Description
Book SynopsisIncludes capsule biographies of eleven different vegetables - artichokes, beans, parsnips, cabbage, cardoons, carrots, chili peppers, Jerusalem artichokes, peas, pumpkins, and tomatoes. This title explores the world of vegetables in all its facets, from science and agriculture to history, culture, and, of course, cooking.
Trade Review"This allusive, impressionistic tour of the kitchen garden takes us from aphrodisiac artichokes to Zola's gritty market stalls, with many a literary and gustatory detour. Lazy summers in grandmother's garden, the frenzy for fresh winter peas that gripped the court at Versailles in 1660, the global travels of the chili pepper, the contested history of Cinderella's pumpkin-it's all here, and it's all fun." -Jane S. Smith, author of The Garden of Invention: Luther Burbank and the Business of Breeding Plants"