Introduction

Hundreds of years ago, Europeans were introduced to a variety of New World foods like tomatoes, potatoes and corn. They were distrusted, rejected and scorned by many, but ultimately enjoyed by a few intrepid gourmands. By the 20th century, these ingredients have become staples of world cuisine.

Imagine the first Italian putting together noodles (from Asia) with tomato sauce (from the New World), creating a new benchmark. Embracing the unknown can yield delicious results.

Have you ever seen some strange new vegetable in the supermarket, but didn't know what to do with it? Are you a caterer or professional chef looking to differentiate yourself? Are you sick of cooking the same old things? Looking for a recipe to impress your friends? Feel like trying something completely different?

Welcome to the continuing quest for new food!

The focus of each chapter is a new type of food that is now more readily available. New foods can be an ancient food rediscovered or a newly created hybrid. New foods can also be a unique ingredient only recently cultivated for mass consumption, or foods that have only recently begun to be imported on a large scale.

For example, there is increasing interest in foods with anthocyanin pigments, an antioxidant, because of possible health benefits and anti-aging properties. Anthocyanin pigments are a common natural occurrence in vegetables. These pigments range in color depending on the level of acidity in the food: red in acidic conditions such as blood oranges, and deep blue in less acidic conditions, such as blue potatoes.

Of all the new, obscure, curious and strange looking foods in this book, not a single one is the result of genetic engineering. But some of these foods are the result of selective breeding, intentional hybridizing and spontaneous mutation. That is, evolution.

Your grandmother or great-grandmother probably wouldn't recognize these ingredients. You probably have walked past many of these vegetables at a farmers market, Whole Foods, gourmet grocery or in an Asian/ethnic supermarket.

Each recipe is meant to highlight the unique attributes of a particular food. The recipes focus on exploring exciting new flavors, smells, textures and colors.

I hope you enjoy preparing and eating these new foods as much as I do!