“Vegetable Love”
By Barbara Kafka with Christopher Styler
(Artisan, $35)
WHAT IT IS: This 708-page tome is touted by its publishers as “the definitive work on preparing vegetables.” To be accurate, it’s Barbara Kafka’s definitive work on preparing vegetables–and that’s a squash of a different color.
Take the first entry, “Avocados”: “Yes, I know it grows on a tree and probably is a fruit,” Kafka writes. “I eat it mainly as a vegetable, so here it is.” Kafka has opinions and they crop up everywhere, which is not a bad thing. Many reference books are written in a style that can cure the sleep-deprived; this one is elevated by the voice of a respected writer who helps readers explore the unfamiliar (nettles, burdock) while making the common (potatoes, cabbage) something worth celebrating. “Vegetable Love” also offers more than 750 recipes–for vegetarians and meat lovers–that capture the spirit and wonder of our (literally) groundbreaking friends.
PRAISE AND QUIBBLES: The book is divided into categories by the vegetable’s source–the peppers of the New World show up long before the fennel of the Mediterranean–so you’ll be turning to the index a lot. A 185-page “Cook’s Guide” in the back is a comprehensive (and alphabetical) manual with tips on buying, storing, preparation and yields.
WHY WE THINK YOU’LL LIKE IT: We appreciate value for the dollar, and this really is two books in one. Kafka’s writing is terrific, simultaneously conversational and elegant. Then there are the recipes: Every page offers compelling reasons to head for the kitchen. Two easy soups–velvet corn soup and a Chilean chicken soup–delivered high-end results.
As Kafka writes, “I’m slightly eccentric, and so is my book, but I hope it is useful and even a pleasure.” Correct on all counts.
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