Official Review: How to Fix a Leek and Other Food from Yo...

[The Bookaholic]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "How to Fix a Leek and Other Food from Your Farmers market" by Sandra Garson.]

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When I first saw this book, I thought "meh, it's a book about plumbing" and scrolled down. Then half-way down the page, my brain kicked in as I realized the pun in the title. (I had an early morning, okay!) My curiosity piqued, I This book is a must have for anyone who has an interest in food, their health and shopping at farmers markets. I cannot tell you how valuable it is and how much it has taught me.

WARNING: Do not under ANY circumstances read this when you are hungry, you will create a drool puddle just by reading the recipes. You have been warned!

I have always been a grab it and go kind of shopper. I trundled down supermarket aisles grappling the pre-cut lettuce, genetically -modified perfect tomatoes and boxes of eggs that were allegedly free range but still shifty. The introduction of the book had me hooked and I have a nasty habit of skipping the prologue. I realized how true the author's words were. We take for granted the people who farm, we fail to see that they are the backbones of society.

This book made me see food in a different light. Before reading this book, I would be bored at farmers markets when I went with family and friends. I would ever away from the lettuce stands for fear of finding a caterpillar nestled amongst the leaves , chomping away. Now I have the confidence to go and chat to the farmers about their goods, without fearing that I will ask a stupid question that makes me look like I have the iq of a chimp.

Well to start off with, this book is extremely user friendly. For each type of ingredient, the author writers useful information such as when the product is seasonally available ( we work through the book in months) where the plant/animal originally came from, how it was traditionally cooked, why it is good for you to eat it or not, how to store and cook it and most importantly, she provides us with useful recipes containing the ingredient that is bound to make you salivate. Not only are there recipes easy to read, but the author has provided a recipe list in the back of the book, but there is also a an ingredient index in the back to the book.

I learnt in the space of a few pages, how to make an east but delicious balsamic dressing, how to tell if asparagus is fresh or not (look at the color along the stalk), how to safely store and cook chicken without getting sick, why yoghurt is good for the bacteria count in your stomach and that rocket is related to the plant mustard. Little things that I didn't know about, but have helped me become a safer, more knowledgeable cook. Every page teaches you more about food, I cannot emphasize enough how helpful this book is.

I would like to try the recipes, but unfortunately can't cook to save my life. However, I want to try each recipe in the book on my unsuspecting family...

Now, I think that I am a more responsible consumer. I didn't see or care about the dangers of GM crops or battery hens. Instead of supporting local farmers and family run businesses I was spending my money on chains of supermarkets. I have learned when and what to buy, how I should use, store and defrost it. I have learnt what produce is good, rare and most importantly carcinogenic. I can now coolly seize a chicken and stuff it full of cranberries, pistachios, while debating about the pros and cons of goats cheese vs sheep cheese. Also for those of you who's pet peeve is finding spelling or grammatical errors in the book, you will be happy to see that the book is error free and proof read.

So to conclude, this book is invaluable. It will really change your perspective on how you when to by fresh healthy food, teach you mouthwatering recipes and teach you all about ordinary cooking ingredients that will make you sound like a genius in the kitchen. I would give it full stars as I found it useful, interesting, well-written and creative. I rate it 4 out of 4 stars.

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Buy "How to Fix a Leek and Other Food from Your Farmers market" on Amazon
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[Pwyrdan]

It sounds great! Amazon says it's out of print though.