Shoots, Eats, Leaves
ON VEGETABLES, by über-hot American chef Jeremy Fox, is a book for reading (Fox’s story of burning out while his star was ascending at Ubuntu, the Michelin-starred Napa Valley restaurant, is like a movie treatment), learning (how best to store lettuce, the merits of a bird’s beak knife) and cooking—even if it isn’t an everyday cookbook. Dishes like peas, white chocolate and macadamia are pure restaurant fodder, but chickpeas in broth, lots of olive oil and black pepper, pan con tomate? Yes, please. Yet what elevates On
Vegetables is that it is, unexpectedly, a call to action. Fox has a message, but it’s not to give up meat. Instead, his mantra is: Eat your veg, all of it, from seed to stalk. “Discarding edible food is incredibly wasteful,” he writes. “This is not the simplest approach to cooking, but it might be the most functional. It requires you to cook thoughtfully, even frequently. The tops from yesterday’s carrots can be tomorrow night’s pesto. Last night’s roasted beets can lead to tonight’s braised greens.” He’s right. We should all be cooking more and wasting less. And despite its good looks and glossy photographs, On Vegetables isn’t about fetishizing what we grow. It is about using it, all of it, all of the time. And about time too.