Free (ADE-DRM) Vegetables: A Biography [Award-Win Culinary Botany History w/Recipes]

[ATDrake]

Vegetables: A Biography by Evelyne Bloch-Dano, a francophone author and journalist, is her culinary botanical and cultural history cum recipes, which provides mini-biographies of 11 selected vegetables and their origins and uses throughout the world from the past to the present day, free for a limited time courtesy of the University of Chicago Press.

This is their featured Free Book of the Month selection for October. It was originally published in 2008 by Grasset as La Fabuleuse histoire des légumes, is translated by Teresa Lavender Fagan, and was a recipient of the Prix Brazier de l’essai gourmand.

Currently free through October directly @ the university's dedicated promo page (ADE-DRM ePub available worldwide in return for your valid email address, approx 2.7 mb), and you can read more about the book on its regular catalogue page

Description
From Michael Pollan to locavores, Whole Foods to farmers' markets, today cooks and foodies alike are paying more attention than ever before to the history of the food they bring into their kitchens—and especially to vegetables. Whether it’s an heirloom tomato, curled cabbage, or succulent squash, from a farmers' market or a backyard plot, the humble vegetable offers more than just nutrition—it also represents a link with long tradition of farming and gardening, nurturing and breeding.

In this charming new book, those veggies finally get their due. In capsule biographies of eleven different vegetables—artichokes, beans, chard, cabbage, cardoons, carrots, chili peppers, Jerusalem artichokes, peas, pumpkins, and tomatoes—Evelyne Bloch-Dano explores the world of vegetables in all its facets, from science and agriculture to history, culture, and, of course, cooking. From the importance of peppers in early international trade to the most recent findings in genetics, from the cultural cachet of cabbage to Proust’s devotion to beef-and-carrot stew, to the surprising array of vegetables that preceded the pumpkin as the avatar of All Hallow’s Eve, Bloch-Dano takes readers on a dazzling tour of the fascinating stories behind our daily repasts.

Spicing her cornucopia with an eye for anecdote and a ready wit, Bloch-Dano has created a feast that’s sure to satisfy gardeners, chefs, and eaters alike.

[ATDrake]

Just a reminder that this will probably be the last day to pick up the freebie, if you're interested.