Book Review: The Green Kitchen Handbook

Sarah suggested I start putting more book reviews up here, because I spend a lot of time reading books about green eating and green living.  She also suggested I start a virtual bookshelf on the side column.  Unfortunately, Blogger doesn't have a great widget to do this, but I will start a list right above the "Relevant Blogs" list.  Hopefully this doesn't make the blog to clutterific (in fact, you might notice I've been working to streamline the side column). 

I found The Green Kitchen Handbook, by Annie Berthold-Bond, in the recesses of our local branch of the Brookline public library.  The book was published in 1997, in the hunter green (that is, dark) ages of the modern sustainability movement.  The publisher, Mothers & Others for Sustainable Living, no longer exists, having gone defunct in 2001.  But I still found this book quite timely.

The book is targeted at those who haven't quite found the path to whole, sustainable, local, seasonal foods, but quickly gets up to speed and has something for everyone.  I consider myself somewhere in the middle of the journey to ecotarianism and found many suggestions in the book very helpful.  Her philosophy of eight steps towards achieving a healthier more ecotarian lifestyle will resonate with most anybody.  There are also many useful tidbits to be found in the book.

For example, there is a large section detailing alternative flours (spelt, quinoa, etc.) and how they can be substituted for refined white flour.  Very useful details.  Another section details many of the different oils available in the market including their smoke points and their saturated/unsaturated fat ratios.  A large part of the book is devoted to preserving foods and some excellent charts give details on canning times, parboiling times, etc.

Some, but remarkably few, details are out of date.  For example, the book doesn't include agave as an alternative sweetener.  It also doesn't address some of the concerns with Teflon and the recycling details are a little off (for example, only #1 and #2 plastics were commonly recycled at the time of publication).  But the comments about global warming remain spot on and are a depressing reminder of the fact that most of this was well known more than ten years ago and Bush Jr. did an awfully good job of pushing these issues under the radar.

Bottom Line: A good book for more than just a history lesson.  She also just published True Food: Eight Simple Steps to a Healthier You, which I assume contains similar, updated information.

Relevant Blog: Green Chi Cafe: This website was recently introduced by the Annie B. Bond, and is a clearing house for all things green.  Definitely worth a visit.