Kitchen Botany

Would you like to learn botany while you cook? My unique cookbook joins botany and the pleasure of creative cooking. We are going to combine foods which are closely related to each other in order to help learn who is related to whom. Eating is a very effective (and fun) way to help retain what you learn.

I teach Botany classes at several schools in the Rocky Mountains. On the last day of every class, we have a botanical potluck. Each of us chooses a botanical family and makes a dish using ingredients primarily from that family. Then the rest of the class tries to guess the family. This event is so enjoyable for all of us that it has inspired this cookbook.

All living organisms are grouped into kingdoms, and then into families. A family can have dozens of members or only one. A botanical family can encompass both edible and non-edible plants. And you might find yourself surprised to see which plants are in the same family. Botanical families include flowers, trees, seaweeds, vegetables, fruits, grains, and mushrooms.

I have made a list of commonly available foods, and then divided these foods into kingdoms, and into families. Then I created recipes using foods within each kingdom or family.

From main dishes and breads to cookies and desserts, muffins and puddings to soups and salads, you'll find over 140 recipes in 4 kingdoms and more than 40 families, accompanied by 58 illustrations, some full page.

Each family is identified by its common name (Myrtle), its kingdom, and its Latin name (Myrtaceae). The families are presented in alphabetical order by Latin name, and the illustrations are identified by their common name, followed by their genus and species.

I've also written a short poem for each family to help you learn a bit more about its characteristics.

All the recipes have been tested by friends and I guarantee you'll have lots of fun learning about botany as you enjoy making and eating these delicious and healthy recipes.

154 pages, 7" × 9", spiral bound, full color cover painting (spanning front and back) showing a member of every family and kingdom in the book, and a comprehensive index, May, 2008.

Also available from Granny's Country Store in Silver Star, Montana. And while you're over that way, check out the wonderful selection of Thomas J. Elpel's botany books at HOPS press. I've used his wonderful Botany in a Day as a text book for many of my botany classes.

Now I know my A-C-Es! Next time won't you sing with me?
I didn't used to know my A-C-Es (aceae's) from my A-B-Cs, but now I do thanks to Garima's Kitchen Botany. And by the way, the chocolate pudding is scrumptious!

– Toshen Golias, Lyons, Colorado