Includes bibliographical references (pages 107-112).

From Michael Pollan to locavores, Whole Foods to farmer's markets, today cooks and foodies alike are paying more attention than ever before to the history of the food they bring into their kitchens, and especially to vegetables. Whether it is an heirloom tomato, curled cabbage, or succulent squash, from a farmer's market or a backyard plot, the humble vegetable offers more than just nutrition, it also represents a link with long tradition of farming and gardening, nurturing and breeding. In this book, those veggies finally get their due. In capsule biographies of eleven different vegetables such as artichokes, beans, chard, cabbage, cardoons, carrots, chili peppers, Jerusalem artichokes, peas, pumpkins, and tomatoes, the author explores the world of vegetables in all its facets, from science and agriculture to history, culture, and, of course, cooking. From the importance of peppers in early international trade to the most recent findings in genetics, from the cultural cachet of cabbage to Proust's devotion to beef-and-carrot stew, to the surprising array of vegetables that preceded the pumpkin as the avatar of All Hallow's Eve, the author takes readers on a tour of the stories behind our daily repasts.

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