Customer Reviews

Edible: A Celebration of Local Foods

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have been an Edible SF subscriber for a couple of years and wait impatiently for my next issue after reading EVERY PAGE of the magazine. This book is a wonderful compilation of inspirational stories of the mavericks of the agricultural social movement we desperately need. It is also a useful tool for locating local foods and filled with beautiful images celebrating the local foods and folks that produce them for us to enjoy. I like that the focus is on the "celebration of local foods" and not your typical cookbook. There are recipes (and wonderful ones at that), but the focus remains on the food itself. My only regret is that I will devour it too quickly and have to wait in hope that there will be an Edible II published soon.

Beautiful enough for a special place on the coffee table, "Edible" is also a book to savor. The photos, most by Edible's Carole Topalian, are of course gorgeous and the stories are engaging and warmly told - Tracey Ryder's personal essays are like little lessons in fine writing. The big surprise was recipes - I didn't even realize there would be any but wow -- if these were the only reason you bought the book, you'd be well rewarded. This is real, cookable, delicious sounding food -I can't wait for late summer to try "Stir-fried Bok Choy with Caramelized Corn." And I can make glazed lamb chops tonight. All the recipes have the wonderful local slant that Edible Communities is (are?) all about without being dogmatic (Locally grown collard tops with Parmigiano anyone?). I love this book. And I love Tracey Ryder and Carole Topalian.

"edible": A Celebration of Local Foods is a wonderful volume. It is for persons interested in fresh local food and a good starter for
those who are just learning about the movement toward healthy eating.
The book is filled with information for everyone and its presentations are excellent.For the sum of $ 19.95 it is a bargain.
Buy it and enjoy the photos, recipes and food articles.
Deborah Bezahler NYC

A few years ago, while visiting family up in Vermont, I came across a magazine called Edible Green Mountains. I was not surprised to find such a thing since Vermont is well known for it's local food movement. I WAS, however, surprised to find out that this magazine was just one of a collection of magazines that spotlight the local food communities from all over the country. Edible: A Celebration of Local Foods is a compilation of the people and organizations that have played a major role in the local food movement from coast to coast. After a short forward and introduction that discusses the inspiration behind both the magazine and the book, the authors break the country down into 6 sections and discuss each region in depth. There are a ton of pictures that show some of the 'food heroes' hard at work.

Each regional section begins with a short history lesson which I found extremely educational. I grew up in New England and it was a well known joke that gardeners spent much of their time just digging up the rocks to make room for the plants. I never stopped to think about how all those rocks got there (glacial movement) or why we have so many lakes. It makes sense that to understand the types of food that will grow in a region, you have to first understand the climate and geology.

Each chapter (region) highlights 7 or 8 farmers, chefs, organizations, or people and 2 to 3 pages are dedicated to the story of each one. After reading one of these in depth biographies, you really start to gain insight into how and why they choose to do what they do. Food is such an integral part of our lives yet few people stop to think about where their food comes from, how it got to their plates, who cooked it, or how it was grown. After reading this book, you will (hopefully!) understand all of these things just a little bit better!

At the end of each chapter there is a page listing other people, places and things in that region that are worth mentioning. If you are planning a vacation to a specific region, check out these sections before you go and try and enjoy some tasty regional food while you are gone!

The last 100 or so pages are dedicated to some wonderful recipes and full color pictures that will make your mouth water! I can't wait until fall so I can try the Creamy Pumpkin Grits with Brown Butter!

I absolutely loved this book and recommend it to anyone who wants to fully appreciate the food community, no matter where you live!

My thanks to Wiley Publishing for allowing me to review this book.

Disclaimer: I received one free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed here are mine and mine alone.

I checked this book out from the library first, and will end up buying it. The book is a compendium of articles from the regional "Edible" magazines that you can find throughout the country in stores like Whole Foods. I had not expected this, and at first I was really disappointed that the recipe selection was very small and at the back of the book. That is until I really looked at the recipes and tried a couple of them - they were outstanding. I still think the dessert section is very small and disappointing, but the savory dishes make up for that. I was really surprised by how much I liked the recipes, and look forward to trying all of them. However, the bulk of the book really wasn't of much value to me.

What a fun read!Its all here and then some,
Its an Edible life style...

When DH and I were married four years ago, we spent our honeymoon at Black Star Farms just north of Traverse City in Suttons Bay. We spent a week touring the wineries of Leelanau and Old Mission Peninsulas. One of our most interesting encounters was at Boskydel Vineyards.So imagine my surprise when I discovered that Mr. Rink was featured in one of the essays in Edible Communities!

Edible: A Celebration of Local Foods is full of such characters. The first two thirds of the book is divided into regions: northeast, southeast, southwest, California and the west, Pacific northwest, and Midwest. Each region is represented by essays that pay tribute to farmers, chefs, and organizations that are dedicated to producing local foods and making them accessible to their communities. The last third of the book is recipes, which are intriguing (examples include Brew-Braised Lamb Shanks with Apple Butter and Sauerkraut; Creamy Pumpkin Grits with Brown Butter; Grilled Apricots with Blue Cheese and Hazelnuts; and Herb-Roasted Duck Breast with Carrot-Potato Mash and Chive Butter). However, the real gems are in the essays.

Each is very well written, as they are culled from Edible magazines from across the country. There are sixty-five according to their website. This book was very enjoyable to read, and the photos and essays helped me get a better picture of the local food communities across the United States.

If you are at all interested in the people behind our food, I highly recommend this book. Oh, and if the Edible Publications people are reading this, PLEASE think about making one for West Michigan.

The collaborative project of Tracey Ryder and Carole Topalian (co-founders of Edible communities Inc., a network of regional food magazines in the United States and Canada celebrating place-based foods, recipes, and personal stories of the farmers, fishermen, chefs, local food/environmental activists and issues), "Edible: A Celebration Of Local Foods" is a profusely illustrated, 336-page compendium showcasing six of North America's culinary regions; profiles of local community food-and-environment sustainable agricultural activists; inspirational stories; and eighty very special recipes. The first section dedicated to 'Edible Stories' is organized into Northeast; Southeast; Southwest; California and the West; Pacific Northwest; and Midwest. The second section showcasing the recipes is organized seasonally: Spring, Summer; Fall; and Winter. Enhanced with a listing of the featured recipes by region; a list of Edible Communities publications, and a comprehensive index, "Edible" is especially recommended for personal, academic, and community library collections.

I found a treasure without even looking for it. Edible: A Celebration of Local Foods had already moved to my cookbook shelf before I started writing this review. Tracey Ryder and Carole Topalian, founders of Edible Communities Publications, created this book out of hundreds of well-written articles gleaned from Edible magazines published throughout North America. They state their philosophy: "Amid the incessant drumbeat of bad news permeating our lives these days are glimmering signs of hope, manifested at the weekly gathering at the farmers' markets, in neighborhood food gardens, in fields and orchards well tended, and on home and restaurant tables where people have one again discovered the deep satisfaction of food well grown and prepared."

Organized into six regions throughout the US and Canada, with full color photographs, Edible shows how men and women produce, cook, and celebrate fresh, locally grown fruits, vegetables, and protein in each region. As an added bonus, the last third of the book offers seasonal recipes gleaned from these same regions. Every article stimulated my interest and kept me reading.

Some of the featured profiles include urban multiplot farms in Boulder, Colorado that are "situated right in urban homeowners' front- and backyards." In Ojai, California, we read about Food for Thought, "a comprehensive program that teaches our children to make healthy choices lasting their lifetime and strives to increase levels of agricultural and environmental literacy." Another highlight came from Iowa River Valley, Iowa where The Seed Savers Exchange (SSE) collects heirloom seeds.

I read every word in these 310 pages including the recipes. I'll be referring back to them as I create my own seasonal creations with ingredients from my backyard garden and the local farmers' market.

by Susan M. Andrus
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

America is going through a food renaissance. We want to know the source of our food and the way it is made. It isn't good enough that it just "looks" pretty; it needs to have flavor and preferably a story behind it. With perfect timing, Tracy Ryder and Carole Topalian brought out the first of the Edible Community magazines, Edible Ojai, in 2002.
They created a beautiful periodical about the food of their surrounding community and the people who produced it. Soon they expanded to 65 areas, including our own Edible Sarasota (for which I write), with plans for the addition of 10 more magazines this year. In addition, they've created their first book, Edible: A Celebration of Local Foods. Edible is a guidebook to the food of America. Richly photographed and beautifully written, it is much more than the sum of the recipes. This is a book that will guide you through regional flavors: an understanding of the complexities of being the last farmer in the Boston metro region; what it takes to "sprout healthy kids" through a school garden movement in Austin Texas; and the experience of catching wild salmon off Lummi Island in Washington state.
The concept of "reading" a cookbook is not new. Many people tell my husband, cookbook author Giuliano Hazan, that they read his cookbooks to get a "taste of Italy". This book is an armchair traveler's nirvana, written by people who actually live in the area of which they write, celebrating local foods. It's regional sections begin with "people, places and things", a space devoted to people, trivia, farms, restaurants and food related festivals that are not in the more traditional guidebooks.
The recipes of the book are organized by season. My children and I decided to make the kohlrabi recipe -- we had seen the vegetable at the market but were unfamiliar with it. This gave us an opportunity to try a new food, in the form of a recipe that was handed down by the immigrants who originally brought it to the Midwest.