The Organic Cook's Bible: How to Select And Cook the Best Ingredients on the Market

by Jeff Cox

The most comprehensive, authoritative organic foods guide available



Flavorful, nutritious meals begin with flavorful, nutritious ingredients. They also begin with knowledge. If you want to learn about and enjoy the benefits of organic foods, this book is an essential resource that will make it easier to "go organic" by helping you "know organic."

Covering fruit, vegetables, meat, eggs, milk, spices, and more, The Organic Cook's Bible expertly addresses the what, where, when, how, and why of choosing and using more than 150 types of organic foods. It
* Easy-to-find entries, organized alphabetically within categories
* Information on selection, storage, nutrition, uses, and preparation
* More than 150 color photos for easy identification
* A special section listing 900 top varieties of organic produce
* A useful list of organic food suppliers and organizations


"This is an amazing book! Jeff brings together the essentials of gardening and cooking with delicious, approachable recipes and a discussion of what it means to eat in an ethical, sustainable, and healthy manner--and manages not to be preachy. It's a great read for those just beginning to explore good food as well as old pros."
--John Ash, chef, food and wine educator, and author of the award-winning book John Ash Cooking One on One

"The Organic Cook's Bible is a fantastic resource to guide both home and professional cooks through a greater understanding of what to consider when using organics."
--Jesse Z. Cool, owner of jZcool Eatery and Catering Company and other restaurants and author of six cookbooks, including Your Organic Kitchen

"The Organic Cook's Bible is a great book and an important tool to spread the good news of organics and inspire us all in the kitchen."
--Ronnie Cummins, National Director, Organic Consumers Association

Genres: Cookbooks, Nonfiction, Cooking, Nutrition, Food, Reference

546 pages, Hardcover

First published April 4, 2006

Reviews

[CrystalIsReading on StoryGraph · Rating 3 out of 5]

First off, I have to say it's a pet peeve of mine to refer to something as a Bible simply because it's a resource book that attempts to be comprehensive. Such usage may be acceptable English, but it still annoys the religious part of me. I try to tune that out, though, and appreciate books for their intended purpose.
And this was a pretty good book. I am trying to eat vegan as well as gluten and yeast free, so a lot of recipes in here didn't work for me. But there were plenty of other good recipes, as well as information on all imaginable organic items. I especially enjoyed the sections on more obscure organic items, things like cardoons and salsify and borage. I got this from the library, and don't have enough time to try a lot of the recipes. And not all of them sound like something I'd enjoy. If you're a big fan of Deborah Madison's work, and are comfortable with animal products, this is probably a great book for you. I may get it out again when I have a little more time, and read through the sections with care. Then again, maybe I won't. It might be easier for me to research random items online, and get recipes that are better tailored to me from other sources. Still not a bad book.

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

I impulsively bought this book on a vacation bookstore visit and then had to carry it home -- it's heavy (very nice paper). After a brief introduction to various concepts of organic food (I think the book is about 10 years old or more so it was not as common as now), there are sections on vegetables, fruits, herbs and spices, kitchen staples, grains, nuts and seeds, meat/fish/eggs/dairy. Each describes the items one is likely to be able to buy in organic version and talks about varieties, storage, etc. with recipes included. I have only tried one recipe so far, for oatmeal, and it took about twice as long for me to cook as the book said it would. But other recipes that I was familiar with seemed correct, and there were some interesting ones I'd like to try, like the frittatas. There are nice colored plates of the various foods discussed. It seems like a fairly useful book and I may keep it. (We're moving soon and trying to weed books so....)

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is more of an encyclopedia of food more so than a straight read book. However, the information in this book is brilliant. I worked in the produce dept. of an organic food co-op for 5 years, and we had this book handy in case someone asked for something a little more exotic than what we normally carried. I'd say 90% of the time this book had information on just about every fruit and vegetable people asked for. There is also a recipe ideas throughout the many (500+) pages. This is an attractive book with it's green text, color pictures at the beginning of every section, and full color dust sleeve. An excellent book for any kitchen.

[Pricky · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're interested in living organically, this is a good informative book on why a particular ingredient should be organic vs. conventional; it also gives you a nutritional analysis of the food items and a lot of background information on the organic industry. The book kind of adds "fuel to the fire" so to speak on living organically, which is or is not a good thing...can kind of make one a little obsessed.

[Ethicurean Reads]

Following a discussion of what constitutes organic food, Cox offers a comprehensive A-Z guide to ingredients both humdrum and exotic; for each entry, he gives a brief history of the item, its organic cultivation, nutrition, types, seasonality, selection hints, preparation, and uses. Each citation has a recipe or two featuring the item as an ingredients.

[Maboo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually quite like this book - it's useful at those times when you wonder what to do with a certain kind of ingredient.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I didn't read all of this book. There is just too much information to absorb at once. It's more like an encyclopdia, really. With recipes.

[Dayna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the history of fruits and vegetables. It's a cookbook too! Mangia!

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of good tips on how to pick out the best produce and some intersting recipes.

[Meredith Henning · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're at all in to organic foods, this one is great to have. Nice recipes too although I haven't tried any yet, LOTS of information though for those wanting a reason to go entirely organic.

[Mwells2920 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book! It's my new kitchen bible. To boot, my little brother picked it out for me for my birthday years ago. A gem of a book could be hiding on your very own bookshelf.