Deborah Madison - Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone

VEGETARIAN COOKING FOR EVERYONE. Copyright 1997 by Deborah Madison.
Photographs 1997 by Laurie Smith. All rights reserved.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Madison, Deborah.
Vegetarian cooking for everyone / by Deborah Madison; photographs by Laurie Smith. 1st ed.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-307-88576-0
I. Vegetarian cookery. I. Title.
TX837.M23618 1997
641.5636-dc21 97-11138
CIP

v3.1

This book is dedicated with love, to my mentors and friends

A LICE
L INDSEY
and
M ARION

and to my husband, P ATRICK

Contents

My knowledge of food has been formed over a significant part a lifetime, shaped by friends, family, and farmers; teachers and students; writers and chefs; and those with whom Ive shared time in the kitchen and at the table. When it comes to cooking, inspiration and instruction spring from many sources, for food touches all of life. I am indebted to many individuals, both intimates and strangers, who have, in their own unique ways, been a part of the creation of this book.

The physical creation or Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone depended on the skills of many particular individuals. It could not exist without their participation. I am blessed to have as my agent Doe Coover, who has been a deep well of good nature, sound advice, warmth, and encouragement. Harriet Bell, my editor, has offered, along with her clarity and lets-get-to-work enthusiasm, genuine warmth and support, which I treasure. In addition to guiding this book to completion, she has proved a great pleasure to work with, as has the staff of Broadway BooksBill Shinker, Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich, Daisy Alpert, Rebecca Holland, Janice Race, Trigg Robinson, and Joyce Sherrod. Chris Benton look on the unenviable task of copy-editing this unwieldy manuscript with good grace and accuracyand I know it was frustratingand Alison Lew and Renata de Oliveira of Vertigo Design created the beautiful pages.

I am especially grateful to my husband, Patrick McFarlin, who has given so much to this project. He has eaten virtually all of the dishes in this book and washed up after a good many meals. Without Patrick, there would much less joy in my cooking.

Laurie Smith, with camera and infant in hand and in all kinds of weather, brought my food to life with her beautiful photographs. Catherine Kirkwoods fine hand has illuminated foods and techniques often better than my words have done. Judy Espinar and her staff at The Clay Angel deserve undying thanks for an endless supply of gorgeous serving dishes, which are such a delightful and important part of the meal.

Many people have contributed not only inspiration but hands-on help and instruction. Ive shared many meals both behind the stove and at the table with Dan Welch, David Tanis, Randy Breski, Clifford Wright, Martha Rose Shulman, and Russ Parsons, and I thank them all. Kathi Long has been a trustworthy assistant, friend, and valued source of information. Throughout the years, Marion Cunningham has been there on the other end of the phone to answer questions and share ideas; Lindsey and Charles Shere have been ever-supportive friends and more; and I am eternally grateful to Alice Waters for her generosity and her commitment to Chez Panisse, which has nourished me in more ways than one for many years. I would like to thank Richard Baker for giving me that push into the restaurant world with the creation of Greens. Life has not been the same since.

Others I wish to thank are the farmers of the Santa Fe Farmers Market and farmers markets everywhere, whose produce ensures my love of cooking season after season. Fran McCullough has been a vital part of this book from the beginninga good friend and traveling companion, always ready for a culinary adventure. Oldways Preservation and Trust made possible many highly informative trips abroad, providing firsthand experiences with foods otherwise only imagined or tasted from afar. While my mother, Winifred Madison, provided the example of culinary curiosity in the kitchen, my father, John Madison, gave me a sense of American cooking and the importance of the garden. Michael Madison, my botanist brother, has always been there to explain some of the particularities of the plant world. For sharing their recipes and expertise, my thanks go to Joe Evans, Shelly Batt, Jody Apple, Christine Hickman, Sherman Rubin, Ann Katzen, Rob Coffland, Nancy Radke, Ann Clark, Odessa Piper, Cheryl and Bill Jamison, Kathy Cary, Christopher Hirsheimer, Bharti Kirschner, Kitty Morse, Joanne Neft, Kimberly Sweet, Elizabeth Schneider, Sylvia Thompson, Lynn Alley, Luca Pioltelli, Michael Katz, and Yamuna Devi.

Lastly, I wish to thank all those cooking school directors who have invited me to teach in their schools throughout the years. Its through teaching that Ive been able to meet my readers, and their questions and curiosity inspired me to write this book.

AMAZINGLY, TEN YEARS have passed since Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone was first published. A decade is long enough to produce some remarkably well-used copies. I encounter them here and there on my travels. People come with their old books, pages tattered and stained with soup, inked with comments, and stuck with sticky notes. One, recently returned to me, was signed by all the monks who had used it in their monastery kitchen. The remains of the torn jacket were glued to the cover and the pages were so swollen with spills that the book was nearly twice its normal thickness. Clearly this old copy had had quite a workout, but nothing makes me happier than to see my books so much the worse for wear.

The impulse for writing Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone came from the questions asked by students in my cooking classes, questions that revealed when they were at a loss in the kitchen. Hearing their questions helped me understand that acquiring a sense of food and knowledge of how it works is what allows a person to move about the kitchen with confidence, free of anxiety, and full of happy anticipation. The recipes help, too, of course, but mostly they are there to articulate that know-how, give confidence, and provide a structure for intuitive cooking.