Customer Reviews

Melissa's Great Book of Produce: Everything You Need to Know about Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

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`melissa's great book of produce' by Cathy Thomas is named after the produce wholesaler, Melissa's, who is best known, at least on the east coast, by their displays of dried fruits, vegetables, and spices in your local megamart produce section. Ms. Thomas is not an employee of Melissa's, but she received a great bit of assistance from the Melissa principals in writing the book.

For starters, the author set herself up for heavier than necessary criticism by subtitling the book, `Everything you need to know about fresh fruits and vegetables', because the book clearly does not have EVERYTHING you need to know. This is mostly because the book is oriented toward the casual user rather than the person wishing to use the book as a reference source.

To evaluate whether this book contains `EVERYTHING' you need to know, I compared it to the most authoritative popular book on vegetables, Elizabeth Schneider's `Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini'. The very first thing you notice, looking at the entries for `A' is that while Ms. Thomas covers but two main vegetable names, Ms. Schneider covers seven. One may not miss the entries for Amaranth, Arracacha, or Arrowhead, but we are certain to be put out by the absence of entries for Asparagus or Arugula! Since I agree with Ms. Thomas' organization by division into fruit and vegetable by use rather than by strict botanical classification, I did check in the fruits section for `asparagus' and `arugula', but neither were there either. What is even odder, neither were in the index either, and I looked for both `arugula' and `rocket', the Brits' name for the peppery herb.

The next thing I missed was the scientific name for each plant, at least for the most common representative(s) if there is more than one, as there are for thinks like beans, berries, and mushrooms. This may be just a bit too academic a requirement for some, until you want to start comparing information in two different books on the same species. And, virtually every important book on raw ingredients I can think of (Bruce Cost's `Asian Ingredients' and Jill Norman's books on herbs and spices) gives us the two part Latin scientific name. Another lesser bit of information I miss is the names of vegetables in various different languages. The best example of where this is useful is in the confusion between rocket and arugula, courgettes and zucchini, and aubergines and eggplant. At the very least, the French, Italian, and Spanish names should be given, plus the English alternatives, when the Brits use a different word from us Yankees.

Comparing the article in both Schneider and Thomas on artichokes, my first impression is the much greater variety and quality of photographs in Schneider's book. For artichokes, this is especially important, as the techniques required to extract the hearts from the artichokes are not nearly as well done in words as they are with an accompanying set of photographs, especially if you have never before approached an artichoke in the flesh. I will give Ms. Thomas points for giving us sections on the most basic methods for preparing various species, but I find some lapses here and there. In the article on bananas, for example, Ms. Thomas wisely repeats the useful information on how to freeze bananas, but she neglects to say whether we are to peel the bananas before freezing. Other writers have been much clearer on this point.

Both books give recipes for the most common varieties of vegetable, but Schneider gives more and longer recipes. In this shorter book, Thomas would have been better off giving more general information.

In general, I was not entirely happy with how Thomas' book was organized. Many things were grouped under a common heading that other books might put in separate articles. For example, Thomas groups thirteen (13) different mushroom varieties under `Mushroom' while Schneider gives sixteen (16) different articles on varieties of fungus, including truffles, for which Thomas has no entry at all. One problem with this organization is that within each general article, there is detailed information that is also grouped. For example, if you need to know the special cleaning requirements of morels or the fact that shiitake mushroom stems are best thrown into the stock pot, you need to wade through all the stuff on every other kind of mushroom. This organization is most noisome when it comes to nutritional information, which is unfortunate, as many other books don't include this stuff. I think Ms. Thomas would have done well to present all the nutritional information in a table at the back of the book, since if I want to find foods with a good source of vitamin D, I could find it much more easily than by wading through the whole book.

This is not to say this book does not have its good points. For starters, in the course of this comparison, I discovered that Schneider's highly praised book has NO entry for cabbage (although it does have a chapter on Chinese cabbage and several other Brassicas)! Also, Schneider refers us elsewhere on the very large subject of chillis (sic) (species Capsicum), as she claims this subject deserves its own book. This, Thomas' selection of main article subjects is a bit more in tune with the non-scholarly reader. The greatest virtue of this book, which is exactly what the author had in mind, is that it is a good way to find out what to do with the wealth of new produce types showing up in our markets today.

The book does not live up to its title, as some important produce types are left out, but if you can have only one book on your shelves for `produce', this one is worth it, especially if you can get it at a good discount.

Visually, this book is impeccable. The food stylist, graphic designer, and photographer have done a fantastic job of showing the fruits and vegetables in an appealing and stimulating way, sliced and angled just so. The typography and look of the book is probably one of the nicest on my shelves. But it's not just a good coffee table book. Most importantly, it contains enough detailed information on a quite impressive range of fruits and vegetables that it has quickly become my favorite reference book for fruits and vegetables. I can't say enough how thoroughly enjoyable the book is to look at and learn from. And my favorite part is when the author describes how a particular item tastes: for example, a feijoa has a "sweet-tart taste blending pineapple, citrus and purple grapes." The next day I hunted down a feijoa and enjoyed that sweet-tart taste! I have since personally vowed to try every fruit and vegetable in the book that I haven't yet eaten. It may be a challenge to find them all, but of course, as the book implies in its title, melissas.com is one place I can look for them.

Move over, apples & bananas! This is a book whose time has come -- just a decade ago, produce departments offered 200 items --today they have more than 500 fresh produce items and the authors of this handsome book have been instrumental in bringing many exotic items into the mainstream. We especially like the buying and preparation suggestions! Melissa's Great Book of Produce will inspire you to incorporate the more adventuresome fruits and vegetables into your daily meals.

A geek in one thing, a geek in all things, I guess and here is a book for all the gardening and food geeks out there. I came acorss those book while trolling the sorting shelves at my local library. It is one of the best finds I have made in a while.

Melissa's Great Book of Produce: Everything you need to know about fresh fruits and vegetables is a information-filled and gorgeously photographed tome on produce both familiar and strange. For each piece of produce you get information on buying, storage use and even a few recipes along the way. There are some items in here I have never heard of before and it is great to get information on those I have heard of, but never encountered.

A wonderful book for the kitchen or the couch, Melissa's Great Book of Produce will surely expand your knowledge and, most likely, your appetite.

Highly Recommended

Wow - - first time I have seen a book with information about so many varieties of produce... there has got to be information on over 500 fruits and veggies and I didn't even know there were that many produce items! Information include season, selection, storeage, useage, serving suggestions and some recipes too! A vegetarian's bible I would say!

This book has tons of information! I work in an upscale grocery store where we carry a lot of the product that is in this book. I can read up on a particular product and know when it is available, how to pick out good product and even find a recipe or two. Thanks!

From The Orange County Register/Fullerton News Tribune
October 5, 2006

by Judy Bart Kancigor, author of Cooking Jewish: 532 Great Recipes from the Rabinowitz Family

You're shopping for produce and spot this spiny magenta...what? Christmas ornament? You're curious, but what on earth is it? For a moment your hand hovers as you gauge your own adventurous spirit. But do you buy it soft or firm? peel it? cook it? eat it raw? So instead you buy plums. Again.

"The appearance of dragon fruit is downright surreal," writes Cathy Thomas, the Register's food editor and award-winning author of "Melissa's Great Book of Produce: Everything you need to know about fresh fruits and vegetables" (Wiley), a gloriously photographed, comprehensive guide down the produce aisles. With Thomas at the helm, each fruit, from Asian pear to yuzu, and each vegetable, from artichoke to yu choy sum, begs to be discovered, its perfume inhaled and, yes, tasted.

Dragon fruit "has eye-popping magenta skin, dotted with bright lime-green spines" and "tastes like a marriage between kiwi and pineapple," she promises. Indeed it does, as I discovered recently at a book signing and reception held in the gardens of the Long Beach Museum of Art. Robert Schueller, marketing guru for Melissa's World Variety Produce, Inc., the largest distributor of specialty produce and foods in the U.S., selected a dragon fruit from the exotic fruit buffet - a riot of color like an artist's palette - and cut into it to reveal its purplish-pink flesh.

So what do you do with it? Dice the flesh, says Thomas, and combine it with diced pineapple or mango, toss with mint or liqueur and serve in the spiny shells. Or cut into wedges and splash with fresh lime. Use dragon fruit purée in cakes or quick breads or fold into sweetened whipped cream.

Thomas and Melissa's have teamed up to take the guesswork out of buying, storing, preparing, using and serving 120 fruits and vegetables. Brilliant photos from the Register's Nick Koon and 100 mouth-watering recipes plus a glossary of gizmos make "Melissa's Great Book of Produce" a valuable resource for the home cook or seasoned professional.

But the icing on the cake (or, I should say, the crown on the pomegranate) is the prose. Unlike other produce guide writers one consults for mere information, Thomas, with her uncanny ability to capture sound, smell and taste, invites you on a shopping adventure. Take figs: "Fragile fig skin surrenders easily to reveal soft-textured flesh filled with a multitude of tiny seeds. A bite produces tiny seed-popping sounds, flesh saturated with honey flavor, and a moist flower-petal aroma." Go ahead. Pass up those luscious black missions. I dare ya'.

Each fruit and vegetable fairly leaps off the page. "I want people to be able to smell each one and taste it," she told me. "Should it give a little when you press your thumb or snap when you break it?"
Common varieties combine with the exotic, eliminating the intimidation factor. "Everybody knows common celery," said Thomas, "but what about Chinese celery? The leaves and stalk are limp. They're supposed to be. They're so aromatic and delicious. I love to see people use them in stir-fries and soup."

"I make it a point to try something different every time I shop," noted Nancy Eisman, Melissa's special projects director. Good idea! So as fall days turn crisp and the soup kettle beckons, why not try the sunflower choke (also called Jerusalem artichoke, sunchoke or girsole).

Cream of Sunflower Choke Soup
From "Melissa's Great Book of Produce" by Cathy Thomas

1 1/2 pounds sunflower chokes, peeled, cut in 1-inch-thick slices
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups chicken broth, sodium-reduced preferred, or vegetable broth
Salt and white pepper to taste
3 tablespoons minced Italian parsley
Optional: croutons

1. Place sunflower chokes, milk, and broth in nonreactive, large saucepan. Simmer, partially covered, about 12-14 minutes. Remove 1/2 cup liquid.
2. Puree in batches in food processor or blender, using caution because ingredients are hot. Add reserved liquid if soup is too thick. Taste and add salt and generous amount of pepper. Ladle into 4 soup bowls. Top with parsley and croutons, if desired. Serves 4

Bought it for my boyfriend who's a total foodie. He loved it. The book gives great background on hundreds of types of exotic fruits and vegetables plus tons of recipes. I especially liked the section on mushrooms. The photographs are gorgeous!

This is perfect for someone who enjoys produce but doesn't really know much about it. I look-up the items on my shopping list before I go to the store and it yields a better selection for me. I will be ready for the large farmers markets soon!

With Melissa's Great Book of Produce I will feel much more confident when going to some of the wonderful ethnic supermarkets in our area in New Mexico. I have seen so many interesting unfamiliar fruits and vegetables but have not had the nerve to buy them... now I will. This book goes into every aspect of purchasing and using rarer produce ( as well as more familiar varieties) with good pictures and clear text and it provides some very easy recipes as well as more complicated ones. This is a fun way to broaden ones culinary horizons.

A.V. Wood