COOKING FROM THE GARDEN

A knockout compendium of ""theme"" gardens, many grown specifically for this book, with stunning photos, spectacular gardens, splendid food (from ordinary Indian pudding from a Native American garden to pheasant supremes with fresh thyme from a culinary herb garden), and both recipes and gardening tips--and sometimes the gardens themselves--provided by appropriate luminaries. Thus Chez Panisse's Alice Waters is shown among her edible flowers and the same restaurant's Paul Bertolli discourses on Italian gardens; Edward Espe Brown of Tasajara renown provides a bread recipe using the wheat Creasy grew in her backyard grain garden; Edmund McIlhenny of tabasco sauce fame functions as guide to the Cajun gardens; and Creasy calls on Ken Hom, Elizabeth Andoh, and Madhur Jaffrey for dishes from the Oriental gardens. One of the appendices, an ""Encyclopedia of Superior Vegetables"" that covers varieties, seed saving, pest control, harvesting, preserving, and more, contains as much information as many a flimsier garden-to-table book. That this one will also be spectacular on the coffee table does not detract from its practical and inspirational value in the kitchen and garden.