Raw

Rating:
Summary: A beautiful - if not practical - book!
Review: Anyone who has had the supreme pleasure of dining at Roxanne's Raw, knows why I was so excited to receive this gorgeous coffee table book in the mail. Of course, you won't want to keep it in the living room all the time, because you'll need it in the kitchen to create Charlie Trotter and Roxanne Klein's delicious gourmet cuisine.

A warning: this book is not for the faint of heart. But let me say that even if you never take the time to make one of these fabulous creations, you'll find yourself dreamily flipping through the pages over a cup of herbal tea and wishing for your own personal raw chef. I love to leave this book out for two reasons: one, it inspires and challenges me when I'm feeling bored with my food, and two, it so beautifully answers the question "So what do you eat - salads?"

Each 2-page spread is devoted to one glorious recipe and a full-page color photograph of the finished product. Believe me when I say that every single second of time and energy that goes into one of these recipes will be rewarded with a wonderfully worthy raw meal. The section on "pairing wine and raw food" is accentuated by Wine Notes with each recipe.

I'm very sad that I will never set foot in Roxanne's restaurant again since the place had to close down in 2004, so I will hold on to this book and keep it as a treasured part of my recipe book collection. Each time I open it, I know that I hold in my hands a part of raw food history and the key to recreating the singular experience that it was to dine at her establishment.
But let's not forget Charlie Trotter, six-time James Beard Award-winner and one of the top chefs of our time. He met Roxanne and her husband through his restaurant in Chicago and challenged him by requesting raw meals. His introduction to the book alone will provide you with a number of valuable tips to raw food preparation and a view into how one traditional chef exanded his horizons. Roxanne herself was led down the path to raw foods when she met up with actor and raw foodist Woody Harrelson in Thailand while researching cuisine for a vegan cookbook.

In her words: "My raw cuisine is about discovering the inherent sensuality of each ingredient in its natural state, and then highlighting it in the final dish." This food is indeed sensuous, and, in your hands, this book could be the one to awaken your own desire to create awe-inspiring dishes.



Rating:
Summary: worth it
Review: As almost everyone else has said this is not an easy cookbook to use to cook from - specialised ingredients, specialised equipment (you need the dehydrator!), planning required (hardly anything can be thrown together on the spot and a lot of things require more than 24hr from starting soaking to serving) It can take a bit to get over the consistence while making some dishes (the Dragon Crackers have been the biggest "this glub couldn't make anything edible could it?????" to "more please" of the finished product)

But it is worth it - I don't follow a raw diet, I just eat a bit out of this and hope it helps with all the over-processed stuff I have the rest of the time. It takes time and effort. You don't need to believe all the pseudo-scientific claims of why raw is good for you, your body will appreciate it anyway.



Rating:
Summary: Worth the Effort
Review: As other reviews suggest, this cookbook is filled with complex recipes that frequently call for out-of-the-ordinary ingredients and food preparation techniques such as soaking, dehydrating, blending and sieving. Yet the results are worth every bit of the effort.

In exploring living foods, I've found other chefs' approaches to be too raw (salads, salads and more salads) or too intent on emulating cooked foods (nut loaf, seed cheese, sprouted breads). Frequently raw chefs deliver recipes that are variations of these same basic themes. This book transcends all of that.

Even when I'm preparing something that resembles a raw food basic, e.g. a soup made from fruit/vegetable juice, the results when following Charlie and Roxanne's recipes are completely different than expected, complex, layered, with lots of nuance to appreciate. The asparagus soup is a delectable example of this. Another is Roxanne's signature appetizer at her restaurant and opening recipe in this book, the Wakame Sushi Rolls. Many people dabbling or dedicated to living foods will likely have seen raw sushi rolls, in which soaked crushed nuts or ground root vegetable take the place of the rice in the roll. In Roxanne's version, the spice/vinegar/honey addition to ground parsnips is truly unique and lifts the raw sushi roll out of the reliance on nuts.

The most relevant grumble I have with the book: there are several dishes which require the preparation of four to seven distinct recipes. The Wakame Sushi rolls consist of four recipes plus the dicing/slicing of roll veggies. The Tacos Three Ways is the most egregious example I've noticed, with eight recipes in total to deliver the dish as written. Still, there are several dishes that are a straight, single recipe or two. And, of course, each of us is free to make tacos "one way" instead of three or otherwise omit and substitute. The Wakame rolls are plenty tasty even without the Wasabi mayonnaise or chiffonade cut Nori decorating the plate. Also, you will find that some of the component recipes are wonderful on other creations of your own making, e.g. the mushroom sauce and wild mushroom ragout used on something other than the raw-corn polenta.

You don't have to be a living foods enthusiast or zealot to appreciate the flavors, textures and experience that result from these recipes. Charlie Trotter is proof of that. But you will need the equipment that is standard among living foodies if you want to do anything more than dabble in these recipes. In order of priority, you will need a food processor, blender, juicer, dehydrator, and jars/trays for soaking and sprouting.

I've made ten dishes from this book, some several times already, and have been surprised, delighted and even amazed with the results. And my guests have been similarly pleased. Thanks to the nuance and layers of flavors, each preparation has been worth the effort.

Rating:
Summary: Truly Gourmet Raw Cuisine
Review: Finally! The long wait was worth it. Charlie Trotter and Roxanne Klein have raised the bar and given us a beautiful, inspiring version of raw "haute cuisine".

I have been "raw" for well over a year and have been consistently dismayed by the lack of exciting and delicious recipes. Even so-called gourmet books (like Julianno's overly celebrated "Raw: the Un-cook book") are little more than a bunch of ingredients clumsily thrown together in a barage of contrasting flavors. In the hands of Trotter & Klein, however, raw cuisine has finally risen above crunch salads and the hard core health approach. These recipes are an exquisite interplay of flavors and textures... fresh, surprising and perfectly balanced. I've been thrilled with each of the creations I've tried so far!

One nice thing about this collaboration is that it presents raw food at its beautiful, sublime best. No heavy handed propoganda, health warnings or "holier than thou" approach. The gorgeous photos and recipes speak for themselves. Klein's introduction sums up the raw approach to life simply and succinctly.

As a professionally trained chef, I am the first to admit this book is not for everyone. It has a great format and layout with stunning photographs on every page. And while most of the recipes seem fairly straight forward to me, there is little here that one could throw together quickly for dinner. Trotter is well-known for his amazing palate and fairly complex approach to food (though he still considers it keeping things simple!). Like most fine food, several of the recipes have numerous stages, steps and sauces; many of the ingredients seem a bit obscure to those who aren't "foodies". None of Trotter's books are for the novice and RAW proves no exception.

If you're new to raw cuisine, this probably isn't the book for you. Be advised that all the recipes are vegan (no animal or dairy products). If you're at the level where you want to spend some serious time in the kitchen to dazzle your senses - or perhaps entertain and present some spectacular raw food to friends! - then look no further. It doesn't get any better than this, folks.

Bon appetit!

Rating:
Summary: Lots of good ideas
Review: For those moving to the healthy raw vegan diet but stumped about what to make for dinner besides salad, this book contains many great ideas. I was taken by the variety and inventiveness of many of the recipes where various ingredients are combined in very clever ways in order to get not only the flavour but also the correct texture.

I particularly like the recipes for raw lasagna, sushi and dolmas. These are great for surprising the non-raw with the possibilities of food in its natural state. The book itself can inspire the non-raw with its professional layout and superb photography.

The additional information on how to prepare items such as rejuvelac and cashew 'cheese' are straight forward and easy to follow.

Well worth the money.

Rating:
Summary: The most beautiful cookbook you'll never use
Review: I agree pretty much 100% with the other low-star reviewers here. I'm a longtime vegetarian, and I've owned this gorgeously-designed book for several months. I've prepared a few of the recipes a few times. The rest? I'll never even attempt them.

How many people are realistically going to spend the time to make the recipes in this book on any kind of a regular basis?

"Rawmesan" is a good example. This grating-cheese substitute is made of 2 pounds of raw pine nuts and the sprouting water from wheat berries, which you are expected to ferment for 14 hours, grind, spread on drying sheets, then dehydrate for 10 to 14 hours.

Uh huh.

Perhaps it tastes good. Frankly, I doubt it. But I'm not going to be trying it on $40 worth of nuts to find out.

That best sums up this maddening book, which might as well be classified in science fiction (more on that in a bit). The combination of mandatory overnight dehydrating and ridiculously expensive ingredients is insane.

My favorite? A very simple recipe for "couscous" of raw broccoflower, carrot shreds and grapes is tasty, if rather obvious.

But Trotter and Klein arrogantly call for "25-year-old Villa Manodori balsamic vinegar" in the recipe. GIVE ME A BREAK. I used my Whole Foods 365 (a Cook's Illustrated favorite) and gee, it still tasted really good, Charlie and Roxie!

Look, it's basically a book of salads and raw vegetable purees, which they call "soups." Fine. I've rarely seen recipes calling for as many ingredients as these. I've assembled only a handful exactly as written.

However, shredded coconut is not "rice noodles," nor are raw nuts and corn kernels "polenta." I am driven to distraction by vegetarian mock meats, and many of the recipes in this book are like that. If you are craving some pasta, just eat the silly stuff. Don't pretend ribbons of vegetable are satisfying your urge. They're just making you focus more on what you're missing.

And like someone else here pointed out, a lot of these recipes call for a juicer, which is one of the biggest nutritional frauds ever foisted on the health-food scene. Juicers remove fiber, one of the most important attributes of fruits and vegetables.

Someone needs to ask why these raw-food books all have so many desserts (a full fifth of the recipes here). I think it's because this cuisine deprives people of so many pleasures, and they can only get satiated by one of the few truly delicious high-calorie ingredients allowed on this ridiculous regime: maple syrup mixed with cocoa powder.

I'd add up the nutritional value of a lot of these recipes and take a good, hard look at them. There is very little calorie content in here, except from oils, nuts and maple syrup. If you're comfortable getting the bulk of your calories from fat and sugar, I suppose you'd do OK eating like this.

But my considerable experience with vegetarianism has proven to me that we need a lot more whole grains and protein than you can find here. I ate a diet similar to this for several years, and I was NOT healthy.

Still, that's probably not a real concern, as I simply can't imagine the kind of person who really has the time (or money) to base his/her diet on these recipes.

Like I said above, it's science fiction. Put it on your coffee table.

Rating:
Summary: Raw and engaging, tasty too
Review: I initially purchased this book only because of Charlie Trotter. Since I consider Charlie one of the greatest chefs alive, and have all of his other cookbooks, I felt there was something going on here. I had read about the "raw" movement, but had not paid much attention to it.

The book, like all of Charlie's other books, is as beautiful as a work of art. The pictures are full page and really display the food like jewels. One glance through and you are already getting hungry.

The recipes, amazingly enough, require a bit of work. You would think that without cooking it would be easier to prepare dishes, but the prep work here can be considerable. Dedicate some time to reading a recipe before trying.

I have already made several different dishes and each has come out wonderfully. The cauliflower soup in particular was a pleasant surprise. All of the work was within the skill set of the experienced home chef.

If you want to make many of the recipes, however, you will need some special ingredients and some equipment. You can find many of the food products at your local "natural" foods store or gourmet market. The one piece of equipment that seems essential to have is a good quality dehydrator.

Enjoy the food and the process.

Rating:
Summary: Love this Hoity Toity Raw Coffee Table Book
Review: Raw food diet has saved my life. For those of us who really must "stay raw" in order to have happy and healthy bodies "or else," a book like this is a great inspiration. No, I can't find a lot of the ingredients. I never even *heard* of white or red baby carrots before, or yuzu citron juice, or white truffle oil, dragon chile, tamarind juice, and many other ingredients. If I did know what they were or knew where to find them, chances are I could not afford them. But that's okay. This book expands my horizons. I can try to understand the visual and flavors of such ingredients, and if I can't get the actual ingredients, I can substitute with something else. That's one of the great things about raw food preparation -- substitutions are pretty easy and fun to do!

I had to learn how not to take a raw food gourmet book "too seriously" when I first got Juliano's wonderful "Raw: The Uncookbook." One recipe might list 30 ingredients, five of which were too expensive and more that I could not find at all -- but then learned, with inspiration from other "raw foodies," that such recipes can be used as "raw inspiration." By following the basic concepts of a gourmet raw recipe, I can substitute and alter to fit my own tastes and pocketbook and come up with some "way cool" gourmet treats! My main problem is that sometimes they come out so super good that I want to fix them again -- but didn't write down what I did, haha!

For those who enjoy the creative art of raw food cuisine, this book has many wonderful ideas in flavors, textures, colors and more.

I really appreciated Roxanne's introduction too. It's great.

This is one of the raw recipe books that proves you *don't* have to be a puritan or a monk to enjoy raw food cuisine. And I know from experience that you don't have to eat only raw foods to appreciate these recipes too.

I call this my "hoity toity" raw recipe book. It's big, beautiful heavy and replete with lots of hoity toity gourmand photographs. I don't know how many recipes I will ever actually make out of this book, but I consider it a work of art and know I will always enjoy thumbing through it for raw food preparation inspiration at the very least. Oh, and it's so beautiful and big and it would make a great coffee table book too. That's where I'm keeping mine.

I hope that this book will also inspire more and more professional chefs to offer delights like these on their menus!

(P.S. I had serious health problems and 75 lbs. more excess weight before switching to raw diet. Raw rocks!)

Rating:
Summary: Inspiring but Vague
Review: Roxanne Klein's cuisine is an appealing blend of funk and sophistication. Unlike co-author Charlie Trotter, she doesn't hold back when it comes to forthright ethnic flavor profiles (although she doesn't always push her ethnic dishes much beyond their traditional forms). Her composed entrees and salads, which show Trotter's input more clearly, are in some ways even more inspiring. Bright, intense, and often quite rich, Klein's dishes will astonish diners who expect raw food to be simple, austere, or cold. It seems like magic: one constantly asks, how on earth did she make those taco-shells, or those "fried" onions, or that rice-like sushi filling?

This cookbook provides the answers, but may not give readers quite all the information they need to pull off similar culinary miracles at home. The lean prose is sometimes less than communicative: for example, she tells us to allow her cashew cheese to "ripen" for 12 hours, but gives no clue to the smell, texture, or taste that lets us know when ripeness has been achieved. The same is true for her rejuvelac recipe. One is left to cook by the numbers.

More information about the preparation and acquisition of the exotic ingredients she uses would also have been nice. It's hard to imagine that most people know how to open a young coconut, much less how to extract the flesh in such a way that it can be julienned. Recommended substitutions for the specific mushrooms, chiles, fruits and sea-vegetables she uses would also be helpful. On the other hand, most readers of gourmet cookbooks are used to a little creative participation when it comes to realizing a fancy dish, and her plating, portion and flavor concepts leave plenty of room for flexibility.

Finally, a word about equipment: while any ice-cream maker will work, and most dehydrators could be adapted with the use of a silpat or a cake liner, the expensive mixer she recommends really is helpful. Although she claims, rather hesitantly, that you can use your food processor or ordinary blender to puree the raw nuts and vegetables for her sauces and soups, my experience has not born this out--and my blender has shot out sparks.

All in all, this book is likely to appeal most to people who often buy lavish, coffee-table gourmet cookbooks--but is likely to be most useful to people already grounded in raw cookery. Still, if you don't mind experimenting, making mistakes, and learning as you go, there's plenty here to intrigue and inspire.

Rating:
Summary: Inspiring but Vague
Review: Roxanne Klein's cuisine is an appealing blend of funk and sophistication. Unlike co-author Charlie Trotter, she doesn't hold back when it comes to forthright ethnic flavor profiles (although she doesn't always push her ethnic dishes much beyond their traditional forms). Her composed entrees and salads, which show Trotter's input more clearly, are in some ways even more inspiring. Bright, intense, and often quite rich, Klein's dishes will astonish diners who expect raw food to be simple, austere, or cold. It seems like magic: one constantly asks, how on earth did she make those taco-shells, or those "fried" onions, or that rice-like sushi filling?

This cookbook provides the answers, but may not give readers quite all the information they need to pull off similar culinary miracles at home. The lean prose is sometimes less than communicative: for example, she tells us to allow her cashew cheese to "ripen" for 12 hours, but gives no clue to the smell, texture, or taste that lets us know when ripeness has been achieved. The same is true for her rejuvelac recipe. One is left to cook by the numbers.

More information about the preparation and acquisition of the exotic ingredients she uses would also have been nice. It's hard to imagine that most people know how to open a young coconut, much less how to extract the flesh in such a way that it can be julienned. Recommended substitutions for the specific mushrooms, chiles, fruits and sea-vegetables she uses would also be helpful. On the other hand, most readers of gourmet cookbooks are used to a little creative participation when it comes to realizing a fancy dish, and her plating, portion and flavor concepts leave plenty of room for flexibility.

Finally, a word about equipment: while any ice-cream maker will work, and most dehydrators could be adapted with the use of a silpat or a cake liner, the expensive mixer she recommends really is helpful. Although she claims, rather hesitantly, that you can use your food processor or ordinary blender to puree the raw nuts and vegetables for her sauces and soups, my experience has not born this out--and my blender has shot out sparks.

All in all, this book is likely to appeal most to people who often buy lavish, coffee-table gourmet cookbooks--but is likely to be most useful to people already grounded in raw cookery. Still, if you don't mind experimenting, making mistakes, and learning as you go, there's plenty here to intrigue and inspire.