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52 of 52 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Good Collection of Raw Food Recipes, March 14, 2005
This review is from: The Complete Book of Raw Food: Healthy, Delicious Vegetarian Cuisine Made With Living Foods--Includes Over 350 Recipes from the World's Top Raw Food Chefs (Hardcover)
I must say that with the previous review, I was influenced and had my doubts about this book. However, when I received the book from the library, I was surprised and delighted, and glad that I decided to judge for myself. I have been researching raw food living and found that this was one of the key books I was looking for to help transition to raw eating in an organized, helpful manner. It may not be the only book you would want on your shelf--I myself have others. What I like about The Complete Book of Raw Food is that it helps make the transition from cooked food to raw food easier to conceptualize and even exciting! I agree that many raw food books do seem quite complicated, where you would need to spend much time processing and dehydrating, etc., and often times with expensive equipment (like a Champion Juicer). However, this book has the best of everything, from simple to complex. And, I found that most of the recipes require minimal equipment, and therefore being able to make good use of the book. Only a few seemed to mention the Champion Juicer, and the book stated that you could use a food processor instead for most of those mentioned. Each recipe states what type of equipment is required, and this is another feature I liked. Another thing I liked about this book was the sources of chefs they use, and I found that many of them I had heard of and researched in books and on the internet. What I can say is that you can be assured that the recipes in this book were created by very passionate, creative, and experienced raw fooders who experienced much positive transformation in their lives. The beauty of a raw food diet is its capabilities of spanning from simple to creatively complex. But, the choice is yours, and you can expand at your own pace and willing. While this may not be the best first book to use as a raw fooder, it is close up there. For a beginner, you may want to try Your Natural Diet by T.C. Fry and David Klein, which helps to introduce a more basic approach to a raw food diet, using the mono food "pearamid" and contains lots of motivating health information that makes good sense. You won't miss all those pots and pans and slaving over a hot stove! Happy reading and eating!
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63 of 66 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Highly Recommended, November 19, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: The Complete Book of Raw Food: Healthy, Delicious Vegetarian Cuisine Made With Living Foods--Includes Over 350 Recipes from the World's Top Raw Food Chefs (Hardcover)
This book is packed with recipes and preparation skills from the top raw chefs around. Well edited and beautifully presented. An important book to own. I met several of the contributing chefs at a recent event...over 40 in total...each with their own unique style. From gourmet raw cusine to simple every preparations and everything in between, this book has it all. It's nice to be able to experiment with such a range of recipes. Color pictures are included that show select final dishes and serving suggestions. Complete index, resource directory, shopping hints, and more are also a bonus. A terrific value for the price.
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81 of 88 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A huge selection of mouthwatering recipes, January 15, 2005
This review is from: The Complete Book of Raw Food: Healthy, Delicious Vegetarian Cuisine Made With Living Foods--Includes Over 350 Recipes from the World's Top Raw Food Chefs (Hardcover)
This book would make the perfect gift for your raw foodist friends. This fantastic collection of over 350 recipes by 49 of the world's most reknowned raw chefs will have any uncooked enthusiast flipping madly through the pages looking for their favorite names. You'll find recipes from Stephen Arlin, The Boutenko Family, Juliano, Dave Klein, Viktoras Kulvinskas, Paul Nison, Rhio, Chad Sarno, Nomi Shannon, Shazzie, Cherie Soria, Jinjee & Storm Taliafero, David Wolfe, and many more. The book also includes recipes from the Quintessence raw restaurant. For the few names you might not recognize, you can flip to the "Meet Our Chefs" section in the back for a short bio on each one. You'll also find sections on "The Right Ingredients," "Essential Tools," "Juicers & Juicing," "Sprouting and Greening," "Dehydrating," and "Advice From the Pros," as well as a helpful glossary of ingredients, suggested readings, and an extensive list of resources. The recipe section of the book contains everything from specialty dishes to create a gourmet, 5-course dinner to recipes for simple soups or salads. There are a few full-color photos interspersed throughout. My only complaint is that I wish there were more - but I'm sure they would have raised the price of the book. Each recipe lists serving size information and special equipment needed and often include variations and/or contributors' notes. I disagree with other reviewers who've said the recipes all require too much time; that simply isn't true. I randomly flipped to five different pages, and each had at least one recipe that would take 10 minutes or less to prepare. Certainly, some do require dehydrating, but in my experience, once you get the recipe together quickly, you can leave it to dehydrate and forget about it till it's done; the time it takes is really deceptive. What makes this book truly different from most of the other raw recipe books out there is that this one was written to appeal to raw foodists, vegetarians, and cooked omnivores alike! Beyond the 2-page "Why Raw?" introduction, there's no overt promotion of the lifestyle. The book aims to reach everyone and encourage them all to eat more healthful raw foods by providing a huge selection of mouthwatering recipes. "Do you have to be a vegan to eat raw food? Of course not! Many people who consider themselves 'raw fooders' eat a diet comprised of 50 to 100 percent raw food. [This book] is for anyone who wants to eat more fruits and vegetables and prepare them in exciting new ways."
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