My idea of a great cookbook is one that, on opening it, I want to take it to a quiet corner to read and savor, because I know immediately that it’s going to give me lots of information, some new skills, and last inspiration.
Flo Braker, from the foreword
When the first edition of The Good Cook’s Book of Tomatoes, the third title in my Good Cook’s series, was published in 1995 by Aris Books / Addison-Wesley Publishing, the late Jim Wood, then the food and wine editor for the San Francisco Examiner, called it the best bookânot the best food book, but the best book–he’d read in five years. The original series of diminutive softcover books included sweetly evocative drawings by Sonoma County artist Michel Stong on both the covers and interior pages.
The fully revised edition is even better than the original. Today the public wants photographs: there are full-color photographs throughout the book. The information and the recipes have been fully revised, with new content where relevant and dozens of new recipes that reflect changing styles, my own evolution as a cook and the easy availability of a wider variety of ingredients than when I wrote the first edition.
