Jane Grigson's Vegetable Book

by Jane Grigson, Amy Sherman (Introduction)

In Jane Grigson's Vegetable Book American readers, gardeners, and food lovers will find everything they've always wanted to know about the history and romance of seventy-five different vegetables, from artichokes to yams, and will learn how to use them in hundreds of different recipes, from the exquisitely simple “Broccoli Salad” to the engagingly esoteric “Game with Tomato and Chocolate Sauce.” Jane Grigson gives basic preparation and cooking instructions for all the vegetables discussed and recipes for eating them in every style from least adulterated to most adorned. This is by no means a book intended for vegetarians alone, however. There are recipes for “Cassoulet,” “Chicken Gumbo,” and even Dr. William Kitchiner's 1817 version of “Bubble and Squeak” (fried beef and cabbage).

 

Jane Grigson's Vegetable Book is a joy to read and a pleasure to use in the kitchen. It will introduce you to vegetables you've never met before, develop your friendship with those you know only in passing, and renew your romance with some you've come to take for granted.

 

This edition has a special introduction for American readers, tables of equivalent weights and measures, and a glossary, which make the book as accessible to Americans as it is to those in Grigson's native England.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Food and Drink, Classics

604 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Jane Grigson was a notable English cookery writer.

Reviews

[Jan-Maat]

I keep my copy of this in a cupboard in the kitchen. A good old fashioned cook book with none of this modern nonsense of glossy colour pictures! Beware, this is a sturdy paperback with some line drawings - which maybe is not ideal for showing unusual vegetables in peak eatable condition.

I particularly like the introduction to each vegetable with a bit about it's historical background and when and where Grigson has come across it and regional variations - that fills me with excitement - the idea that you can find the same old familiar vegetable but tasting oddly different in some other corner of the country.

Excellent for guidance on choosing and cooking vegetables, in particular if you're experimenting with something new or want to try a different way of preparing an old favourite.

[G.G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jane Grigson's style is elegant and her extraordinary erudition lightly worn. The alphabetical arrangement plus excellent cross-referencing and index make it easy to use. Personal favourite: Parsnip Soup.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of those amazing second hand finds that has followed me about waiting for it's moment of glory.
And glorious it is. I love the history and stories behind each vegetable.
In this book, vegetables are the main characters and sensual ones at that.
What interesting lives they have led! Another wonderful cookbook that inspires so much more.

[🐴 🍖]

yesssssss the missing link b/w MFK & laurie colwin i knew had to exist.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful prose, this is one opinionated lady from Sunderland. I haven't read anything like it. Each vegetable gets its own chapter, introduced with a mixture of personal history (how she discovered it, what she thinks of it) or actual history (how it came to be eaten) and then perhaps 6-10 recipes using it. The recipes also have interesting introductions. Not all of them are her recipes, she gives credit to others, mainly this is her opinion of the best recipes for the vegetable. Not vegetarian, she is definitely an omnivore but what is interesting is that this gives you a window into the history of eating vegetables. Our era of "5 a day" is definitely not the norm in human history. Her prose is crackling, will copy quite a bit of it in my notebook for later enjoyment.

[Eliane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a brilliant book. Organised alphabetically, each chapter deals with a different vegetable - some history, information on how to buy, where it comes from and so on, followed by several recipes. This is not a vegetarian cookbook - it's a book on how to cook an enormous variety of vegetables. If you grow your own or get an assortment of veg in a box scheme, then this is a really useful book to have on your shelf. Grigson writes beautifully, her recipes work and they are very varied. One of my most frequently used books.

[Adam Brock · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most entertaining books on vegtables, their social history and how to cook them, delicious!

[John Burgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is so much more than a recipe book; it's a feast for the reader, rich layers of lore, culture and history. One to browse and read over and over again.

I love how Grigson writes: there is no better example than the opening to her entry on kohlrabi.

"There are better vegetables than kohlrabi. And worse. I am thinking in particular of winter turnip and swede; certainly kohlrabi is a pleasant alternative to that grim pair. It is not a true turnip, but a cabbage with its stem swollen into a turnip shape, a cabbage-turnip, by analogy with the French celéri-rave, celery-turnip, our celeriac..."

[Ericthehamster]

"Although I have labelled this vegetarian, it is more a book of how to cook vegetables (with lots of interesting variations)."

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very literate cookery book. Would like to own someday.

[Gayle · Rating 5 out of 5]

What is there not to like? What is and what to do with book in a novel-like form. Lovely.

[Abraham Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love to eat vegetables myself so this is a good book to get from the liabrary.

[Julia]

A classic guide to vegetables that I turn to again and again.

[Paul Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential for any kitchen bookshelf. Just the bible on cooking vegetables imho