Thursday, December 20, 2007

Field Guide to Produce


Today I received my "Field Guide to Produce" - "how to identify, select, and prepare virtually every fruit and vegetable at the market".

I was surprised at how small this book is - but it's just the right size to put in my purse and bring along to the market with me. So now, before I make a purchase, I can read a bit about it first and see if I really want to try it or not. If it says "very bitter", I think I'll just skip. You just can't make "very bitter" taste good. Plus it will help me to know how to pick out the fresh or ripe items.

This book is divided into fruits and vegetables and in the middle section it includes color pictures of both...though I don't think all the listed produce include pictures.

But it does include alternative names (good for researching), some history, storage and ripening techniques, preparation methods and some recipes.

This book does not include a whole lot of global produce - but it's still a good guide to the more likely items you'll find in a larger supermarket that carries some "exotic" produce.

2 comments:

The Correspondent said...

If you had to choose only one book to own, would you pick Field Guide to Produce or Melissa's Great Book of Produce?

Edi said...

I wish I hadn't returned Melissa's book to the library, so I could compare the two. Would be a good idea to see if your library has them both and then see which you like better...or search on eBay and see which you can get cheaper.

I like the size of the Field Guide best - b/c I know it will fit in even a smallish size purse. I wish though the pictures were on the same page as the text - so you don't have to look up the info and then look at the picture.

If I had to pick one - which I did - I'd go with the cheapest :)