There are four themed chapters: It's a Green Thing, Wild Pickings, Nature and Nurture and Growing in the Dark; in these different sections, there are many delightful stories about the author's favourite vegetables (which turn out to have more individual character than one might expect) and valuable info regarding their preparation. Of course, it is the recipes which lie at the heart of a book like this, and those here are cherishable, from straightforward salads and soups up to more ambitious main courses and refreshing deserts. Complementing the recipes is the quirky text (the latter, of course, the speciality of the author); Cotter is the owner of the much-acclaimed Paradiso restaurant in Cork, celebrated for its use of local produce; the illustrations include striking images of the food and the locales featured within these pages. Whatever your attitude to vegetarian cooking may be, it's possible it will be changed by this book. --Barry Forshaw
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Very creative and original
This is a wondeful cookbook which provides recipes for some unusual ingredients, and all are lovely (and some, like woodland produce, are in fact free!) You'll feast on such unusual dishes as nettle risotto, tart with wild garlic leaves and feta cheese, watercress soup, parsnip, fennel and quinoa pilaf, and a spelt farotto. So unusual but so delicious. I have been a veggie for nearly 15 years and have accumulated quite a large selection of cookbooks in that time but none of them have introduced me to so many unknown yet positively divine foods as Denis Cotter has. And don't worry, if you have a wholefood store and a woodland near you, there's no reason why you should not be able to make all the foods in this book.
Rating: - From time to time, a 'cookbook' comes along
which draws the eye for a different reason.....
......and this one is a real gem, complete with pale green ribbon bookmark to keep your page!
I was first drawn to the smell of wild garlic, in the beautiful village of Castle Combe, in Wiltshire...to me - not a particularly attractive odour, in the usual sense of the word - but powerful enough to warrant some investigation!
And what a sight .....in the dark, damp woodland..... a beautiful carpet of green and white......the latter being a flower so delicate-looking, it is hard to identify it with such a pungent aroma!
`Wild Garlic, Gooseberries... and Me' is similar in that this nonchalant-looking book is destined to be picked up off the bookshelf....to see what secret ... Read More:
Rating: - More, p(l)eas(e)
Cotter's book is completely absorbing, from his stories of a childhood which sparked a passion for well-prepared veg to the recipes which are so simple to follow and foolproof enough for the less experienced cook. Some of the ingredients are impossible to find in the local supermarket but sound intriguing enough to warrant an attempt at growing in the garden; but don't let a lack of green fingers stop you - there's plenty of recipes which can be made using staples from the fruit and veg section.
Especially straightforward and tasty are the watercress soup with walnut and red pepper salsa, the aubergine and halloumi parcels and a wonderful layercake of aubergines, potatoes and goat's cheese.
Definitely worth a look.
Rating: - Pull up a chair
This is an excellent book. Mr Cotter's exuberant enthusiasm for his ingredients is evident in almost every page. Reading it gives you a feeling of being in a quirky but comfortable pub with a well drawn pint chatting to the man. This is much more than another book about vegetables; it's mandatory reading for anyone who loves food.
Rating: - Wonderful Wild Garlic - A New Classic
Denis Cotter's restaurant Cafe Paradiso in Cork, Ireland, has rightly been celebrated for well over a decade now. It may not serve meat or fish, but it's certainly not a "vegetarian" restaurant in the narrow sense of the term. It's simply a fantastic restaurant serving fantastic food, and this was recognised when it was awarded the Best Restaurant in Ireland Award in 2006.
Cotter's 2 previous books have very much focused on the dishes served at his restaurant and were very well received. This new book is a more ambitious book altogeter, concentrating on his relationships with his vegetable growers, seasonal wild food, foraging, Irish vegetables traditional and new, and so much more beside. There are magnificent photos of the Irish countryside ... Read More: