Besides 12 photographs on how to prep, peel, slice and dice a butternut squash, farmer, line cook, restaurant owner, vegetable butcher (this is a real job at Eataly in New York) and now cookbook author Cara Mangini also slides in shopping tidbits like making sure to buy winter squash with the stem still attached to shield it from bacteria and preserve freshness.
The Vegetable Butcher: How to Select, Prep, Slice, Dice and Masterfully Cook Vegetables from Artichokes to Zucchini is not only a guide for how to chiffonade and shred—it’s a primer for the produce world. With notes on seasonality, pairing suggestions (a la the essential Flavor Bible), storage ideas and buying tips, more than 300 pages cover both the everyday onion and the more esoteric nettle, fiddlehead fern, scorzonera and crosnes. Also find a few pages on wild greens—amaranth, dandelion, purslane—or what many call weeds.
Similarly, recipes span from barely dressed arugula salad to trendy cauliflower steaks to a dessert cake made with eggplant and polenta.
Most photos show chopping techniques and not finished recipes, which can leave food-gazers disappointed. The prose is straightforward but friendly—and quick to point out organic is best, imperfect produce is just as delicious and to not waste broccoli stalks (cut into matchsticks) or beet greens (serve wilted with bulgur). And at this time of year, it’s all motivation for spending mornings at the farmers market.
