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Field Guide to Produce: How to Identify, Select, and Prepare Virtually Every Fruit and Vegetable at the Market
At last, a field guide to identifying and selecting more than 200 fruits and vegetables from around the world!
The perfect companion for every shopper, Field Guide to Produce offers tips for selecting, storing, and preparing everything from apples to zucchini.
When an unfamiliar edible appears on your grocer’s shelf, simply flip through the full-color insert until you’ve found its photograph. Turn to the corresponding page to discover its country of origin, common uses, and season of harvest.
This practical guide includes more than 200 full-color photographs of the world’s most popular fruits and vegetables, cross-referenced to in-depth descriptions and selection tips. Step-by-step preparation directions tell you whether the item must be peeled, washed, trimmed, or blanched. Grocery shopping—and dinner—will never be the same again!
The perfect companion for every shopper, Field Guide to Produce offers tips for selecting, storing, and preparing everything from apples to zucchini.
When an unfamiliar edible appears on your grocer’s shelf, simply flip through the full-color insert until you’ve found its photograph. Turn to the corresponding page to discover its country of origin, common uses, and season of harvest.
This practical guide includes more than 200 full-color photographs of the world’s most popular fruits and vegetables, cross-referenced to in-depth descriptions and selection tips. Step-by-step preparation directions tell you whether the item must be peeled, washed, trimmed, or blanched. Grocery shopping—and dinner—will never be the same again!
313 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2004
16 people are currently reading
85 people want to read
About the author
Aliza Green
24 books21 followersAliza Green is an award-winning Philadelphia-based author, journalist, and influential chef whose books include The Fishmonger’s Apprentice (Quarry Books, 2010), Starting with Ingredients: Baking (Running Press, 2008) and Starting with Ingredients (Running Press, 2006), four Field Guides to food (Quirk, 2004-2007), Beans: More than 200 Delicious, Wholesome Recipes from Around the World (Running Press, 2004) and collaborations with famed chefs Guillermo Pernot and Georges Perrier. A former food columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News, Green now write regularly for Cooking Light, and is known for her encyclopedic knowledge of every possible ingredient, its history, culture, and use in the kitchen and bakery. Green’s books have garnered high praise from critics, readers, and culinary professionals alike, including a James Beard award for “Best Single-Subject Cookbook” in 2001 for Ceviche!: Seafood, Salads, and Cocktails with a Latino Twist (Running Press, 2001), which she co-authored with Chef Guillermo Pernot.
--bio from Making Artisan Pasta
--bio from Making Artisan Pasta
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
February 20, 2011
No, not “virtually every” as is claimed, but there are many vegetables and fruits covered in this book. Unfortunately, I took the claim seriously and expected to find lots of new produce, and I didn’t. It’s still a very useful book, but it’s not as comprehensive as I’d expected.
It turns out I’m doing some things right! But I will keep this book handy for reference. My weakness (I’m woefully ignorant) is how to store (and wash, and how long they can be expected to last re) vegetables and fruit, so that information was the most helpful for me. The information seems to be accurate; I’ll see for sure as I experiment.
What I most enjoyed were the cultural histories: who ate the food first and where, etc.
There are some delectable looking photos, all together in the middle of the book.
Each fruit and vegetable has the same sections: general description, season, purchase – avoid, preparation, serving suggestions, and flavor affinities.
I did learn a lot and will use this as a reference book as I know I’ll need reminders on how to select, store, and prepare various fruits and vegetables. Storage is where I most often have done things incorrectly, and I don’t have the ideal places either: no crisper drawers in the fridge and no true cool and dry place either, etc. But, this book will be useful to consult when I first bring home fruits and vegetables and am not certain how to store them or how long I can expect them to last in good shape.
It’s just a bit too thick and heavy to carry around all the time, but its small size does make it more portable than many books. I can see some people bringing it grocery shopping, or at least in the car’s glove compartment. I’ll leave my copy in the kitchen. Yes, I have two bookcases in my tiny kitchen. No eating table but two bookcases.
I want to add that most of the preparation instructions can be found in any basic cookbook, but the storage and selection for purchase information could be particularly helpful.
It turns out I’m doing some things right! But I will keep this book handy for reference. My weakness (I’m woefully ignorant) is how to store (and wash, and how long they can be expected to last re) vegetables and fruit, so that information was the most helpful for me. The information seems to be accurate; I’ll see for sure as I experiment.
What I most enjoyed were the cultural histories: who ate the food first and where, etc.
There are some delectable looking photos, all together in the middle of the book.
Each fruit and vegetable has the same sections: general description, season, purchase – avoid, preparation, serving suggestions, and flavor affinities.
I did learn a lot and will use this as a reference book as I know I’ll need reminders on how to select, store, and prepare various fruits and vegetables. Storage is where I most often have done things incorrectly, and I don’t have the ideal places either: no crisper drawers in the fridge and no true cool and dry place either, etc. But, this book will be useful to consult when I first bring home fruits and vegetables and am not certain how to store them or how long I can expect them to last in good shape.
It’s just a bit too thick and heavy to carry around all the time, but its small size does make it more portable than many books. I can see some people bringing it grocery shopping, or at least in the car’s glove compartment. I’ll leave my copy in the kitchen. Yes, I have two bookcases in my tiny kitchen. No eating table but two bookcases.
I want to add that most of the preparation instructions can be found in any basic cookbook, but the storage and selection for purchase information could be particularly helpful.
July 23, 2015
I don't love this as much as her meat and seafood guides because it doesn't provide as much information on prep and flavor affinities. Also, the realm of produce is simply too vast for every sub-type of things like mushroom to be included.
June 1, 2023
Great reference book if you’re looking how to buy, prep, and store fruits and vegetables.
August 10, 2008
this is a cute little alphabetical guidebook to some 200 fruits & vegetables you could encounter at the market. The blurbs about each item are interesting and not too long. I wish that she'd have included some nutritional information. Nothing too elaborate, just "this is high in vitamin E" or "antioxidants" or whatever.
March 4, 2009
This book is GENIUS -- a must-have for idiots like me who have no idea how to select zucchini (soft? firm? smooth? bumpy? squishy? large? small?) or what to do with it once we bring it home (refrigerate in the bag/out of the bag? keep at room temperature in the bag/out of the bag?) and how to cook it. It's helped me expand my culinary horizons.
August 8, 2008
A highly useful guide to produce that the casual home cook or farmer's market aficionado will love. It fits in a purse with ease and has beautiful color pictures for aiding identification. Also includes useful facts about the best flavors to go with each fruit or vegetable.
July 2, 2014
I bought this book when I joined my CSA so I could have some more information about some of the new veggies I would get to try. I think it is very handy, but It would be great if it had some more preparation methods or recipes.
July 4, 2008
Really informative in such a little package.
August 25, 2011
very informative guide that assists you if you are a novice when it comes to selecting produce... Let you know what to look for... I will probably buy this book in the future as a reference..
Read
January 6, 2012More like "looked through" ... but it has good guides about how to select and prepare both common and obscure fruits, vegetables, and leafy things. (That's a technical term.)
December 17, 2015
This book is such a great resource! Some of the material is different than other resources, Though, it is succinct, has tips, and the pictures are wonderful for discovering new produce foods.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews