Vegetables: The Most Authoritative Guide to Buying, Preparing, and Cooking with More than 300 Recipes

by James Peterson

An A-to-Z encyclopedia features entries on buying, storing, and preparing a wide range of vegetable varieties, as well as more than three hundred international recipes, including both vegetarian and meat dishes, from the award-winning author of Fish & Shellfish. Tour.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Culinary, Reference, Food and Drink

448 pages, Hardcover

First published July 8, 1998

About the author

James Peterson grew up in northern California and studied chemistry and philosophy at UC Berkeley. After his studies, he traveled around the world, working his way through Asia, by land, to Europe. Eventually he landed in Paris and was amazed by the French attitude toward food and drink. (This was in the mid seventies when food in America was practically non-existent.) It was in France that he found his calling. As he was running short on funds, Jim found a job picking grapes in the south of France where he lived with a family for two weeks. He has never forgotten the sumptuous lunches prepared by the vigneron's wife. After his initial inspiration, Jim returned to the United States and got a job as a short-order cook. This was his first cooking job and while the cuisine was not 3-star, there was still the need for speed and organization. After saving money for a year and a half, Jim returned to France. After begging his way in, he ended up working at two of what were then among France's greatest restaurants, George Blanc and Vivarois. It was his experiences in these restaurants that shaped his style of cooking and drove his pursuit of cuisine as a career. Jim also studied pastry at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris.

By a series of serendipitous events, James found himself a partner/chef in a small French restaurant in Greenwich Village, called Le Petit Robert. It was here that he was able to experiment and invent and shape his own unique approach to cooking. The restaurant was reviewed in a wide variety of major publications including Gourmet Magazine where it was called "...what may be the most creative restaurant in New York." It was no doubt in part because of his extravagant use of truffles and foie gras, that the restaurant, after four years, was forced to close. At a loss, Jim started teaching cooking at the French Culinary Institute and later, at Peter Kump's New York Cooking School, now ICE. Jim spent a year developing curriculum for the French Culinary Institute.

After translating a series of French pastry books, Jim established a relationship with a publisher who encouraged him to write his own book. His first book, Sauces, published in 1991, continues to sell as well now as it did the first year after publication. It won the James Beard Cookbook of the Year Award and put James on the map as a serious writer and teacher. Other books followed: Splendid Soups, nominated for both a James Beard and IACP Award, Fish & Shellfish, nominated for both awards and a winner of an IACP Award, Vegetables, winner of a James Beard Award, The Essentials of Cooking, nominated for both awards.

It was during the writing and preparation of Fish & Shellfish that Jim starting taking his own pictures for his books. This started what has become a twenty-year obsession with photography. He set out to write and photograph a definitive technique book similar to Jacques Pepin's La Technique except in full color and updated. After the publication of The Essentials of Cooking Jim embarked on four small, photograph-laden, books about food and wine including Simply Salmon, The Duck Cookbook, Sweet Wines, and Simply Shrimp. After the completion of these four books, Jim set out on producing the monumental Cooking which is his attempt at explaining and illustrating the most important basics of cooking. Cooking won a James Beard Award for best single subject. When Cooking was published, Jim set out to tackle baking. A two-year project ensued during which Jim shot over 3000 pictures (with film!) for the definitive Baking. Baking went on to win a James Beard Award in the dessert and baking category. Exhausted after these behemoths, Jim wrote a book dedicated to simple dishes--dishes that can be prepared in 30 minutes or less. Out this last August, Kitchen Simple has been acclaimed as an important collection of simple yet elegant recipes. The latest project is the publication of the second edition of Jim's award-winning Vegetables. This new edition will hav

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book years ago when I first started my obsession with cooking. I'm a huge vegetable lover and I have found this book to be a lifesaver multiple times. The recipes are hit or miss but the instructions and pictures for preparing the veggies are amazing. Step by step instructions for just about everything. This book also really inspired me to try out some vegetables that I hadn't tried or seen in my local stores before. Overall, this is a book I will likely hold on to for years to come.

[sara frances · Rating 2 out of 5]

pssssh, no way i am going to take the time to peel asparagus!

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

The photographs are beautiful and this book is packed with information, but I found it hard to read. Each recipe is printed in two colors and in multiple fonts and font sizes. The directions are so small that they are difficult to read, but at the same time, there is a lot of white space on each page. This is annoying since this is a cookbook and most people who use it to cook are going to want to be able to easily read the instructions. This is not a vegetarian cookbook, many of the recipes include meat. Many of the recipes sound great but some vegetables get more attention than others, there are pages of recipes for zucchini and chile peppers but only a couple of pages of recipes for asparagus or cabbage.

The book is packed with information and the general instructions for stews, soups, salads and other basic dishes in the front encourage experimentation and innovation.

[Laila Masa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Šai grāmatai ir jābūt katra pavāra grāmatplauktā. Saprotamā valodā izskaidroti dažādi dārzeņu sagatavošanas veidi, tiek sniegta informācija par dažādiem dārzeņiem. Pārējais jau ir katra paša improvizācija.

[Mckinley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very helpful book about types, how to prepare etc. with recipes. Also gives variations on recipes. Tried marinating mushrooms two ways. Liked one as is, the other I think will be could if I saute them. Will try out tonight. Con - he talks about Ramps but never explains what they are. Pro - as compared to Cranberry beans which he does define. Turns out a ramp is also called a wild leek. Who knew?

FYI -- "The Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink," the word ramp comes from "rams," or "ramson," an Elizabethan dialect rendering of the wild garlic. The word is first mentioned in English print in 1530, but was used earlier by English immigrants of the southern Appalachian Mountains.

I can just see myself -- "Did you find everything ok?" asks the young clerks at my local grocery store. (Who didn't know what jicama was when I brought it to the check out line.) "No," say I. "Where are your ramps?"

[Jmay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good guide to one thing you can do with each kind of veg- going over hundreds of different vegetables. I made the bok choy recipe and found the tip about separating the thick stem from the leaves in the very beginning (then cooking those bits for longer) to make my finished product more enjoyable than the typical mix of over-and-under-cooked slop I normally produce.

On the other hand, many of the recipes are complex for a cook's first introduction to a new vegetable. It's like they didn't decide on a standard skill level for all the recipes, so you can either get a simple recipe for a vegetable you already are familiar with or a complex one for something you're just trying for the first time.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

a fine introduction, though i didn't really understand the organization. cooking does a much better job of covering the basics, and here he has a very strange introduction which has lots of recipes, before starting part 2 which goes into individual vegetables, half of which are not vegetables - mushrooms, spices, herbs, obscure plants he wants to reference but then doesn't give a recipe or a photo. didn't love this one.

[Bunny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to own this book.

The recipes are lackluster, I only found two worth keeping for myself. But the instructions on how to prepare the vegetables are phenomenal. I learned so much, including what some veggies I'd always heard talked about on Top Chef actually ARE.

Such an incredibly informative, and beautiful book.

[Cherie · Rating 3 out of 5]

B- Not as good as I hoped; some real basics on veggies. If you cook like him, you have to go to the store almost every day; he barely keeps any veggies more than a few days (including some root veggies!). Some interesting recipes.

[Tatjana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book of cooking obscure and common vegetables. Delicious, but uses plenty of fat. It's good if you already have a sense of cooking. This is not a beginner's book, though it has some excellent prep tips.

[Christina Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love it when we find some strange looking vegetable in the supermarket and then look it up in this vegetable book! I don't have to worry about trying something new because there are great recipes included too!

[Miss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great reference book. Colour pictures, always a bonus. Simple recipes/tips for prepping veggies of all kinds.
A good way to expand my food choices as I continue to add for all-veggie meals to my life.

[Jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really love this book. Copy I read is coffe-table size though which makes it hard to enjoy reading and you can't take it along for waiting rooms or lunch breaks. Wish I could find it in a different size and really get a chance to spend some time over it.

[Stephen Simpson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing relative to the many other Peterson books I've read and owned. It's not a bad book, it just doesn't cover much (if any) new ground and there just aren't that many interesting recipes in it.

[Happy Reader · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a beautiful but ultimately useless cookbook. It's long on description and short on recipes.

[Happyreader · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good reference for veggie recipes. Sometimes a bit too much butter or cream and not too adverturous with the spicy but the recipes are good basics.

[Scott Cardwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my veggie cooking bible.

[Catherine Woodman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a number of cookbooks devoted to vegetable dishes, and a number of his cookbooks--this is a great one.

[Beka · Rating 2 out of 5]

Solid basics, but not enough pictures to make my mouth water.

[Susie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Farmer's markets are open! Lots of ideas here.

[Christa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this book. Not for the experienced chef, but basic and simple for the beginner cook like me. I like the simple pictures and descriptions and the recipes are not over-the-top.

[Monique · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too much general stuff not enough interesting recipes

[Gary Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eat more vegetables. Very comprehensive.

[Brent · Rating 5 out of 5]

another GT library member.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a great resource for recipes, but good for reference.