The Visual Food Lover's Guide: Includes Essential Information on How to Buy, Prepare and Store over 1,000 Types of Food

I bought this book in the same order with The New Food Lover's Companion and I must say that it is an impressive little book. While the 'FOOD LOVER'S COMPANION' lacked any artwork at all, this book is very colorful. The artwork alone is worth the price asked. The book is divided into sections like 'FRUITS', 'VEGETABLES', 'CEREALS AND GRAINS', 'FISH', 'MEATS', 'HERBS AND SPICES', 'FATS AND OILS', and others which make it very readable and easily searched. While it doesn't compare to the above mentioned "Companion" book in sheer volume or number of entries, the material presented is well done and is a visual treat.I found the entries to be fairly thorough and representative of the different listed section topics. Sure, there are a lot of different foods that are NOT listed here, but it is a representative sample. I like the color artwork because it helps you to understand what these different foods look like. There is an introductory pages(s) for each section that contains good basic information and general tips...sometimes for usage, sometimes for storage, etc. In the section on 'FISH' for example there are eight pages in the introduction that contain general guidelines for buying, storing, preparing (filleting), and cooking. In addition, each separate entry contains usage information, some purchasing and preparation ideas and storage guidelines that may be peculiar to that specific entry. Also present for each entry is a nutrition guide that helps with planning and possibly with your specific dietary requirements.So, while not an all-encompassing work, this book is a handy little guide for anyone who relies on the market place for food items. I am fairly food-centric and I still gained quite a bit of knowledge from this book. It is well done and certainly deserves a place on your shelf of good books of food lore...and because it is not TOO large could actually be carried along on shopping trips if you so desired.I will give this book five stars for its approach to the information and for its usefulness. Good use of color images and well thought out design make it highly utilitarian. You will like this one!

Most informative and the pictures are excellent. Has information about various foods which I have never seen or heard about and a nutritional chart, how to store whatever it is, the quality to look for when buying the product and how to prepare it. I bought it on a whim and it's a delight to read with all the information it has given me, even for things I have eaten for years and didn't realize they're good for me!

There is a lot of information in this little (5 x 6) book...616 pages. Lots of color drawings and some photos add a great deal to the overall effort, though the information on each type of food is basic. If that is what you need, this is the book for you. It is quite adequate in that regard as it describes choosing, preparing, and storing foods in a few lines of type as well as showing drawings of the major varieties within each category. It even lists the nutrients and some serving suggestions. I can't find fault with the information that is listed. I did wish there were more varieties pictured and mentioned, however, so in that sense I was disappointed. Let me give you an example: I get confused about different types of chili peppers when I am looking at them in the grocery store (usually not clearly marked)and would have liked a lot of photos of the different types. What I got was 6 types (bird's eye, fresh green, jalapeno, fresh red, serrano, and tabasco), all shown in drawings separately, and looking very much alike, with no indication of actual size. Initially, I only found 4 types and thought that was it until I looked a little further in the book. I gave this book 4 stars instead of 3 due to the amount of information that is there, but I did not think that it added significantly to my knowledge of foods and their characteristics. I was hoping that the "visual" in the title would be more useful.

I love this book it talks about the a variety of foods that I didn't even know about and the best way to store and or cook them. This book help me so much I keep it in my purse when I go grocery shopping just in case I see something I don't know about. It also tell you which foods are best to buy. This is a must have for foodies.

Well written, better researched! If you are in the food industry this is a quick guide that you cannot do without. Highly recommended. This guide offers a visual and written reference of the products (ingredients) and also the way to used, keep or freeze them. The small format makes it simple to carry around. I certainly recommend it to my students and friends.

Excellent little -but rich in content and very nice pictures- book on food and everything that someone would like to know about food, preparation and cooking techniques. Really interesting and fun to read!! Certainly recommended!!!

This book is awesome I never expected a lot of information that I have been looking for would be here...Very good book :)

This was a gift.

Great Book

It talks about buying, storing, prepping, and serving with some nutritional facts sometimes.For anyone who would like a reference book on over 1,000 types of food from vegetables to grain products like bread and pasta to butchering. It shows how to prep food with pictures and descriptions if there aren't any pictures. It also tells the reader how the food product is prepared usually and the general taste.It's really informative but light sometimes in some areas of preparation. For example, it doesn't show how to breakdown monkfish. But I guess it can't cover EVERYTHING there is about cooking but it tries. It even talks about some rare or exotic ingredients.Think of this book as a pocket size version of the "Professional Chef" with a little "Flavor Bible" thrown in.