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In this evocative book, Wall Street Journal columnist Naj pursues his subject from Bolivia to New Mexico, interviewing growers, botanists, chefs, and doctors, even chronicling a long and acrimonious lawsuit that has raged around the use of the term "Tabasco." Illus.

I often see advice given by nutritionists and other medical experts recommending that you start the day with a healthy breakfast. Since blueberries are known to be one of the most beneficial of all fruits, a blueberry smoothie or yogurt topped with these berries are common suggestions. The trouble with this advice is that it may very well be counterproductive

This volume provides a wide-ranging survey of all the major grain legumes from the standpoint of both their evolution and their potential for further development.

More than 25 experts from the fields of soil science, weed science, nematology, plant pathology, and entomology explain how to manage potato health from seed to storage.

In this fascinating exploration of the banana's history, award-winning journalist Dan Koeppel gives readers plenty of food for thought. Banana takes us from jungle to supermarket, from corporate boardrooms to kitchen tables around the world. We begin in the Garden of Eden, examining scholars' belief that Eve's "apple" was actually a banana. We travel to early-twentieth-century Central America, where aptly named "banana republics" rose and fell over the crop. Koeppel then chronicles the banana's path to the present, taking us to banana plantations across the globe that are being destroyed by a fast-moving blight, with no cure in sight, and to the labs where new bananas are being built in test tubes, in a race to save the world's most beloved fruit.

Why do so many Americans drive for miles each autumn to buy a vegetable that they are unlikely to eat? Towns hold annual pumpkin festivals featuring giant pumpkins and carving contests, even though few have any historic ties to the crop. In this fascinating cultural and natural history, Cindy Ott tells the story of the pumpkin.

Mountainous terrain, volcanic soils, innumerable microclimates, and an ancient culture of winemaking influenced by Greeks, Phoenicians, and Romans make Italy the most diverse country in the world of wine. This diversity is reflected in the fact that Italy grows the largest number of native wine grapes known, amounting to more than a quarter of the world's commercial wine grape types. Ian D'Agata spent thirteen years interviewing producers, walking vineyards, studying available research, and tasting wines to create this authoritative guide to Italy's native grapes and their wines.

This book, consisting of 37 papers by 50 cucurbit specialists, emphasizes the practical importance of cucurbit investigation, and provides a broad overview of the family.

John Hoenig explores the path by which, over the last two centuries, the tomato went from a rare seasonal crop to America's favorite vegetable. Garden Variety illuminates American culinary culture from 1800 to the present, challenging a simple story of mass-produced homogeneity and demonstrating the persistence of diverse food cultures throughout modern America.