EGGPLANT AND SQUASH: A Versatile Feast

Sheryl London's celebration of eggplant and the entire squash family--introduced variety by variety--is an artful collection to please both classicists (the ingredients are good and true, if not always easy to come by) and pragmatists (there are plenty of reasonably simple recipes with readily available components). The emphasis is ethnic: zucchini frittata with prosciutto, Mexican pumpkin flan--and of course ratatouille (also in a variant baked on pastry), Imam Bayaldi, both Greek and Turkish moussaka. Our one very minor caveat is that the instructions are not always scrupulously clear.