Oriental Vegetables or California Artichoke Cookbook

Oriental Vegetables: The Complete Guide for the Gardening Cook

Author: Joy Larkcom

Increasingly, chefs today both professional and amateur are emphasizing fresh, seasonal ingredients, locally and organically grown. Now, in the revised edition of the book Alice Waters of Chez Panisse called indispensable, Joy Larcom presents abundant information about crops that are full of flavor, highly nutritious and easy to grow. She describes over seventy exotic vegetables that can be cultivated regardless of climate, soil type or garden size. Here are hardy leafy mustards, komatsuna, Chinese yams and cabbage, lablab beans, pak choi, the climbing spinach basella, gourds, luffas and many more. For this edition, Larkcom has added new varieties and taken out those which are no longer available. She's updated information on such topics as pest and disease control; and added to the section that offers over 50 recipes for making delicious salads (Chinese Hot Salad), salad dressings (Lemon and Green Onion Dressing), soups (Basic Western Style Greens Soup), pickles (Pickled Mushroom Stems), and other dishes using the vegetables featured in the first section (Azuki Bean Risotto with Watercress and Grilled Tofu, Creamy Artichoke Soup, Duck with Mustard Leaves and Pasta, etc.). The helpful appendices include a glossary of gardening terms, a season/month conversion chart, a growing information chart, plant names, gardening organizations and seed suppliers in the U.S.

Library Journal

Larkcom, a British-based gardener and author of The Salad Garden ( LJ 5/1/84), presents a comprehensive volume on Chinese and Japanese vegetables. Over 100 varieties are listed with information on scientific and Oriental names, general background, cultivation requirements, and use in the kitchen. An additional section focuses on gardening techniques, such as ``cut and come again'' methods and protected cropping. The book concludes with a short collection of simple recipes. The information-dense text is occasionally lightened by high-quality line drawings and several pages of color photographs. The thorough index will be helpful for individuals interested in determining the identity of vegetables found in Oriental markets. As a whole, Oriental Vegetables focuses more on information for the ``garden'' than the ``kitchen,'' and it should be a fine addition for most gardening collections, especially in such areas where interest in Oriental food is high.-- Virginia A. Hen richs, Chicago Botanic Garden Lib., Glencoe, Ill.

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California Artichoke Cookbook: From the California Artichoke Advisory Board

Author: California Artichoke Advisory Board

The folks at the California Artichoke Board have developed 40 mouth-watering recipes for this versatile, fat-free, low-sodium, 25-calorie culinary star. From an Artichoke Lasagna to Baby Artichoke Saute to Focaccia-Stuffed Artichokes, Monterey County's finest never disappoints. Die-cut. Size A. 96 pp.