Ripe: A Fresh, Colorful Approach to Fruits and Vegetables

A Look at Ripe - A Fresh, Colorful Approach to Fruits and Vegetables

A good friend of ours from Utah just arrived in Philadelphia for a visit and some business. She came bearing gifts, including this new cookbook by food writer Cheryl Sternman Rule and food photographer Paulette Philpot: Ripe:A Fresh, Colorful Approach to Fruits and Vegetables.

Our friend Kim described the book by saying,

Every recipe I've tried has been perfect, and the photography is incredible!

As soon as I opened the cookbook, I knew what she meant. I landed on page 94 to this incredible image of a beautiful nectarine on one side and a wonderful description of nectarines with some simple suggestions for how you can use them in your recipes on the other side. On page 96, there is a delicious-looking recipe for a Syrupy Nectarine Crepe Stack. This got the attention of my youngest daughter, who adores crepes.

The entire book's layout is perfectly color-coordinated. The pages with the descriptions and recipes tastefully match the colors on the exquisite full-page photographs. According to their website, Cheryl met Paulette in 2008 at a culinary conference in New Orleans. They became friends and learned they wanted to "photograph a fruit and vegetable coffee table book that would showcase common produce items in fresh, compelling ways."

This was expanded to a "color-drenched" cookbook, including Cheryl's recipes, ingredient suggestions, and Paulette's stylized photography. It is a beautiful cookbook. The book is divided into chapters by the colors that correspond with the fruits and vegetables. For example, the first chapter, “Red,” includes beets, blood oranges, cherries, cranberries, grapefruit, pomegranates, radicchio, radishes, raspberries, red apples, red bell peppers, rhubarb, strawberries, tomatoes, and watermelon.

The other colors are Orange, Yellow, Green, Purple & Blue, and White, with many ingredients and recipes for each. Some of the recipes that caught my eye include:

• Cranberry Apple Butter
• Kumquat Arugula Salad with Currant-Walnut Vinaigrette - I love arugula!
• Fried Sage and Chestnut Brussels Sprout - I can't wait to try this one!
• Eggplant Romesco Rigatoni
• Ginger Cashew Cauliflower
• Broccoli Soup with Cheddar Croutons
• Fennel-Orange Salad

I think I just read the book and picked out recipes for some of my favorite ingredients.

Media Attention

This book is getting some serious media attention. From their website, I found,

• The Wall Street Journal calls Ripe “entirely welcoming,” “beautifully illustrated,” and “imaginatively organized.”
• Serious Eats names Ripe one of its 10 Favorite Cookbooks of 2012
• Vegetarian Times names Ripe one of its Top 5 Cookbooks of 2012
• “A beautiful new book on produce provides us with seven fresh, colorful sides that will work no matter how you cook your bird… “ ~Oprah.com

On the cover of the book, Alice Waters says,

The most convincing argument for eating fresh, organic, local food is discovering the peak ripeness of a fruit or vegetable at the farmer's market or in your own garden. Ripe teaches you how to choose your ingredients and cook them so their true flavor shines through.

This is a beautiful book, and I can't wait to get into it and try several of its recipes. I'll keep you updated on my results.

You can find Ripe:A Fresh, Colorful Approach to Fruits and Vegetables at Amazon.