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Food for Free (Collins GEM)
by: Richard Mabey

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Used Price: £1.28
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Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 580
EAN: 9780007183036
ISBN: 0007183038
Label: Collins
Manufacturer: Collins
Number Of Pages: 239
Publication Date: August 02, 2004
Publisher: Collins
Studio: Collins
Sales Rank: 155

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Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- An excellent little book
This little gem of a book should be in every backpackers back pocket. Concise, focused and descriptive you'll have no trouble identifying the plants and shellfish. There has been some comments about lack of information on animals to eat, this is probably because rabbits, pheasants and such are classed as game and will belong to the landowner. Whilst it's ok to pick a few plants, mushrooms and shellfish it will probably be frowned on if you start blasting away at the countryside or setting traps!

Rating:

- A Handy Pocket Volume

Richard Mabey is the author of several books on flora and fauna so he is well qualified to write a book such as this. Over one hundred edible plants are featured together with recipes and other culinary information. There is also information on how to pick and when to pick and the regulations on picking which are very important. As I come from farming stock I have to say that food for free does not mean going into a field and digging up a few potato plants or for that matter cabbages.

There are plenty of hedgerow plants available for free, if you are prepared to look for them and suffer the odd few scratches. There is nothing better than a bowl of freshly picked blackberries or raspberries, if you can get them home ... Read More:

Rating:

- Good Introduction
I bought this book recently through a desire to understand the countryside around me and try some of its natural foodstuffs.
The book is very well presented and includes an excellent foreword by the author. It provides a basic explaination of the various flora, a little of their natural and culinary history and there are nice photographs with identification hints.
I think I would like to have seen more recipies and ways in which they might be implemented. In the section dedicated to Spring I think there are only three recipies with much of the other suggestions directed towards salads. On balance a satisfactory purchase but I think that if my interest in wild foods develops I will certainly have to follow up my purchase with something ... Read More:

Rating:

- Excellent pocket sized guide
This is a 2004 version and worthy addition to the very popular and pocket-sized Collins Gem series. ISBN 0-00-718303-8. Food For Free - A Fantastic Feast of Plants and Folklore.

The book starts with an introduction by the author Richard Mabey. It then has short sections titled 'Roots', 'Green Vegetables', 'Herbs', 'Spices', 'Flowers', 'Fruits', 'Making Jellies and Jams' and 'Nuts'. They include general advice, observations and uses. The main section of the book is given over to identification, with at least two pages per entry. An interesting section follows titled ’Picking Rules’ which gives advice on how to pick correctly how to stay safe. The ... Read More:

Rating:

- Excites the interest but not actually that practical
This is an excellent book but in the wrong package. Richard Mabey does a very good job of giving a seasonal guide to what's out there that you can have for free and does a respectable job of telling you how to use it. It falls short in two respects;

First it is not a comprehensive guide to any particular food source so while he may tell you how to cook ceps and morels and gives a reasonable guide to identifying it without this being a comprehensive guide to fungi you will never be entirely certain that what you have is a cep or a morel. To some extent that is true for everything he shows whether its fungi, nuts or fruit.

The second point is more significant for a book on foraging and is that this edition is simply too big ... Read More:

Books : Food for Free (Collins GEM)