"European Farmers' Markets Cookbook" is a captivating combination of recipe book and history of the markets, spanning the period from Caesar to the Slow Food Movement of today. The struggle for survival through wars, occupations, famine, fire, and political turmoil highlights the importance of food in good times and bad. The visits to the farmers' markets in Europe reveal the culture, the economy and the disposition of the community that has arisen from the early fairs and public gatherings. Then, as now, the market remains the main social gathering place for the neighborhood. The thirty-three markets featured in "European Farmers' Markets Cookbook" each have a quality that sets them apart. It might be the exotic fruit in Vienna's Naschmarkt, or whale meat at the Fiskitorgel in Bergen, Norway, or the tubs of live snails at Mercado de Triana in Seville, Spain. The appearance and behavior of the merchants, as well as the customers, tell much about the area. The colorful pictures of the vendors, the shoppers and the foods bring the markets to life and make the reader want to reach in and sample the flavors and smells that each photo represents. The 170 tantalizing recipes found in "European Farmers' Markets Cookbook" were developed and tested utilizing the freshest foods and farmers' markets. They include all categories of foods from appetizers to vegetables. The photographs of the finished recipe help to visualize the prepared food. Traditional recipes of each country were developed, such as Irish soda bread for Ireland, flatbread for Finland, borscht for Russia, and paella for Spain. The book will allow you to travel through Europe in your own kitchen. Dr. Ann M. Crowley, a registered dietitian and commercial food photographer, has combined the art and the science of food in this wonderful recipe collection. While Dr. Crowley was associate professor in the College of Medicine at the University of Iowa and Director of Nutrition Services at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, she published extensively in professional and popular journals. Her weekly food and nutrition column was published in newspapers throughout the Midwest for thirty-two years. She has published four cookbooks. Dr. Crowley has traveled internationally at professional meetings and as a curious tourist. Wherever she went, she visited the farmers' markets to learn more about the culture and foods of that community. She has taken photographs of farmers' markets in thirty countries on six continents, "European Farmers' Markets Cookbook" encompasses seventeen European countries and thirty-three markets.