Berries [Hardcover]

Roger Yepsen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 17, 2006

All about berries, both usual and unusual, with beautiful watercolor illustrations and ninety recipes.

Berries are edible jewels, distillations of sunlight, soil, and floral perfumes. Some offer ambrosial sweetness; others are assertive as herbs and spices. Yet many of us rarely encounter berries outside of a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich, or raspberry-scented seltzer. Berries reintroduces us to these delightful fruits, including neglected varieties that have nearly disappeared from the American diet and garden. Roger Yepsen, author/illustrator of Apples, offers advice on finding wild berries, growing your own, and preserving them for year-round enjoyment. His gallery of sixty delicate watercolors depict berries from black currants and wild strawberries to the exotic salmonberry and Achilles Red gooseberry. And while it’s hard to improve on the fresh item, Berries includes almost a hundred recipes: blueberry buckle, raspberry soup, elderberry wine, and black currant crepes. This elegant guidebook will inspire the cook, gardener, forager—and anyone with a sweet tooth—to get more involved with the wonderful world of berries.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Roger Yepsen is an artist and writer whose previous books include Apples and Heirloom Vegetables. He lives in Barto, Pennyslvania.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1 edition (June 17, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393060314
• ISBN-13: 978-0393060317
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 7.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,357,847 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I work as a freelancer writer, editor, and illustrator out of an old stone farmhouse in Berks County, Pennsylvania. I love to write, like very much to edit, and have a difficult relationship with watercolor. For a look at my projects, please check out www.rogeryepsen.com, from which autographed copies are available.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderfully different survey offering fine history and insights on many elusive fruits., October 14, 2006

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Berries (Hardcover)

This isn't just another cookbook nor is it a gardener's guide: BERRIES is instead a lovely culinary history of usage which focuses on 'neglected' berries which have all but vanished from American tastes, as well as common berries which were often used as additives to such unlikely items as Dr. Pepper soda. From native currants to historic uses and more, BERRIES is a wonderfully different survey offering fine history and insights on many elusive fruits.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A lovely book, August 10, 2008

By 

D. Zahnle (Kentucky, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Berries (Hardcover)

If you are a lover of berries of all types, as I am, then I believe you won't be disappointed if you buy this book. At this price, it is a steal for the enjoyment you will receive from it. It is printed on lovely paper with wonderful illustrations and it would make a great gift as well. I am pleased with this purchase.

4 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars What? Nothing On Dingleberries?!?, December 19, 2008

By 

The Amazin' Amazon Guy "Help Me I'm Too Cool!" (Turnersville, NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Berries (Hardcover)

It is to my amazement and shock that for all of its detailed information, this book contains nothing about dingleberries. While I will concede that most of civilized society still regards the humble dingleberry as more of a nuisance than as a bona fide member of the berry kingdom, this should hardly be a reason to exclude them from the berry vernacular. After all, I'm not crazy about raspberries but I wouldn't single them out from any discussion about what constitutes a legitimate berry.

I can only guess in contemplating the motivation behind the exclusion of the dingleberry from this volume. Perhaps it's because the dingleberry is not considered a key ingredient of any contemporary delicacy (e.g. pies or muffins) for obvious reasons. I don't anticipate an emergence of dingleberry milkshakes or some kind of off-the-wall Ben & Jerry's flavor (like "Dingleberry Manilow" or something). But even as such, culinary function is hardly the only defining characteristic of a berry. So I really can't comprehend the reasoning. Hopefully the publisher can correct this egregious omission in future editions.