Book Reviews
Praise for Wild Flavors
"Chef Didi Emmons' intimate portrait of Eva Sommaripa, one of New England's most eccentric and charismatic growers, has lessons for us all. From arugula and basil, to spruce shoots and stinging nettles, this book tells you how to prepare, store, save and eat just about everything. Highly recommended!" -- Jane Black, IATP Food & Community Fellow
"Wild Flavors is a down-to-earth book rich in ideas and inspiration for people seeking to eat from their gardens and local areas. It's filled with mouth-watering recipes and valuable cultivation, shopping, and storage tips. But more than anything, this book is a celebration of the ethics and wisdom of Eva Sommaripa, the farmer whose herbs and outlook transformed Didi Emmons and prompted her to write this book. Eva has manifested throughout her life the kind of aspirations many are just now coming to hold. May this sharing of Eva's story help empower more people to realize their dreams of becoming more connected to the land and other creatures." -- Sandor Ellix Katz, author of Wild Fermentation and The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved
"Award-winning food writer and Boston chef, Didi Emmons, has written a charming cookbook. Wild Flavors chronicles a year spent with farmer Eva Sommaripa on her incredibly forward-thinking farm, complete with 150+ innovative, explosively flavorful recipes that Didi developed to help you take full advantage of the best your farmer's market or natural foods market has to offer. You'll never look at produce quite the same way." -- Steven Raichlen, author, Barbecue! Bible, and PBS host, Barbecue University
"Didi Emmons has long been a hero to me. She teaches, tempts and transforms all of our senses, even our common sense. Let her artistry open our eyes and taste buds to the wild flavors all around us. Enjoy!" -- Frances Moore Lappe, author of EcoMind: Changing the Way We Think, to Create the World We Want
"Didi Emmons, a local rock star of vegetarian cuisine, has written a lovely and unique cookbook, jam packed with yummy recipes for using everything a plant has to offer -- the bulbs, stalks, leaves, flowers and fruits. This book fills an important niche in the cookbook world." -- Melissa Kogut, executive director, Chefs Collaborative
"If you are a city person, like me, with a secret yen to forage for wild greens, Wild Flavors is an inspiration. Read it, and you will want to harvest, share, and eat everything you find. Emmons's friend Eva, a committed and skilled forager and grower, not only creates delicious meals from home-grown foods, but also creates a community built around wild foods as a way of life. Best, Emmons's recipes are lovely and easy to follow." -- Marion Nestle, Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies ,and Public Health, NYU, and author, Food Politics and What to Eat
"Wild Flavors ushers in a new era of cookbook writing. Much more than a collection of ingredient-driven recipes (brilliant, rustic yet modern, recipes), Didi also serves up engrossing stories peppered with practical tips, tools, and tidbits for foraging, growing, and preparing seasonal fare. This timely book not only underscores Didi's immense talent as an innovative chef, it showcases the joys of connecting with our food from seed to table." -- Bryant Terry, author, The Inspired Vegan
"With brilliance, love, and a sense of humor, Didi Emmons captures the wild and wacky spirit of Eva Sommaripa and her world of herbs. She walks you through Eva's garden and into her kitchen where you'll want to dive in, roll up your sleeves and start cooking with lovage, purslane, and all kinds of plants you may never have heard of before, but probably could find in your own back yard." -- Jody Adams, chef, Rialto Restaurant
"Kitchen gardeners or mad-eyed gleaners will be itching to get dirt under their nails after reading this book. Bookshelves groan under the weight of new seasonal-produce cookbooks, but none of them conveys the unglamorous work of farming so realistically or lovingly. — Sara Bir, The Oregonian
"For Northeasterners or city folk, Wild Flavors is the most useful guide I've seen to plants and weeds literally in your backyard...Wild Flavors will make you look with new curiosity not just at the alleyway and paths you walk but the exotic reaches of the produce aisle. — Corby Kummer, The Atlantic
Praise for Didi Emmons
"Chef Didi knows how to kick it with all youth. Her cooking is so good that I believe she leaves a little bit of herself in the pot. Most of all, the classes really help youth understand the relationship between food and their health."
— Officer Bill Baxter, Boston Police
Gang Resistance Education and Training
Reviews for Vegetarian Planet
A culinary adventure in 350 soul-satisfying recipes. The vegetarian bible for a new generation.
Emmons dazzles the reader with her ability to find synergies among ethnic ingredients not usually combined. Bland is not in her vocabulary. Her food is strongly flavored and intense. -- Chicago Tribune
Emmons writes for the cook who already has an understanding of vegetarian guidelines. Her converts, however, will come for the sheer enjoyment of her food; with dishes like Oat-Corn Pancakes and Spinach and Mozzarella Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, she makes it painless. I think this books a give-away. -- Charleston Post & Courier
Its a 350-recipe volume that entices even the entrenched carnivores to experiment with meatless meals. -- Boston Herald
Over 300 recipes compiled from ethnic traditions around the world feature vegetarian main courses and side dishes which are a gourmet's delight. The heart of any solid vegetarian cookbook lies not in its dessert or bread section, but in its main dishes: with such fare as Wild Mushroom Stew with Herbed Dumplings, Nutty Enchiladas with Spicy Chile Sauce or a grilled Green Apple and Brie Sandwiches with Quick Onion Chutney, this is loaded with unusual appeal. -- Midwest Book Review
Whether tofu turns you on or not, Emmonss Vegetarian Planet is bursting with appealing, original ideas for meat-free meals, one for almost every day of the year. -- Austin Chronicle
Whether youre a full time vegetarian or just want to be, youll like the unrestrained approach of Didi Emmons, who uses ingredients from all around the world instead of tying herself to the stereotypical brown rice, natural sweeteners, and tofu. -- Detroit News
You will want to be cooking her food, too. Healthy without trying hard, easy because Emmonss cuisine relies on bold-tasting ingredients, not advanced culinary skills to provide flavor, and engaging, thanks to the authors inherent good humor and buoyant spirit, the recipes in this book can put you on the right dietary course with minimal effort. Its what world-class cuisine should be about. -- Asbury Park Press
Experienced home chefs looking for alternatives to meat-based cuisine will find plenty here to delight vegetarian family members and dinner guests. -- Booklist
Didi Emmons is a bold new talent! Vegetarian Planet is one of the most exciting cookbooks to cross my desk in ages-chick full of hip, imaginative, explosively flavorful recipes that are easy to make and fun to eat. A must read for vegetarians, nonvegetarians, and anyone interested in cool food from a hot chef who speaks for a new culinary generation. -- Steven Raichlen, author of High-Flavor, Low-Fat Vegetarian Cooking and Miami Spice
Lately we Americans have been remembering that there are an incredible number of awesome vegetables and grains in the world, and a whole lot of delicious ways to prepare them. In Vegetarian Planet, Didi Emmons works her magic to create a whole flotilla of good-tasting, healthful dishes. It sure takes the sting out of meatless eating. -- Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby, authors of The Thrill of the Grill and Lettuce in Your Kitchen
Didi Emmons Vegetarian Planet will take you places you never dreamed of going, but once there are glad you did. This book is definitely on the cutting edge of the one-globe cooking of the century to come. -- Betty Fussell, author of Crazy for Corn and Home Bistro
It takes some mighty tasty food to make card-carrying carnivores like us enjoy a meatless meal, but Vegetarian Planet does the trick. Didi Emmons makes a great case for enlightened eating, and she does it with high style and a sense of humor. -- Jane and Michael Stern, authors of Roadfood and Goodfood
Vegetarian Planet is utterly appealing, full of exuberant spirit and enticing recipes. Didi Emmons so clearly revels in the flavors and textures of the vegetarian palate that any food lover, vegetarian or not, will want to own this book. -- Michele Anna Jordan, author of The Good Cooks Book of Tomatoes and Polenta
Reviews for Entertaining for a Veggie Planet
"...ways to make entertaining easy and fun are offered throughout. For most collections." -Library Journal. -- Review