Product Description

The most comprehensive, authoritative organic foods guide available



Flavorful, nutritious meals begin with flavorful, nutritious ingredients. They also begin with knowledge. If you want to learn about and enjoy the benefits of organic foods, this book is an essential resource that will make it easier to "go organic" by helping you "know organic."

Covering fruit, vegetables, meat, eggs, milk, spices, and more, The Organic Cook's Bible expertly addresses the what, where, when, how, and why of choosing and using more than 150 types of organic foods. It includes:
* Easy-to-find entries, organized alphabetically within categories
* Information on selection, storage, nutrition, uses, and preparation
* More than 150 color photos for easy identification
* A special section listing 900 top varieties of organic produce
* A useful list of organic food suppliers and organizations


"This is an amazing book! Jeff brings together the essentials of gardening and cooking with delicious, approachable recipes and a discussion of what it means to eat in an ethical, sustainable, and healthy manner--and manages not to be preachy. It's a great read for those just beginning to explore good food as well as old pros."
--John Ash, chef, food and wine educator, and author of the award-winning book John Ash Cooking One on One

"The Organic Cook's Bible is a fantastic resource to guide both home and professional cooks through a greater understanding of what to consider when using organics."
--Jesse Z. Cool, owner of jZcool Eatery and Catering Company and other restaurants and author of six cookbooks, including Your Organic Kitchen

"The Organic Cook's Bible is a great book and an important tool to spread the good news of organics and inspire us all in the kitchen."
--Ronnie Cummins, National Director, Organic Consumers Association

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #91127 in Books
• Published on: 2006-04-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 560 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Cox (Cellaring Wine), a veteran organic gardener, provides an encyclopedic guide to organic ingredients from fruits and vegetables to meats and dairy products, plus "kitchen staples" like coffee, bouillon and flour. Unlike most reference books, his is filled with personal touches: sidebars like "My Favorite Cherries" and "Keep an Eye Out for Black Walnuts" tell about Cox's encounters with foods, and even within the technical portions of the entries—which give information on nutrition, seasonality, storage, preparation and so on, as well as brief, fascinating histories of a food's cultivation—Cox often takes a personal approach. There are recipes using nearly every ingredient, most prepared simply to highlight a particular flavor, as in potent Rosemary Pesto, but others incorporate a food into heartier fare, like Caraway-Infused Pork. Though Cox's frequent pauses to extol organic food's virtues are of the preaching-to-the-choir variety, his abundant, knowledgeable advice on how to find and use the best products, and his presentation of special varieties of the ingredients make this a helpful resource for shoppers who are both bewildered and excited by the offerings in an ever-expanding field. Color photos not seen by PW. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
A comprehensive guide to foodstuffs, this valuable reference tool empowers the reader with practical knowledge for identifying and making use of almost every edible. After a discussion of what constitutes organic food, Cox inventories vegetables in alphabetic order. Beyond commonplace asparagus, beets, carrots, corn, peas, potatoes, and their ilk, Cox includes cardoons, crosnes, ground cherries, and even seaweed. For each entry, he gives a brief history, its organic cultivation, nutrition, types, seasonality, selection hints, preparation, and uses. Each citation has a recipe or two featuring the item as an ingredient. He provides identical treatment for fruits, nuts, seeds, beans, grains, herbs, spices, meats, dairy products, eggs, and kitchen staples such as chocolate, oils, flours, and wine. A supplemental chapter covers special varieties of vegetables and fruits that occasionally appear in markets. A list of sources complete with Web addresses helps identify organically oriented dealers. Although Cox openly advocates for organic foods, his encompassing approach eschews food fanaticism. The wealth of practical information crowding these pages makes this an indispensable resource. Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"One of my most treasured wedding gifts was a copy of the Columbia Encyclopedia. I would put 'The Organic Cook's Bible' in that same category, as an all-purpose reference." (New York Times, June 7, 2007)

Cox (Cellaring Wine), a veteran organic gardener, provides an encyclopedic guide to organic ingredients from fruits and vegetables to meats and dairy products, plus "kitchen staples" like coffee, bouillon and flour. Unlike most reference books, his is filled with personal touches: sidebars like "My Favorite Cherries" and "Keep an Eye Out for Black Walnuts" tell about Cox's encounters with foods, and even within the technical portions of the entries—which give information on nutrition, seasonality, storage, preparation and so on, as well as brief, fascinating histories of a food's cultivation—Cox often takes a personal approach. There are recipes using nearly every ingredient, most prepared simply to highlight a particular flavor, as in potent Rosemary Pesto, but others incorporate a food into heartier fare, like Caraway-Infused Pork. Though Cox's frequent pauses to extol organic food's virtues are of the preaching-to-the-choir variety, his abundant, knowledgeable advice on how to find and use the best products, and his presentation of special varieties of the ingredients make this a helpful resource for shoppers who are both bewildered and excited by the offerings in an ever-expanding field. Color photos not seen by PW. (Apr.) (Publishers Weekly, January 30, 2006)

Customer Reviews

A bit of a dissapointment
There was so much hype on this book that I expected more. It is not a bad book but I am sure there must be better ones out there on this subject than this. The info is very general. And seems oddly lacking in places. For instance, the resource section in the back seems random and missing things that anyone following the organic or slow food movement would have heard of. The book actually feels a bit behind the times and not on the forefront of the organic movement as one would have expected. Also, the author's tone is not that inviting and rather bland. Though I imagine I will pick up a tidbit or two, it is not the comprehensive 'bible' it touts itself to be.

Very Informative
Over the last few years, I've slowly become more and more organic. I've made the transition and I feel great! This book was one of the key elements that allowed my transition period to go smoothly. It's very informative and also a makes a great gift to a loved one, or friend.

A 'must' for any serious culinary or home organic cook's collection.
Plenty of books on the market cover organic foods and health, but THE ORGANIC COOK'S BIBLE is a resource which goes beyond recipes to offer a survey of organic ingredients and how to choose, store and prepare them. Home cooks and chefs receive a guide which covers meats, dairy, herbs, spices and more, with an A-Z arrangement for quick and easy reference, and a survey of over a hundred organic foods, from flavor and nutrition benefits to storage, what to look for, and top varieties. A 'must' for any serious culinary or home organic cook's collection.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch