Food for Free [Paperback]

Richard Mabey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2001

Food for Free by Richard Mabey was first published in 1972, and since then it has been reprinted 11 times.  A guide to over 300 types of food that can be gathered in the wild in Britain, Food for Free explores the history and folklore of the foods as well as explaining how we identify them and the best ways to cook and eat them. The new edition will bring the subject right up to date. Organized by season rather than food type, Food for Free will take us through the year. Richard Mabey's fully-revised text will be accompanied by stunning photographs, new recipes and a wealth of practical information on collecting, cooking and preparing. Beautifully illustrated, beautifully written and produced in a new, larger format, Food for Free is designed to inspire us to take more notice of what is around us, how we can make use of it and how we can conserve it for future generations.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Thirty years after its initial publication, the forager's bible continues to inspire and enthral.' Scottish Field 'Still a classic' The Financial Times 'Armed with this guide, this month you could be sampling the simple pleasures of eating a fleshy Hottentot fig straight from a Devon clifftop, making elderflower fritters gathered from the hedgerows, or frying fairy-ring champignons picked off your lawn. With its charming painted illustrations, it is a book to savour in itself.' Devon Life --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Richard Mabey, author and broadcaster, writes regularly for The Sunday Times, The Sunday Telegraph and The Independent. He won wide acclaim on the publication of the original Food for Free in 1972, and in 1986 was awarded the Whitbread Prize for biography for Gilbert White, A Biography. He is an active member of national and local conservation groups and lives in Hertfordshire.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins UK (October 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0002201593
• ISBN-13: 978-0002201599
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,380,370 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Richard Mabey is widely hailed as Britain's fore-most nature writer. He is the author of the groundbreaking book on foraging in the countryside Food for Free and the editor of The Oxford Book of Nature Writing. He has narrated and produced popular BBC television and radio series, and has written for the Guardian, Granta, and other publications. He lives in Norfolk, England.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars British Isles Specific!, February 8, 2011

By 

Kodiak Firesmith (Arlington Virginia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Collins Gem Food for Free: A Fantastic Feast of Plants and Folklore (Paperback)

I didn't realize, as it wasn't immediately apparent in the book summary that this is quite specific to the UK. I'd assumed that he was going to be covering temperate regions in general. This largely renders the book non-useful for anyone outside of Britain as the species covered appear fairly localized, even if they have close relatives in the US, the varieties are different enough to cause confusion if going upon the info in this book.

The biggest bummer is that I've got nobody I could give this book away to since it would cost as much to ship it to the UK as it would cost someone there to just buy it new.

No obviously this is partially my fault; I should've known that since it was a UK publisher it wouldn't be useful to me, but it would have been nice for Collins to describe it's region-specificity in the book description submitted to Amazon.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Connect with Nature, January 3, 2009

By 

ArtyNess "Zen Moments" (England, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Food for Free (Collins Natural History) (Paperback)

Fun and free ways of connecting with the local countryside - it worked for my kids like a dream:
Me: "Let's go for a walk!" - Kids: "Groan..."
Me: "Let's go and collect free things to eat!" Kids: "Yay!"
- and of course I taught them never to eat stuff without checking with me first - so gradually they learned to recognise plants and know where to find them and to care if their favourite hedgerow was being ripped out - a great start to caring about the planet. And this book is small enough to take with you and comprehensive enough to be useful.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Pocket Guide, January 12, 2011

By 

Minna - See all my reviews

This review is from: Collins Gem Food for Free: A Fantastic Feast of Plants and Folklore (Paperback)

I love this tiny little book!! I once was lucky enough to find a tiny book about herbs that is pocket sized and very useful, I never would have imagined I could find the same in a book for wild foods. It is really simple and easy and explains that we shouldn't be afraid to eat wild things and other tips and advice, some I like, some of it I ignore. It may not have enough information for some, but it has enough for me, it even crams in a whole bunch of recepies! I can't believe all the information could fit into it. When I first ordered it, I didn't think it would be this small, but I wasn't dissapointed, I would hate to have to carry around an unmanageble guide when out forgaing, even if it is A5 sized, this one is just perfect for me, and I hope you will ike it too. It is excellent for beginners I would think. I am only 19 so of course it is essential for me to have something to guide me, but then again, if you know a lot about wild food, you wouldn't need to bring any book out with you :)
+ it's is extremely full of pictures so you won't have much trouble finding the right plant, and it even has pictures of deadly relatives in some cases, so you don't pick a poisonous mushroom, if it really looks like the edible one..