The Apple Lover's Cookbook [Hardcover]

Amy Traverso (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 26, 2011

The most complete cookbook for enjoying and cooking with apples. Winner of an IACP "Best Cookbook" award in 2012!

The Apple Lover's Cookbook celebrates the beauty of apples in all their delicious variety, taking you from the orchard to the kitchen with recipes both sweet (like Apple-Stuffed Biscuit Buns and Blue Ribbon Deep-Dish Apple Pie) and savory (like Cider-Brined Turkey and Apple Squash Gratin). It offers a full-color guide to fifty-nine apple varieties, with descriptions of their flavor, history, and, most important, how to use them in the kitchen. Amy Traverso also takes you around the country to meet farmers, cider makers, and apple enthusiasts.

The one hundred recipes run the spectrum from cozy crisps and cobblers to adventurous fare like Cider-Braised Brisket or Apple-Gingersnap Ice Cream. In addition, Amy organizes apple varieties into cooking categories so that it's easy to choose the right fruit for any recipe. You'll know to use tart Northern Spy in your pies and Fuji in delicate cakes. The Apple Lover's Cookbook is the ultimate apple companion. 110 four-color illustrations

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is a solid compendium that is as satisfying and reliable as its namesake fruit."-Publisher's Weekly: "

"The handsome "Apple Lover's Cookbook" [covers] 59 kinds of apples...the challah baked with diced apples...falls into the category of "Why didn't I think of that?""-The New York Times

“After almost five years of researching, developing and testing recipes food writer Amy Traverso knows her apples. ...The result is The Apple Lover's Cookbook, a 300-page near-encyclopedia about the fruit that surely holds a special place in the American psyche.” (Ros Krasny - Reuters )

“From savory to sweet, these recipes span gamut and show just how versatile the apple is. With The Apple Lover's Cookbook, Traverso has written an indispensible book that does what all cookbooks should: shed light and inspire.” (Esther Sung - Epicurious )

“...an extensive primer on apple varieties, from Ambrosia to Zabergau Reinette. ...For each, Traverso gives its category ('tender-sweet', 'firm-tart' etc.), best use, origin, availability, season, appearance, taste and texture. As if reading that didn't already make you an expert, the book has notes on how to tell if the fruit is fresh and how to peel one like a pro. Can't do it in one fell swoop like Grandma? Traverso has a section on the best tools of the trade, too.” (Julia Bainbridge - Bon Appetit )

“The handsome Apple Lover’s Cookbook has a section covering 59 kinds of apples with a description and color portrait of each. ...The heart of the book gives savory and sweet recipes, including an adaptation of Michael Field’s chicken liver pâté with apple. And the challah baked with diced apples and raisins falls into the category of 'Why didn’t I think of that?'” (Florence Fabricant - New York Times )

“How many apple varieties can you name off the top of your head? Six? Ten? Traverso lays out a guide to 59 apples... If she were to stop there, fine. But she also weaves in stories of apple farmers who’ve garnered a following by what and how they’re growing, and a meeting with a researcher at Cornell University’s famed apple breeding program who might make you think differently about genetically engineered apples. She offers storage tips, crust-making tips, apple sizes and equivalent measurements, a source guide to apple products and cider tasting notes.” (Janet Rausa Fuller - Chicago Sun-Times )

“Traverso provides a compelling history of the apple throughout civilization and a short overview on apple genetics before launching into a detailed primer of 56 different varieties. ...In sum total, this is a solid compendium that is as satisfying and reliable as its namesake fruit.” (Publishers Weekly )

“When I said I wish there were a book like this for every single fruit and vegetable, I meant it. The Apple Lover's Cookbook is one resource you’ll keep coming back to for years – both for its appealing, timeless recipes and for its invaluable, exclusive apple information.” (Pam Anderson - Christian Science Monitor )

About the Author

A life-long apple lover, Amy Traverso is the food editor at Yankee magazine. She lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 303 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1 edition (September 26, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393065995
• ISBN-13: 978-0393065992
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 1 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #186,941 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #86 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Cooking by Ingredient > Fruits

More About the Author

Amy Traverso is the senior lifestyle editor at Yankee magazine. Her first book, The Apple Lover's Cookbook, won a 2011 Best Cookbook award in the "American" category by the International Association of Culinary Professionals. Previously, she was food editor at Boston magazine and an associate food editor at Sunset magazine. Her work has also appeared in The Boston Globe, Salon.com, and Travel & Leisure, and she has appeared on The Martha Stewart Show, Throwdown with Bobby Flay and Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. She was recently named one of Boston's "Ultimate Tastemakers" by Boston Common magazine.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars How do you like them apples? September 29, 2011

By C-Love

Format:Hardcover

In many cookbooks with apple recipes, the author neglects to tell you which type of apple to use -- or gives you only one choice of apple that your grocery store doesn't carry. And when you try to substitute with another type of apple, you end up ruining the cake/pie/tart/soup because you ignorantly used a Granny Smith instead of a Red Roving Whipplefish or whatever obscure type the recipe suggested. The Apple Lover's Cookbook solves that problem by providing a detailed guide to 59(!) types of apples, including the kinds of dishes that make sense for each type. In that way, it's not only a great cookbook on its own (the brisket recipe is BEYOND), its a great companion to other cookbooks.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Apple heaven October 1, 2011

By Alacarte

Format:Hardcover

Amy Traverso's new book, The Apple Lover's Cookbook, combines a delightfully thorough explanation of apple history, growing, varieties, and how to use the varieties with intriguing recipes. These are ways to go beyond apple crisp to pies, cakes, pudding, and even apple claflouti without overwhelming even a novice baker. The Apple Ginger Upside Down Cake is not only easy to do, but comes out looking as if a master baker designed it. I can't wait to cook my way through the cookbook.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Apple Delight!! October 4, 2011

By Fuzzyface Place

Format:Hardcover

Not only is this book as good as the other reviews suggest, paricularly for choosing the right cooking apple for any given recipe application, but the apple photos, descriptions, and their best culinary uses are helpful for people who want to plant their own apple trees. When I bought my farm it came with several different mature apple trees, to which I added McIntosh, but was on the fence as to which other apples to plant after that. With the help of this book, now I know.

Yes..... there are a lot of good orchard/gardening/growing books on apples out there (and I suggest one consult these for planting and care of their trees) and some of them even list how a particular apple "tastes" but I generally prefer to cook, dehydrate, or bake with apples more than eating out of hand.
I found that looking up the type of recipes I make the most and cross referencing the apple varieties used for those recipes was the most helpful in deciding which other apple trees I want to expand my orchard with.

I do own a good selection of other apple and fruit cookbooks and find this one be a favorite.