In Season: Cooking with Vegetables and Fruits [Hardcover]

Sarah Raven (Author), Dan Barber (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 16, 2008

Here Sarah Raven, a leading proponent of the local foods movement, shows how to make the most of fresh produce, whether from your own garden, your local farmers’ market or the grocery. Taking us through the year in six seasonal chunks of two months each, she highlights the best vegetables, fruits, and herbs from each period, throwing in tidbits she’s learned firsthand from her own garden. The more than 250 simple and delicious recipes borrow from different cuisines and include such inventive dishes as Cranberry Bean Hummus; Squid, Pea, and Chorizo Stew; Basil Custard; Zucchini Chutney; Saute of Peas and Lettuce; Penne with Preserved Lemon and Avocado; and Pears Poached in Saffron Syrup. While some recipes are ideal for vegetarians, there are many designed to bring out the best in meat, poultry, and seafood. In Season will inspire a new appreciation of fresh produce and will be an indispensable addition to every serious cook’s shelves.

Editorial Reviews

Review

In Season is more than encyclopedic: it's instructive, practical, charming, and written with utter devotion to its subject. "Food is the medium here," writes New York's Blue Hill chef Dan Barber in the foreword, "but the message amounts to a philosophy of life. She may teach us a thing or two about cooking, but the real lesson is learning how to eat." It's clear that this book, Raven's fourth, is not a cookbook so much as an act of love, maybe even a religion. Count me as one of its most fervent devotees. -- House Beautiful, September, 2008

"...luscious new book...the photos of fresh produce will have you careening to the kitchen..." --United Media

"This is a book you'll want to use for inspiration and low-stress entertaining." ~Los Angeles Times "This book is a great addition to feature in your fresh produce aisle." --Globalchefs.com

Review

"...luscious new book...the photos of fresh produce will have you careening to the kitchen..."

"This is a book you'll want to use for inspiration and low-stress entertaining."

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Universe (September 16, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789318113
• ISBN-13: 978-0789318114
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 1.6 x 9.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #470,589 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars beautiful book with delicious recipes, December 15, 2008

By 

Cathe Fein Olson "Avid reader and writer" (curled up with a book) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: In Season: Cooking with Vegetables and Fruits (Hardcover)

Since I'm trying to eat food produced locally as much as possible, I was excited to hear about Sara Raven's new cookbook "In Season: Cooking with Vegetables and Fruit." According to her bio, Raven is an expert on all things to grow and eat from your garden and has written several gardening books. I was interested to see what advice she'd have on cooking.

Let me start by saying that this is an absolutely beautiful book. It's hardcover with bright green and orange ribbon bookmarks. The paper is thick and the book is packed with vibrant, colorful photos that will make your mouth water.

The book is divided into six chapters beginning from January/February and ending with November/December, so no matter what season it is, you can find out what's available and how to prepare it. Within the chapters, Raven highlights five to fifteen foods, but as you might expect, there are more options in the summer months than winter.

Each food section begins with information about the food--different varieties, how to select them, basic preparation instructions, etc. The introduction is followed by a selection of recipes featuring that food. The Green Bean section, for example, includes recipes such as Summer Garden Tempura, Spaghetti with Beans and Tomatoes, and Trofie with Potatoes, Beans, and Pesto (trofie is a type of pasta).

Because of the subtitle "Cooking with fruits and vegetables," I thought this would be a vegetarian cookbook. It's not. There are quite a few meat dishes, particularly in the herb sections. But out of the 450 recipes in the book, I found plenty of recipes that are free of animal products, or can be easily made so by substituting vegan versions of dairy products. Here are some examples of some vegan or easily veganized recipes in the book.

January/February:
- Savoy Cabbage and Cilantro Soup: made with coconut milk, chilis, and lime juice--YUM!
- The Ultimate Minestrone: made with cranberry beans, veggies, and red wine--just omit the pancetta and enjoy!

March/April
- Vegetable Korma: A curry with cauliflower, carrots, parsnips, and green beans.
- Rhubarb Sorbet: Oh my gosh--a total treat even for non-rhubarb lovers.
- Spinach and Lentil Soup: Indian spices and coconut milk.

May/June
- Salad of Asparagus, Fava Beans, Arugula, and Peas: Green and light--the perfect spring salad.
- New Potatoes in Saffron Dressing: Sherry and red chilis give the dressing a kick.
- Strawberries with Rosé Wine: a popular dessert in France.

July/August
- French Apricot Jam: Made with vanilla beans.
- Pantzarosalata: A puree of beets, walnuts, bread, and seasonings to eat as a dip with pita bread.
- Zucchini and lemon salad: A great raw summer salad.
- Grilled New Carrots: Vegans can barbeque too!
- Tomato Bruschetta: Mix your ripe, summer tomatoes with fresh basil and spread them over good Italian bread.

September/October
- Uncooked Apple Chutney: A raw, fermented chutney that keeps for months.
- Spiced Eggplant Salad: Eggplant and Indian spices that go perfect with flatbread.
- Rosemary Saddleback Potatoes: Though there are lots of wonderful potato recipes in this book, I had to try this. You slice the potatoes almost all the way through, insert sprigs of rosemary between the slices, drizzle with olive oil and bake. So good!
- Pears Poached in Saffron Syrup: Pears with cardamom and saffron--very exotic.

November/December
- Ribollita: A hearty stew of beans, kale, carrots and other winter veggies.
- Orange and Cranberry Pies: Substitute a good nonhydrogenated margarine for the butter and you can make these yummy holiday pies.

That's just a sampling, but as you can see, there's a lot to choose from.

One other caution about the book--the author lives in England and includes foods that are not common in the United States (at least not in California) like gooseberries, salisfy, samphire, elderberries, and medlars. It's interesting to read about them, but they're not something I usually see at my farmers' market so I don't know how useful those sections are. On the other hand, if I do come across them, I suppose I'd be more likely to try them for having this book.

"In Season" is as enjoyable to read and peruse as it is to cook from. It would make a nice gift for friends that garden or are trying to eat more fruits and vegetables--and a nice give for nonvegetarians that would introduce them to many vegetarian dishes.

Review as seen in VegFamily Magazine by Cathe Olson

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A cookbook for those who love fresh, seasonal ingredients, February 15, 2009

By 

Babylegs "babylegs" (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In Season: Cooking with Vegetables and Fruits (Hardcover)

Written by a british chef, this omniverous vegetable and fruit cookbook brings the garden into your kitchen, emphasizing what's in season, with a variety of eclectic flavors. So far, I've made the minestrone, braised cabbage, and lamb chops with anchovy crust, and have a long list of other recipes to try. The minestrone was great; the cabbage recipe included orange zest, which I think I'll skip next time...the lamb was very good, but the sauce strangely included two whole oranges worth of shredded zest, which was a little much.

The book is beautiful, with a photo almost every other page. My criticisms - sometimes imprecise quantities (like six "large" potatoes...(how big is a large potato, and what kind (waxy, floury?)) - and I think I'll end up tweaking more of the recipes to my taste. As the other reviewer suggested, the book includes some veggies and fruit that are probably more common in the UK than here. But overall this book presents an excellent and varied selection of recipes, from simple to decadent, and lots of new ideas about ways to cook fruit and vegetables, both with and without meat or fish.

16 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful book, but recipes are lacking, August 2, 2009

By 

Eve Avery "Eve" (Highland Park, NJ) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: In Season: Cooking with Vegetables and Fruits (Hardcover)

This is a beautiful book, with lots of lovely color photographs. However, many of the photographs are not of the actual recipes. The recipes are okay. Many of them are not things that I would actually make, i.e. there is a lot of baking, jam making, ice creams. Also the fruit/veggies that are readily available (melons, sweet peppers, etc) often have fewer recipes than obscure/expensive fruits/veggies (gooseberries, currants, zuccini flowers, etc). It was interesting to read, but I am returning it because I don't think I will ever actually use it.

Note: I have not made any of the recipes, because I struggled to find something that I actually wanted to make and could get all the ingredients for at a reasonable price.