In Praise of Tomatoes: Tasty Recipes, Garden Secrets, Legends & Lore

by Ronni Lundy

Book Overview

Straight from the vine to the cookpot and to terrific trivia: everyone will enjoy this juicy tribute to the tangy, tasty tomato. Begin with a horticultural look at resurgent vintage varieties: a comprehensive chart gives specific growing and eating details on more than 50 delicious types, both heirloom and hybrid. Find out how to create and cultivate the "essential tomato garden," even on a windowsill. Then, head straight to the kitchen with information...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1579909582
• ISBN13: 9781579909581
• Release Date: August 2006
• Publisher: Lark Books (NC)
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 8.6" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

A vivid celebration of the tomato in food and drink

Take recipes presented by cookbook author Ronni Lundy with Early Girl Eatery expert John Stehling, add garden tips and folklore, and give the package a lovely dose of color photos and you have In Praise Of Tomatoes: Tasty Recipes, Garden Secrets, Legends & Lore, a vivid celebration of the tomato in food and drink. The gardener-grower/cook will be especially pleased by a lovely mix of garden lore and recipes.

Excellent 'Mater Intro at Good Price. Some things missing.

`In Praise of Tomatoes' is a better than average large format, glossy, moderately priced book which seems to be published to go directly to the discount stacks in the megabookstore lobbies. In spite appearances, this is definitely better than the average Borders' entrance clutter. The book does a pretty good job of covering just about every tomato subject you can think of, and a few which may have escaped you, which makes the book just that much more valuable. The backbone of the book is the collection of fifty-two (52) recipes that are scattered throughout the book and thoughtfully indexed by type of dish at the front of the book. Since it is obvious that even a folio sized book of 174 pages can't begin to give a comprehensive coverage to tomato recipes, the author has thoughtfully mixed standards such as Bloody Mary, Minestrone, and Stuffed Tomatoes with some unusual variations of classics such as the BLFGT (Bacon, Lettuce, and Fried Green Tomato) sandwich, grilled pizza, and ratatouille hoagie. The book is written by a journeyman food and crafting author, Ronni Lundi, but the recipes are done by professional chef John Stehling, co-owner of a restaurant specializing in dishes based on tomatoes, named `Early Girl Eatery'. The book opens with a history of the travels of the tomato from pre-Columbian times up to the 19th century, when the luscious fruit reached its full modern distribution and conquest of the world's cuisines. There is much more here than the usual story of how the Spaniards brought it from Mexico to the Mediterranean. The next chapter is on an explanation of heirloom tomatoes and their growing popularity. A co-author, Barbara Ciletti, provides a very important chapter, `The Essential Tomato Garden Primer' on how to select, plant, and care for tomato plants, including the incredibly surprising fact that tomatoes really like to be fondled. Seriously, they grow better when there is a goodly amount of breeze to stroke the leaves. Another essential section of the book is the table of tomato varieties showing when they will yield their best harvest, whether they are determinate (lots of tomatoes over a short time) or indeterminate (steady yield over a long season), and the best uses for each tomato variety. In addition to all the recipes, there is a chapter on preserving tomatoes by canning, freezing, and drying. I was particularly interested in the notion of freezing tomatoes, as an `old wives tale' states that you cannot freeze tomato recipes, as they get watery when they are defrosted, yet dozens of cookbooks give freezing instructions for tomato recipes every day. The next section discusses out of season tomatoes trucked in from warmer climes and grown under glass. Here is explained the fact that Florida and California tomatoes sold in January have poor taste because they are bread for travel, not taste. It also warns against believing the `vine ripened' label. These were probably picked while still green and, if you are lucky