Too often in the world of food and dining attention is lavished in lopsided measures. Praise is heaped upon chefs and restaurants and the wizards of culinary nuance. But the most luminous of these dishes and the brightest of these chefs might not be as glorious if not for the farmers, fieldworkers and ranchers who harvest their key ingredients.

For this reason, a trio of Orlando food writers embarked on a state-wide journey to showcase the farms and fields that feed Florida.

“We know how chefs work hard in the kitchen, but farmers work harder and longer to give the food to the chefs. The first step in any kitchen is the farmer,” says Pam Brandon, one of the three authors of a soon-to-be published cookbook titled Field to Feast: Recipes Celebrating Florida Farmers, Chefs, and Artisans (University Press of Florida, $28).

The book, which will be released Oct. 20, is an ode to Florida farms and the kitchens they inspire. Well represented are the farms of our local counties, from Palm Beach to Hendry to Okeechobee. These fertile lands, growing everything from micro greens to berries to olives, make up the diverse patchwork quilt that is the state’s agricultural landscape.

Florida’s beaches may produce more photo ops for reality show b-roll and paparazzi shoots, but these fields and farms produce everything from fresh eggs with rich, deeply hued yolks to fragrant honey that hums on the palate – you know, the truly decadent stuff. And the farmers are as diverse as the crops they produce, says Brandon, who researched the southern third of the state for the book.

She profiled Okeechobee farmer Sal Varri, who left behind the South Florida real estate business nearly 20 years ago to grow herbs, greens, root vegetables, beans and peppers on a 20-acre farm. Varri, a fixture at local green markets, told her he loves meeting the people who will consume the crops he grows. “People should meet the farmer and know where their food comes from,” he said.

She spoke to Chuck Obern, whose C & B Farms grows a range of organic vegetables in an area known as the Devil’s Garden in Hendry County. “On a farm, work never ends,” he told her, “but the American dream can still be realized.”

She dropped in on Swank Farm in Loxahatchee, where hydroponic farmers Jodi and Darrin Swank grow, among other crops, lush greens. Jodi shared her recipe for grilled cheese with fig jam and Swank-grown baby escarole (a cast iron-grilled sandwich of fontina cheese, jam and escarole on olive oil-brushed sourdough bread).

Brandon tells the story of Satur Farms, run by the distinguished chef Eberhard Muller (formerly of Le Bernardin and Lutece, New York) and his wife Paulette Satur. They divide their time between their New York farm on the North Fork of Long Island and their Florida farm (relocated earlier this year from Belle Glade to Sebring), where they grow the extraordinary heirloom tomatoes and greens served at temples of fine dining, such as Thomas Keller’s Per Se in New York.

The book serves up quite a banquet of scenes and recipes. There’s the old-fashioned peanut butter meringue pie recipe made famous at church suppers by Reda Larson, wife of Larson Dairy patriarch Red Larson. There’s the Mango Magic Preserves made with Lantana-grown Hatcher farm mangoes. There’s a vibrant zucchini pappardelle inspired by the crops of at C & B Farms in Clewiston, and sugar cane-skewered scallops seared on sticks fashioned from Roth Farms sugar cane grown in Belle Glade.

“We loved telling the big stories and the little stories, connecting the farmers to the consumers and the chefs,” says Brandon, who also co-author’s The Post’s Divas of Dish columns. “So many people have said to us they had no idea there were so many types of farms in the state. It’s great when you can put a face to a farm.”

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ABOUT THE BOOK

Field to Feast: Recipes Celebrating Florida Farmers, Chefs and Artisans (University Press of Florida, $28), by Pam Brandon, Katie Farmand and Heather McPherson

For information and purchase links, visit FieldToFeastFL.com, UPF.com or Amazon.com. Book is also available at select bookstores.

Author appearances:

Friday, Oct. 26, 8 p.m., at Books & Books shop in Coral Gables; information at BooksAndBooks.com

Sunday, Feb. 10, noon, at Swank Farm in Loxahatchee; information at SwankSpecialtyProduce.com

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Featured farms in Palm Beach County and surrounding zones:

• C&B Farms, Clewiston; (863) 983-8269

• D&D Farms, 5059 SW Citrus Boulevard, Palm City; (772) 240-8138; DandDFarms.com

• Erickson Farm, 13646 US Highway 441, Canal Point; (561) 924-7714; EricksonFarm.com

• Green Cay Produce, Boynton Beach; (561) 638-2755; Veggies4U.com

• Hatcher Mango Hill, Lantana; (561) 588-6098; HatcherMangoHill.com

• Larson Dairy, Okeechobee; (863) 763-7330

• Roth Farms, Belle Glade; (561) 993-3037; RothFarms.com

• Satur Farms (formerly of Belle Glade, recently moved to Sebring); (631) 734-4219; SaturFarms.com

• Swank Specialty Produce; 14311 North Road, Loxahatchee; (561) 202-5648; SwankSpecialtyProduce.com

• Varri Green Farm; 12847 SE Highway 441, Okeechobee; (863) 357-2747; VarriGreenFarm.com

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The following are recipes and passages excerpted from the Field to Feast cookbook, inspired by area farms.

ZUCCHINI PAPPARDELLE

Recipe inspired by C & B Farms, Hendry County.

Zucchini, cherry tomatoes, and basil create this easy pasta dish with pappardelle noodles that are almost the same size as the long, pasta-like zucchini ribbons. To make the ribbons, use a vegetable peeler and peel off several strips from one side of the zucchini, then turn the zucchini and peel off more. Continue to turn and peel away ribbons until you get to the seeds at the center of the zucchini (discard the center).

Serves 2

6 ounces pappardelle pasta

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

½ teaspoon hot pepper flakes

1 lemon, zested and juiced

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

1 medium zucchini, peeled with a vegetable peeler into thin ribbons

½ cup coarsely chopped fresh basil

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Freshly grated Parmesan, for serving

1. Cook pasta al dente, according to package directions; drain and toss with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Set aside and keep warm.

2. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, hot pepper flakes, and lemon zest. Cook 1 minute.

3. Add tomatoes and zucchini strips and cook for 1 minute. Stir in warm pasta, lemon juice, and basil. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with grated fresh Parmesan.

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SUGAR CANE-SKEWERED SCALLOPS

Recipe inspired by Roth Farms, which grows sugar cane in Belle Glade.

If you don’t want to make your own, sugar cane skewers are available in specialty stores and in the produce section of many large supermarkets. The skewers add a subtle sweetness to the buttery scallops.

Serves 4

Marinade:

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons finely minced sweet onion

1 tablespoon finely minced garlic

2 teaspoons lime zest

1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint

Scallops:

8 jumbo sea scallops

4 sugar cane skewers

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

¼ cup dark rum

Prepare the marinade:

Mix olive oil, onion, garlic, lime zest, and mint in a small bowl. Pour over scallops and marinate in refrigerator 2 hours.

Cook the scallops:

1. Place 2 scallops on each skewer.

2. Heat butter and olive oil in sauté pan over medium-high heat. Sear scallops, lightly brushing with rum as they cook, about 3 to 5 minutes.

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PESTO-STUFFED EGGPLANT

Recipe inspired by D & D Farms U-Pick in Palm City.

Tania Bruschi’s meals are planned around what’s fresh from her family’s D & D Farms, which welcomes visitors seven days a week to shop in their fully stocked open-air market or to head out the back door with a bucket to pick whatever is in season. She makes this dish early in the season when the young eggplants are supple and sweet. Her family considers this fork-tender eggplant comfort food and with a salad, it’s dinner.

Serves 4

Pesto:

¼ cup pine nuts

2 to 6 garlic cloves, to taste

2 cups of loosely packed basil leaves

1 teaspoon coarse salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

Stuffed Eggplant:

4 small eggplants

½ cup light cream cheese, room temperature

½ cup light ricotta cheese

2 to 3 tablespoons pesto

Prepare pesto:

Process pine nuts and garlic in the bowl of a food processor for 15 seconds. Add basil, salt, and pepper. With processor running, slowly pour olive oil through feed tube and process until pesto is pureed.

Stuff and bake eggplant:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Oil a baking dish large enough to hold eggplant; set aside.

2. Cut a wedge out of each eggplant from stem to base with a sharp knife. Scoop out center of flesh with a spoon, leaving ½-inch thick shell so that it will hold its shape when baked. Discard scooped out flesh.

3. Mix cream cheese, ricotta, and pesto in a medium bowl. Evenly divide filling among scooped out eggplants. Place in prepared baking dish and bake for 30 minutes, or until fork tender.

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MRS. LARSON’S PEANUT BUTTER MERINGUE PIE

Recipe inspired by Larson’s Dairy.

Reda Larson loves cooking for their family and friends, and she says this old-fashioned peanut butter pie is always the most requested for church suppers.

Makes a 9-inch pie

Peanut Butter Filling:

1 cup sugar

¼ cup cornstarch

2 cups milk

3 egg yolks, lightly beaten

2 generous tablespoons smooth peanut butter

9-inch pre-baked pie shell

Meringue:

4 egg whites, room temperature

1 pinch cream of tartar

2 tablespoons sugar

Prepare the filling:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Stir together sugar and cornstarch in a heavy saucepan. Mix in milk and egg yolks. Cook over

low heat, stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute, or

until mixture coats the back of a spoon. Remove from heat; stir in peanut butter.

3. Pour mixture into pie crust; set aside.

Make the meringue:

1. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar with an electric mixer until foamy. Gradually add sugar,

beating 1 to 2 minutes until meringue just holds stiff peaks.

2. Spread meringue over filling, making sure it touches all edges of crust. Draw meringue up into

peaks and bake pie 10 to 12 minutes on middle rack of oven until meringue is golden. Remove

from oven and cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.