Here's Mr. Wilkinson's Favourite Vegetables: A Cookbook to Celebrate the Seasons by Australian chef Matt Wilkinson. Wilkinson was born in the UK but now lives in Melbourne, where he is the co-owner of Pope Joan, a bar called the Bishop of Ostia, and a casual restaurant called Spudbar. He also presumably does quite a bit of gardening: Wilkinson became known for his treatment of "garden-to-kitchen" vegetables during his tenure as head chef of Melbourne restaurant Circa, the Prince. (The book is blurbed by the likes of Eric Ripert and David Chang, both praising Wilkinson's vegetable virtuosity.)
What makes Mr. Wilkinson's Vegetables different than other recent vegetable cookbooks, like, say, Deborah Madison's Vegetable Literacy, is the emphasis on the garden; he even includes growing advice for those willing to get their hands dirty. While recipes are occasionally overly simple (do you need a recipe to tell you to pair radishes with butter and salt?), it's nonetheless the perfect book to get gardeners excited for spring planting (or spring farmers markets, if you're not into soil). Mr. Wilkinson's Vegetables came out last year in Australia but is now available for the first time in the US from Black Dog & Leventhal (order on Amazon). Below, a preview of the book.
Video: Matt Wilkinson, Author of Mr. Wilkinson's Vegetables
· Matt Wilkinson, Author of Mr. Wilkinson's Vegetables [YouTube]
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