Rodale's Basic Natural Foods Cookbook [Hardcover]

Charles Gerras (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1997

This new encyclopedic cooking reference gives readers up-to-the-minute information on nutrition and exciting, delicious, healthful recipes. With special advice on children, labels, and mail-order sources, it's a unique and indispensable guide to good, wholesome food and lifelong health.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Fine Communications (July 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1567310443
• ISBN-13: 978-1567310443
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 8 x 2.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #284,492 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE book to have in your kitchen, September 3, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Rodale's Basic Natural Foods Cookbook (Paperback)

I turn to this book again and again to get recipes for herb and spice blends, such as curry powder. The Herb and spice reference table is invaluable when you need to make a substitution to accommodate your cupboard. The "Before You Start to Cook" section has great info for beginners and chefs. Each section begins with guidelines for buying, storing and serving. If I have a question regarding anything to do with food , I'll pick up this book first.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The PAPERBACK edition is superior!, February 23, 2007

By 

A.W. "Dilettante" (PA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rodale's Basic Natural Foods Cookbook (Paperback)

I love this cookbook, and it's not even for the recipes.

This book has the "Basic" information you need for cooking with natural foods, whole foods, and unusual ingredients. How many "Basic" cookbooks have a whole chapter on how to use sea vegetables (with 27 recipes)?

This book is what I've seen called "encyclopedic" in its scope. There isn't a single-ingredient whole food I've heard of (and I am a very adventurous cook & shopper!) that is not here. How long to cook quinoa? Why you should soak wakame? How about salsify? What if my neighbor's garden yields so many green beans that she gives me a bushel to "put up," but I don't know whether to can or freeze?

First, this is what you won't find: processed (white or brown) sugar, convenience foods as ingredients (none call for "canned cream of mushroom"!) or highly-processed grains (no "cake flour"). Sometimes you can substitute like another reviewer mentioned regarding the white/brown rice recipe (when I have run out of honey and put sugar in its place on these recipes and they work fine).

What I love about this cookbook is it addresses so many home cook's needs. I need to know how to use whole foods, not just in recipes, but in a more basic sense. I need to know about food safety: how long to cook meats & poultry & seafood, how to blanch veggies for freezing, why certain canning methods are safe for some foods and risky (even deadly) for others. I need to know how much water to add and how long to cook a wide variety of whole grains. I need to know how many small eggs are equal to how many jumbo eggs. I need to know which seasons are best for specific produce, and how to tell if fruit is ripe (pomegranates? guavas?) I need to know how to make a custard, how to dry apples, how to filet a fish, how to make cottage cheese, how to make flour out of sprouted wheat.

You could take away every "recipe" in this book, and it would still be the most important cookbook in my collection, because it tells me How and Why. That's not to say the recipes are worthless, they are good, really good. But good recipes are not so hard to find, especially with the internet. But the charts & tables & introductory information in each chapter are priceless.

One caveat: I picked up a hardcover edition of this book at a library sale, only to discover that there were none of the MANY helpful charts I love (some examples: Guide to Sprouting Seeds, Storing Dairy Products, Roasting Times for Poultry, Simmering Fresh and Dried Fruits, Characteristics of Selected Herb Teas, and my favorite: Guide to Cooking Grains.) There are several hardcover editions, so maybe one of them has the charts, but the one I picked up did not, so I donated it back to the library for the next sale!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite cookbook ever!!, February 2, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Rodale's Basic Natural Foods Cookbook (Hardcover)

This is by far THE BEST cookbook I own (& I have a lot!) - several years ago when my family decided to change our eating habits for the better, we chose this cookbook from the shelves of a very large bookstore, hoping the variety & detailed information were what we needed. Boy, was it--just about every cooking or food question I've had over the years has been answered in these pages. . .there's detailed charts on different types of foods (veggies, spices, etc) & information about uncommon foods (natural sweeteners, soy products, etc) but most importantly are the actual recipes. From the basics to the unusual, this book has something that I can either use directly or easily adapt to how I eat or what ingredients are on hand. Whether you're vegetarian, vegan, limiting carbs, or just wanting to eat better, this book belongs in your kitchen.