Eva Smeltekop

Department: Man and Well being

Why do cucumbers get limp and uncrisp so quickly in the refrigerator? Is it possible to keep fresh herbs in the refrigerator for longer than a half-day? The answer can be found in the book, Vegetables, Herbs and Fruit. A cucumber can die from cold-spoilage, and a bunch of herbs must be watered – like a bouquet of flowers. It may not always be present in the forefront of our mind, but such things once formed part of living plants. ‘Taste’-fully illustrated with eye-catching cross-sections of plants and fruits, the book presents a re-‘fresh’-ing picture of what we eat. Eva Smeltekop: “Once you really understand what a courgette or head of lettuce actually is, you’ll always store it with the appropriate care. Keeping means explaining.”