Vegetables

124 Pages·2012·3.53 MB·English

by  Evelyne Bloch-Dano

Vegetables

a biography Evelyne Bloch-Dano
translated by teresa lavender fagan
The
University
of Chicago Press
Chicago and
London
evelyne bloch-dano is the author of many books, including a prize-
winning biography of Émile Zola’s mother, as well as Madame Proust: A Biog-
raphy and most recently a novel, Le Biographe.
teresa lavender fagan has translated over a dozen books for the Uni-
versity of Chicago Press, including J. M. G. Le Clézio’s The Mexican Dream
and most recently Mustafa Chérif’s Islam and the West: A Conversation with
Jacques Derrida.
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2012 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 2012.
Printed in the United States of America
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 1 2 3 4 5
isbn-13: 978-0-226-05994-5 (cloth)
isbn-10: 0-226-05994-4 (cloth)
Originally published in French as La Fabuleuse histoire des legumes
© Editions Grasset & Fasquelle, 2008.
Cet ouvrage a bénéficié du soutien des Programmes d’aide à la publication
de Culturesfrance / Ministère français des affaires étrangères et europé-
ennes.  This work, published as part of a program of aid for publication,
received support from CulturesFrance and the French Ministry of Foreign
Affairs.
Ouvrage publié avec le soutien du Centre national du livre–ministère
française chargé de la culture.  This work is published with support from
the National Center of the Book–French Ministry of Culture.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bloch-Dano, Evelyne, author.
[Fabuleuse histoire des legumes. English]
Vegetables : a biography / Evelyne Bloch-Dano; translated by
Teresa Lavender Fagan.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
isbn-13: 978-0-226-05994-5 (cloth: alkaline paper)
isbn-10: 0-226-05994-4 (cloth: alkaline paper) 1. Vegetables—History.
I. Fagan, Teresa Lavender, translator. II. Title.
sb320.5.b6613 2011
635—dc22 2011004425
This paper meets the requirements of ansi/niso z39.48-1992
(Permanence of Paper).
vegetable The early use was adjectival in the sense “growing as a plant,” from
late Latin vegetabilis “animating.” The noun dates from the late 16th century.
Related words include vegetative; vegetation; and vegetate. The slang use veg out
meaning “pass the time in mindless activity” arose in the 1980s. Vegetarian is
an irregular formation of the mid-19th century; the abbreviation veggie dates
from the 1970s. :: From The Insect That Stole Butter? The Oxford Dictionary of
Word Origins, 2nd ed., edited by Julia Cresswell (Oxford University Press, 2009)
Contents
Recipes vii
Translator’s Note ix
Introduction:
From Grandma’s Garden to the
Université populaire du goût 1
a little history
Good to Eat, Good to Think About 9
A Matter of Taste 18
some Vegetable histories
The Cardoon and the Artichoke 31
The Jerusalem Artichoke 37
The Cabbage 42
The Parsnip 53
The Carrot 57
The Pea 62
The Tomato 69
The Bean 77
The Pumpkin 85
The Chili Pepper 91
Acknowledgments 99
A Biographer of Vegetables,
by Michel Onfray 101
Bibliography 107
recipes
Recipe for a salad 14
Platina’s herb pie for May 20
My sauerkraut 48
Puree of root vegetables 55
Platina’s recipe for faséoles 63
Alexandre Dumas’s asperges en petit pois 65
Strattu, Sicilian tomato sauce 72
Tomates à la Lucie 76
An ancient recipe for beans 78
Beans with salt and vinegar 84
Jean-Pierre Coffe’s pumpkin soup 88
Vegetable tagine 93

translator’s note
As the reader will learn from Michel Onfray’s remarks (see “A Biogra-
pher of Vegetables” at the end of this book), Evelyne Bloch-Dano’s text
comes out of presentations she made at the Université populaire du
goût, addressed to a predominately French audience. Thus much of the
text includes references to French authors, proverbs, customs, and so
forth, which may not be easily accessible or understandable to an An-
glophone reader. I have added footnotes wherever I felt the text needed
explanation. And with the author’s input and approval, I have replaced
some of her material with more Anglo-friendly alternatives. For excerpts
from better-known French texts, where possible I’ve provided published
English-language translations with citations; otherwise, I’ve provided
my own translations. For song lyrics and poetry, I’ve maintained the
original French and provided my literal translations in footnotes.
I wish the reader bonne lecture and bon appétit!