Jane was scholarly and literary and she understood that food was more than just food, it was memory, the imagination, stories, history. It was connected to everything. Diana Henry

{HISTORY}

Just like all the famous greats in the kitchen... Julia Child, Elizabeth David, Madhur Jaffrey, Claudia Rodin...  British cookbook author and food writer Jane Grigson (1928-1990) holds high court in the kitchens of the 20th and 21st centuries. 

An epicurean powerhouse who first found her way to cooking from art gallery and editorial translation work, when it came to writing about and preparing food, Jane's influence on the culinary landscape rounded the globe in her efforts to bring forth interesting recipes and interesting stories to share. Combining world history, farming practices, cultural identities, backyard gardening, home cooking, and travel stories Jane's writing about food grabs you like a gust of wind taking you on a culinary adventure into the kitchen for an engaging, colorful, and delicious experience.

The author of ten much-lauded cookbooks throughout her career, Jane published her Vegetable Book in England in 1978. Covering 75 vegetables in alphabetical order across 600+ pages, Jane gathered recipes from history, from global kitchens, from other cooks and their books, and from her own kitchen to create this large-scale compendium chockful of veggies of all variety. Although each recipe here centers around plant-based foods, this is not meant to be a vegetarian cookbook as plenty of dishes include beef, chicken, lamb, pork and fish. 

Here in the Vintage Kitchen, we always love cookbooks that are organized in this alphabetical way, especially at garden harvest time when yields can change from year to year and cooking boredom can be staved off by exploring creative new (to you) recipes that incorporate common every-day garden ingredients.

Thanks to Jane and this cookbook, a bumper crop of eggplant for example, offers a chance for cooks to peruse the aubergine section to discover dishes like Sweet-Sour Aubergine Spanish-Style, a recipe that initially originated in a 1967 cookbook by Sally and Lucien Berg called New Food For All Palettes. An over-enthusiastic cucumber vine can result in a traditional French dish - Chicken with Cucumber Cream Sauce. Or when there's a run of lentils at the market, you can stock up for a host of interesting recipes including German Lentil Soup, Apicius' Lentil and Mussel Dish, and  Potage Esau. 

And because it is Jane and how she writes you'll not only come away with a delectable dish to serve your family and friends but also a conversation starter via some interesting backstory that Jane has shared with the recipe. 

This cookbook, when it debuted won several awards including the Glenfiddich Food and Drink Writer of the Year and the Andre Simon Memorial Book Fund Award. It still remains one of the most favorite of all Jane's cookbooks, inspiring professional chefs and home cooks of all ages and aspirations. 

Photo of Jane Grigson courtesy of Tarrytown Daily News, Nov. 28 1992

{SPECIAL FEATURES}

• 1979 First American Editon by Antheneum
• 607 pages
• Includes original dust jacket 
• Illustrated throughout with black and white line drawings by Yvonne Skargon 
• Interesting recipes include French Bean and Almond Soup, Red Hit Cauliflower, Beatrice Salad, Fennel Bakjed with Parmesan Cheese, Betty Bolgar's Leek and Mushroom Tart, Cypriot Lamb Stew, Pease Pudding and Pork, Toulouse-Lautrec's Gratin of Pumpkin, Middle Eastern Pastries with Spinach, Tomato and Oatmeal Tart, Watercress Sandwiches, Pitta Bread, Cheese, and Herb Stuffing

{CONDITION}

In lovely vintage condition. The dust jacket bears some sun fading to the spine and there are some chippy areas along the top and bottom edge. The coverboards and interior pages are clean and bright throughout and contain no cooking spots, stains or notations. There is light foxing on the foredge. The spine is tight and all pages are intact.

{SIZE}

Measures 9.5" inches (length) x 6.5" inches (width) x 1.75" inches (thickness) and weigh 2.12 lbs