About this item
In her latest cookbook, Deborah Madison, America's leading authority on vegetarian cooking and author of Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, reveals the surprising relationships between vegetables, edible flowers, and herbs within the same botanical families, and how understanding these connections can help home cooks see everyday vegetables in new light. For over three decades, Deborah Madison has been at the vanguard of the vegetarian cooking movement, authoring classic books on the subject and emboldening millions of readers to cook simple, elegant, plant-based food.This groundbreaking new cookbook is Madison's crowning achievement: a celebration of the diversity of the plant kingdom, and an exploration of the fascinating relationships between vegetables, edible flowers, herbs, and familiar wild plants within the same botanical families. Destined to become the new standard reference for cooking vegetables, Vegetable Literacy shows cooks that, because of their shared characteristics, vegetables within the same family can be used interchangeably in cooking. It presents an entirely new way of looking at vegetables, drawing on Madison's deep knowledge of cooking, gardening, and botany. For example, knowing that dill, chervil, cumin, parsley, coriander, anise, lovage, and caraway come from the umbellifer family makes it clear why they're such good matches for carrots, also a member of that family. With more than 300 classic and exquisitely simple recipes, Madison brings this wealth of information together in dishes that highlight a world of complementary flavors. Griddled Artichokes with Tarragon Mayonnaise, Tomato Soup and Cilantro with Black Quinoa, Tuscan Kale Salad with Slivered Brussels Sprouts and Sesame Dressing, Kohlrabi Slaw with Frizzy Mustard Greens, and Fresh Peas with Sage on Baked Ricotta showcase combinations that are simultaneously familiar and revelatory.Inspiring improvisation in the kitchen and curiosity in the garden, Vegetable Literacy - an unparalleled look at culinary vegetables and plants - will forever change the way we eat and cook.
About the Author
Deborah Madison is the author of 14 cookbooks and countless articles on food, cooking, and farming. She is revered for bringing vegetarian cooking to a wide audience, including non-vegetarians, via Greens restaurant and her cookbooks. A bestselling author, her first cookbook was The Greens Cookbook and her latest two books are The New Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone and Vegetable Literacy, which was awarded both a James Beard award and an IACP award. Well-known for her seasonal, vegetable-based cooking, Deborah got her start in the San Francisco Bay Area at Chez Panisse before opening Greens at Fort Mason. In 1996, she received the M.F.K. Fisher Mid-Career Award from Les Dames d'Escoffier and in 2016 she was inducted into the James Beard Foundation Cookbook Hall of Fame. In between she has received many awards from both the IACP (including Cookbook of the Year, twice) and James Beard awards (including Who's Who in American Food and Wine) .Deborah has lived in Rome, Ireland, San Francisco and New Mexico, where she presently resides. She has an office for writing, a small kitchen, and a large garden for growing food and flowers. She is also passionate about her farmers market, which she once managed and still uses weekly. A small Labradoodle takes her on long walks every day. Her latest book, which will be released in March, 2017, is called In My Kitchen.
