Bruce Beck

A large, heavy book full of stunning photographs by Andrew Unagst, all featuring vegetables, fruits and greens. Each item gets a good description, including different varieties, their origins and curious things about their culinary history, what foods they pair well with or how they are often prepared, how to choose the best ones from the market, how to keep them fresh at home, and at what season they are most readily available. It's got every single produce item you could think of, from show more plain old bananas and apples to arugula, watercress and a huge assortment of herbs, to unfamiliar exotics like cherimoya or starfruit. There are charming, whimsical little line drawings illustrating each page, as well. And a sprinkling of humor to boot.

The book does show its age a little, as the author makes comments on some exotic produce items being almost completely unavailable, whereas I've seen them frequently in the supermarket. If you're interested in the history of produce, or want a few hints on how to use certain veggie items, or just like to drool over wonderful photographs, this is a pretty good book!

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