Review by Booklist Review
Backed by his worldwide restaurants, reputation for humanitarianism, and many awards, Spanish-American chef Andrés (We Fed an Island, 2018) stands to change the way we eat and imagine vegetables. For this globally influenced ode to the vibrant possibilities of vegetables, he has a well-matched co-author in Goulding, who's written food and travel books about Japan (Rice, Noodle, Fish, 2015) and Spain (Grape, Olive, Pig, 2016). Goulding's natural affection for the infectiously enthusiastic chef comes across, while recipes reflect Andrés' playful and ever-experimental culinary thinking. The brilliantly photographed book is divided into seasons, which are organized alphabetically by vegetable. (Ingredients can also be referenced via an index.) Various multi-page spreads break up the recipes: ""Food Fighter"" profiles of farmers and advocates, such as Ron Finley, who's pioneered community gardening in South Central L.A.; ""Love Letters"" to ingredients like local honey; and logs of Andrés culinary journeys to places like the Chef's Garden in Ohio, a farm where many of the vegetables that end up on fine-dining plates are grown.While Andrés' dishes trend toward the time intensive and carefully prepared, and occasionally reflect his modernist-cooking background, he also advocates for simplicity. Don't underestimate the power of cooking in plain, salted water (an ""unsung hero"") or the mighty microwave, which he advocates for cooking corn, eggplants, and even a version of cacio e pepe. Readers can expect classic-leaning salads, gazpacho, vegetarian paella, and Spanish tortillas, and also tomato tartare, burgers with slabs of beet ""steak"" swapped for meat, a mushroom soup that looks like a cup of frothy cappucino, or a sweet potato that serves as the base for an ice-cream sundae. Some ingredients and pantry staples (Japanese furikake seasoning, pickled Spanish piparras peppers, Korean sempio yondo sauce) might be hard to find, but the authors give sourcing tips and remind readers that demand will preclude their ready availability, so make requests of your local grocer, and buy up.The authors make it clear that this is a pro-vegetable (not anti-meat) cookbook, and include a meat option in a few recipes. Recommendations for composting, in-season and farmer's-market shopping, and using seeds and scraps all underscore their waste-reducing ethos and their goal ""to get people excited about things that sprout from the ground."" HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: 2019 Oscar presenter Andrés has distinguished himself as a celebrity chef with a vision for ""new, better ways to feed the planet.""--Annie Bostrom Copyright 2019 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
