From Michael Pollan to locavores, from Whole Foods to farmers' markets nationwide, cooks and foodies today are paying more attention than ever to the history of the food they bring into their kitchens-and especially to vegetables. Whether it's an heirloom tomato, curled cabbage, or succulent squash, from a farmers' market or a backyard plot, the humble vegetable offers more than just nutrition-it also represents a link with a long tradition of farming and gardening, nurturing and breeding. In this charming new book, veggies finally get their due. In capsule biographies of eleven different vegetables - artichokes, beans, parsnips, cabbage, cardoons, carrots, chili peppers, Jerusalem artichokes, peas, pumpkins, and tomatoes - Evelyne Bloch-Dano explores the world of vegetables in all its facets, from science and agriculture to history, culture, and, of course, cooking. From the importance of peppers in early international trade to the most recent findings in genetics, from the cultural cachet of cabbage to Proust's devotion to beet-and-carrot soup, to the surprising array of vegetables that preceded the pumpkin as the avatar of All Hallow's Eve, Bloch-Dano takes readers on a dazzling tour of the fascinating stories behind our daily repasts. Spicing her cornucopia with an eye for anecdote and a ready wit, Bloch-Dano has created a feast that's sure to satisfy gardeners, chefs, and eaters alike.

About the Author
Evelyne Bloch-Dano is the author of many books, including Madame Proust: A Biography, also published by the University of Chicago Press. Teresa Lavender Fagan has translated many books, including books by Nobel Prize winner J. M. G. Le Clezio.

Reviews
"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"



Book Information
ISBN 9780226059945
Author Evelyne Bloch-Dano
Format Hardback
Page Count 128
Imprint University of Chicago Press
Publisher The University of Chicago Press
Weight(grams) 284g
Dimensions(mm) 22mm * 16mm * 1mm