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Veg-TableisNik Sharma’s新食谱。这句话就应该够了to make you scurry toward the preorder button. But since I had the pleasure of perusing through his latest project ahead of its release, it behooves and excites me to give you a glimpse through its pages. For his latest cookbook the author of award-winningSeasonsandThe Flavor Equation,and the brains behind food science newsletter, “The Flavor Files,” puts the expansive world of produce under the magnifying glass. “This book is about vegetables,” writes Sharma, “some more familiar than others, but all equally satisfying.”
Sharma explores the amorphous concept of what a vegetable is and explains that what it isn’t is an actual botanical term. He digs into the science of seasonality, storage strategies, and the likeness of unlikely vegetables: Did you know that artichokes and lettuce are both part of the sunflower family? These revelations begin every chapter—each divided into produce families—which contain recipes that coax the best out of every member. In Sharma’s world, corn husks don’t belong in the garbage, but in a pot to become nutty, smoky stock which he uses to make sweet corn pulao.
Sharma’s aim is clear in this book: he hopes to equip home cooks with the technical, historical, and geographical knowledge to broaden their ambitions of vegetable cooking. And he does so with the same scientific wisdom that made his first two books so successful all while emanating a certain warmth that makes even the most novice cooks feel welcome in the world of food science.
Who this book is for
The produce aisle can be overwhelming for many, leaving much of its bounty unexplored or even misunderstood by home cooks. If you’re one of these people, let this book help you expand your thesaurus of vegetables. For me, Sharma reintroduced the cassava, a tuber I ate as a child rather begrudgingly, using the delightful flavors of Spanish bravas. And if you’re someone who loves digging into the whys of cooking, Sharma's microscopic knowledge of fruits and vegetables is sure to enlighten you no matter how green your thumb may already be.
What we’re excited to cook
Collards Patra:As a lover of all things leafy, I’m most excited to make the collards patra, a recipe inspired by a dish from the western state of Gujrat in India, made traditionally using leaves of the taro plant. Sharma’s adaptation features collard greens instead which are more readily available. The leaves are slathered with a purée of tamarind, chickpea, and yogurt, then layered, rolled, and steamed in a bamboo steamer. The leaf “burritos,” as Sharma calls them, are then sliced into rounds and pan-fried until crispy.
Lentil Lasagna:Ask any South Asian, and we will tell you that dal is the emblem of comfort, and Sharma combines it with another comfy classic—lasagna. Instead of a traditional meat-based Bolognese, his recipe features a black lentil sauce flavored with garam masala, turmeric, and the fruity heat of Aleppo peppers.
Royal Cauliflower Roast with Almond Cream:Sharma gives a whole head of cauliflower the shahi (royal) treatment using the rich flavors of Mughlai cuisine, making it one hell of a showstopper. It’s roasted in ghee and warm spices and accompanied by a nutty almond and poppy seed cream. The flavors here remind me of murgh musallam, a Mughlai whole roastedchicken dish often served at weddings in Bangladesh, where I grew up, so, needless to say, I’ll be making this soon and often.
