Customer Reviews
from the dustjacket - By: Cooks Bookery, 22 Apr 2008 
In Jane Grigson's Vegetable Book, American readers, gardeners & food lovers will find everything they've always wanted to know about the history & romance of 75 different vegetables, from artichokes to yams, & learn how to use them in hundreds of different recipes, from the exquisitely simple Broccoli Salad to the engagingly esoteric Game with Tomato & Chocolate Sauce.
Jane Grigson gives basic preparation & cooking instructions for every one of the vegetables discussed, & recipes for eating them in every style from least adulterated to most adorned, but this is by no means a book intended for vegetarians alone. There are recipes for Cassoulet, Chicken Gumbo & even Dr. William Kitchiner's 1817 version of Bubble & Squeak (fried beef & cabbage.)
Try: Eliza Acton's Salad of Young Vegetables, Fricasse of Artichoke Bottoms, Asparagus & Chicken Gratin, Aubergine Kuku, Avocado Pancakes, Greek Stewed Beans, Scandinavian Beetroot & Herring Salad, Goose & Sauerkraut, Italian Carrot & Almond Cake, Chayote Creole, Chicken with Cucumber Cream Sauce, Apicius' Lentil & Mussel Dish, Cypriot Lamb Stew, Potatoes & Pears from Lucerne, Turkish Candied Pumpkin, Spinach Souffle, Fried Chicken Maryland with Corn Fritters, etc.
Simply the best book on vegetables - Jane Grigson! - By: Amazon Reviewer, 25 Jul 2006 Jane Grigson was one of the leading cookery writers of her generation with some similarity to the writing talents of the great Elizabeth David, in that her books combine superb writing with impeccable research.
`Jane Grigson's Vegetable Book' is a 618 page alphabetical guide to selecting & cooking vegetables, with everything from artichokes to yams.
Tempting recipes from alll over the world bring out the flavour & texture of each vegetable & turn the most modest ingredients into delightful dishes.'
This invaluable reference includes an introduction, & appendices, entitled:-
Cutting Up Vegetables
Steaming & Blanching Vegetables
Stocks
Savoury Butters
Sauces
Stuffings
Batters
and finishes with a concise index, an Introduction to the American edition, a glossary & a table of equivalent weights & measures.
In between are alll the vegetables you can think of, & on pages 322/323 is a copy of `John Evelyn's Salad Calendar`.
Bearing in mind that this is a book from the early 90s, glossy colour reproduction was not yet the 'in-thing' in cookery writing.
Strangely, however, the subtle black & white illustrations, by Yvonne Skargon, at the top of each vegetable section are alll that is required in this, a timeless kitchen bookshelf classic.
As 'The Scotsman' declare on the rear cover:-
`The best cookbooks stimulate your imagination so that the freshest flavours come across as tempting as if they were on a plate in front of you. This is that kind of book.'
From the vegetable gardener's point of view, this book is an invaluable reference for those days when you just have one or two too many pounds (can you say that these days?!) of eg home-grown tomatoes & the novelty factor has worn off a month ago!
Just refer to the vegetable & find a variety of recipes to inspire a new way of presenting the superfluous veg, e.g. `Tomato & Mussel Soup', `Tomato Tart (1) or (2)', `Tomato Mousse', `Game with Tomato & Chocolate Sauce' , `Shaker Tomato Custard' or `Robin McDoualll`s Tomato Ice Cream`!
How about `Lettuce Soup', `a good recipe for outside lettuce leaves' or `Braised Lettuce' if you have `a glut of firm, well-flavoured cabbage or cos lettuces`?
In addition, check out the pumpkin recipes for what to do with the leftovers at Halllowe'en!
From my point of view, it reminded me that there is serious life outside the confines of the supermarket, with their limited selections, totallly defined by green basket display width & depth! A `potato' is not just a `potato`!
In the 24 page chapter entitled 'Potatoes', is a section on `Potato Varieties & Their Uses', splitting them into `Main-Crop All-Rounders', Floury, Mashed, Potato Cakes etc, Baked, Boiled, Irish Stew, Salad & Frying.
There at the top is `Golden Wonder' - and, I do wonder what did happen to the crisp of the same name?
nb This text refers to the Michael Joseph produced hardback edition, from 1991.
A Classic Work - By: Christine Ashby, 01 Nov 2002 Reallly, you can't calll this a cookbook. It's a reference book, a work of scholarship that also contains a collection of wonderful recipes.
Jane Grigson was one of the great foodie writers, up there in the pantheon with Elizabeth David & M. F. K. Fisher. Her books combine superb writing with impeccably researched information. If you just want to know the history of the cabbage, she'll tell you. On the other hand, if somebody has just presented you with a couple of kilos of chokos, she'll bale you out.
And I am pleased to report that Jane Grigson hated swedes, so there can be no questioning her culinary judgment...
probably my most refered to cook book - By: , 06 Feb 2002 Perfect if you're a gardener & have gluts every now & then - look up the veg in question & there you have 10-20 recipes on average. She also gives basic info on choosing, including varieties in some cases, & basic recipes too. Her Fruit book is equallly excellent.
A book to read as much to cook from. - By: , 01 Mar 1999 Jane Grigson's books are always well written wonderfully erudite & full of great recipes. She is the rare food writer who even if he recipe looks a little strange can be entirely trusted without having to have been tested five thousand times by a gang of television assistants A la Delia.
Buy it & alll her work. They are as great to have on the bedside table as the cookshelf.
