by Richard Merrill, Joe Ortiz Paperback - 464 pages (April 2000) Ten Speed Press ISBN: 0898158761 |
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