From the Earth to the Table: John Ash's Wine Country Cuisine [Hardcover]

John Ash (Author), Sid Goldstein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1995

In the companion volume to a forthcoming PBS series, one of California's foremost chefs shows how to use California's wines and produce in hundreds of delicious dishes. 35,000 first printing. National ad/promo. First serial, Cooking Light and Food and Wine. TV tie-in.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Ash, a noted Northern California restaurateur (his Santa Rosa restaurant bears his name) and author (he collaborated with Goldstein on American Game Cooking) is immersed in the wine-country gestalt, according to which dinner?and what we drink with it?is a way of life. A passionate advocate of cooks knowing where, when and how their food is grown and raised, he urges readers to eat "seasonally and locally." Instead of using tasteless tomatoes in a salad in December, he suggests the likes of Warm Red Cabbage Salad with Pancetta and California Goat Cheese. Along with imaginative salads (Fresh Corn, Orzo, and Smoked Chicken Salad with Pine Nuts), Ash offers a bountiful array of soups (Roasted Eggplant Soup with Sweet Peppers), pastas (Fusilli with Collards, Bacon, and Garlic) and desserts (Peach-Mint Granita). Fish (Seared Ahi Tuna with a Lavender-Pepper Crust), poultry, meat (Pork and Pepper Stew with Oranges) and vegetable dishes are innovative and tempting. For each salad and main dish, he suggests a wine ("Gewurztraminer is a showstopper" with Crab Wontons with Orange-Chipotle Sauce), and his cooking tips (e.g., "never throw away shrimp shells," which can be frozen and counted on to save a fish stock or soup) are jewels. This is a cookbook for those who truly want to live with their food. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Here are lots of beautifully fresh recipes from the authors of American Game Cooking (LJ 10/15/91). Ash is the culinary director of Fetzer Vineyards' Wine Center, which happens to have a huge organic culinary garden. With that as well as the produce and other ingredients available in abundance in California's wine country, he creates dishes like Orecchiette with Red Wine-Braised Chicken, Fresh Cherry Flan, and other delicious combinations. There are lots of sidebars on ingredients, and Ash suggests substitutions for seasonal or hard-to-find ingredients. Most recipes are accompanied by informative wine notes that explain the particular food-wine match. Highly recommended.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult; 1st Printing, October 1995 edition (October 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525940006
• ISBN-13: 978-0525940005
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,021,703 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My most used cook book, September 6, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: From the Earth to the Table: John Ash's Wine Country Cuisine (Hardcover)

As a collector of cook books and as one who entertains regularly (both for friends and for business - it is not unusual for us to have over a100 people in a month at home for corporate related dinners) I find this book the one that I most often turn to. It is imagnative yet practical, sufficiently different to a lot of theothers that I have and everything that I have tried has been a huge success. Would love to know if John Ash has written another one.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a great cooking philosophy, August 22, 2000

By 

Mistress Blue "black and white taoist" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: From the Earth to the Table: John Ash's Wine Country Cuisine (Hardcover)

I love this cookbook, not only because I love the flavors of the wine country and John Ash has a great mix of recipes that convey them, but also because the philosophy behind the recipes relies so heavily on using fresh, seasonal, local ingredients. The recipes are not super-simple, but if you have some cooking experience and are willing to take the time to search for the best ingredients, the rewards are well worth it.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best, freshest food that I've ever tasted!, January 14, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Northern California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: From the Earth to the Table: John Ash's Wine Country Cuisine (Hardcover)

I have used this book more than any other cookbook in my home. I am constantly learning about new, fresh ingredients and the results are really wonderful. Every time I cook using these recipes, my friends ask me for the recipe. I've purchased this book for several friends too - it's a great gift, especially if you live in Northern California. Visiting John Ash's restaurant is a wonderful experience too!