Vegetables the French Way

by Jack Santa Maria

With infectious enthusiasm, Jack Santa Maria shows how insistence on interesting sauces, charming presentation, and exciting aromas can transform mere vegetables into tantalizing main and side dishes. More than 200 new and traditional Gallic recipes--arranged alphabetically from artichokes to watercress--feature such imaginative fare as Eggplant Fritters, Red Cabbage with Chestnuts, Pumpkin Pancakes, and Dandelion with Cheese and Walnuts.

Santa Maria is well known for his highly successful books on Italian, Greek, Chinese, Indian, and international vegetarian cooking. Vegetables The French Way is an invaluable addition to the bookshelf of vegetarians and meat-eaters alike, proving that vegetables can be easily prepared so as to embody the very best in classic French cuisine.

192 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1990

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jack Santa Maria is the author of a variety of books on ethnic vegetarian cooking. In "Vegetables the French Way" he offers a collection of over 200 Gallic recipes for vegetables without being pugnacious about the absence of meat. He offers his book to "vegetarians and meat-eaters alike" and, where a recipe calls for vegetable broth or vegetable stock, the appropriate meat broth or stock may be easily substituted. The book is arranged alphabetically by the English name for each vegetable; the French names are then provided. He reports carefully which recipes arise from which regions in France. With enthusiasm, he suggests a number of vegetable dishes which can be promoted from side dish to entree. The book would have been improved by greater detail in some of the recipes, with attention to processes which might be unfamiliar to the novice reader. I found myself interested in cooking with chestnuts, braising endive and making the Potage de Haricots (pureed white-bean soup at p. 98) which was excellent.