Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison | 1997 | Broadway Books | Hardcover $40.00
What Julia Child is to French cooking, Deborah Madison is to vegetarian cooking — a demystifier and definitive guide to the subject. After her many years as a teacher and writer, she realized that there was no comprehensive primer for vegetarian cooking, no single book that taught vegetarians basic cooking techniques, how to combine ingredients, and how to present vegetarian dishes with style. Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone teaches readers how to build flavor into vegetable dishes, how to develop vegetable stocks, and how to choose, care for, and cook the many vegetables available to cooks today. Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone is in every way Deborah Madison’s magnum opus, featuring 1,400 recipes suitable for committed vegetarians, vegans (in most cases), and everyone else who loves good food.
No, this is not The New Vegeterian Cooking for Everyone, the updated version produced by the same author just a few years ago. It’s the original version, with all the quirks and “outdated” dishes that made this book so popular in the late 1990’s.
Well, it really wasn’t the trendy stuff that made this book popular in the first place. It’s the comprehensive examination of the edible plantstuffs (and some non-meat animal products) that make up a vegetarian (or simply vegetarianish) diet. All kinds of ingredients and ways of cooking are explored in this book; the recipes, though varied and generally well-done, are not the real stand-out parts of this book.
Take as an example the “Grains” chapter. Of the almost 50 pages that make up this section, over 10 of them are made up of informative essays on types of rice, ways grains are harvested and prepared prior to hitting grocery store shelves, and even tips for making grain-based dishes attractive instead of just piles of mush. Recipes range from the simple, like polenta or even just plain white rice, to the more complex or exotic, like artichoke risotto or a curried quinoa dish that somehow involves orange juice and cashews.
I’ve used several very simple recipes from this book over the years. It includes instructions for everything from baking sweet potatoes to grilling corn and the book is so well-organized and carefully arranged that turning to it for reference is often quicker and more accurate than just searching online and hoping for the best.
I am not a vegetarian. Part of the appeal of this book, to me, is that Madison doesn’t come across as preachy or judgmental in any way, whether you’re a full-on vegan or an unrepentant omnivore who just wants to try new stuff. She herself is really a locavore, eating meat and animal products as well as produce when in season and ethically farmed in her own area. I really admire this!
The sad truth is that until now I’d totally ignored all the lovely little extras. The introductory chapters — all about finding proper equipment, types of seasonings, etc. — and the other little educational bits got completely skipped over when all I really wanted to know was how long to steam the broccoli.
That said, I haven’t tried very many of the “real” recipes, y’know, the ones that involve more than a couple of ingredients and multiple steps. I paid particular attention to the section on “Asian Noodles”, which covers cellophane, mein, rice, and soba types of pasta. My spouse and I both enjoy Italian pasta dishes and Japanese- and Chinese-inspired stir-fry type dishes, so I think he would be open to trying some of these recipes. Well, modified versions of them. Neither of us eat tofu, and he would probably not be open to trying ingredients like hijiki or dulse (if I could even find them).
Not having tried many of the recipes yet, I obviously can’t judge them. However, a significant portion of them don’t appeal to me, or I know that if I tried them my family wouldn’t even touch the results. Sometimes I just cook for myself, but given the cost and difficulty of finding some of these fancier ingredients I’m hesitant to bother with them at all.
In any case, I feel confident in recommending this cookbook as a good option for anyone who wants to explore more veggies in the kitchen.
Links:
- Deborah Madison’s website, incl. a lovely but seldom-updated blog
- Book review at the Wall Street Journal
- Book review at Pop Matters
- Interview at the Washington Post
- Interview at The Kitchn
- Cook the Book feature at Serious Eats
Publication information: Madison, Deborha. Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. New York: Broadway Books, 1997. Print.
Source: Purchased for home library.
Disclaimer: I am not compensated, monetarily or otherwise, for reviews of books or other products.