cover image The Garden of Eden Cookbook: Recipes in the Biblical Tradition

The Garden of Eden Cookbook: Recipes in the Biblical Tradition

Devorah Emmet Wigoder. Nightingale Resources, $19.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-06-069402-9

``Unlike Adam, who was born in a garden, our Garden of Eden would have to be created from scratch,'' reminisces Wigoder about the challenge that faced this New York Catholic once she became a Jerusalem Jew and resolved to make ``peace with the soil of Israel'' by tilling it. Wigoder's horticulture was firmly based on Biblical principles: she cultivated a blackberry bush (associated with the Biblical sneh , viewed as ``a burning bush'' by Moses) and learned respect for purslane (often considered a weed, but venerated in the Mishna ). Granted, ``serious agricultural pursuits were beyond the limitations of our soil-realm''it was hilly, rocky and aridbut Wigoder's garden put food on her family's table. The author's account of her labors, equal parts inspired and fanatical, seems aimed to please fellow converts. Her recipes, however, have universal appeal: they are healthy, easy to follow and made from widely available ingredients. Many are delicious (summer minted barley soup, pomegranate chicken), with only an occasional clunker (sheep's head meal-in-a-bowl). (Dec.)