The New Foods: A Shopper's Guide with Recipes

This practical guide introduces us to the ``meltingly grainy'' Asian pear; the ``meaty, almost baconlike'' morel; and the ``brownish knotty''sic jicama, reminiscent of ``coconuts, potatoes, and misshapen turnips.'' These unusual foods, now appearing frequently on our supermarket shelves, are here listed alphabetically, with an emphasis on fruits (mainly Latin American and Asian) and vegetables (ranging from humble boniato root to expensive mache salad greens). Along with basic shopping, storing, serving and nutritional information and recipes, journalist Cusumano explains traditional uses of each food. Widely available if underused foods such as mustard greens and rutabaga are treated as inventively (e.g., dill-collard cheesecake) as the rediscovered wonder grain, quinoa (quinoa couscous with rabbit stew). Recipes for raspberry vinegar, cucumber sushi and macadamia-stuffed mushrooms will appeal even to the trend-crazed. (Apr.)