Raw [Paperback]

Charlie Trotter (Author), Roxanne Klein (Author), Tim Turner (Photographer)

Book Description

Release date: March 1, 2007

Prepared using basic techniques such as juicing, dehydrating, and blending, raw foods exalt the innate wholesomeness and splendor of fruits and vegetables. Charlie Trotter'¬?s raw-food tasting menus at his Chicago restaurant have showcased raw food at the highest level, while Roxanne Klein'¬?s eponymous restaurant in Larkspur, California, has become a fine-dining destination, earning her international recognition for her cuisine.Experience the revelation of this dynamic cuisine in RAW, a landmark volume that pairs visionary chefs Trotter and Klein. The authors pay the ultimate tribute to the culinary heights that raw food can scale in such dishes as Broccoflower Couscous with Curry Oil; Three Peppercorn-Crusted Cashew Cheese with Honeycomb and Balsamic Vinegar; Bleeding Heart Radish Ravioli with Yellow Tomato Sauce; and Watermelon Soup with Sharlyn Melon Granit?©. Each recipe is complemented by a detailed wine pairing, conceived to heighten the tastes, textures, and aromas of the ensemble. Juices, a natural extension of the raw-food repertoire, are also featured in such soothing preparations as Red Roxie, Prickly Pear and Pomegranate, and Cucumber-Lime Water.Artfully presented with Tim Turner'¬?s award-winning photography; healthful; and deeply satisfying, chefs Trotter and Klein'¬?s food celebrates ingredients in their glorious natural state. In such skilled hands, raw food is nothing short of a revolution in the the way we cook and eat.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Ever trendy, raw food is crunching its way into the mainstream-and this book by celebrity chef Trotter (Charlie Trotter Cooks at Home) and Klein demonstrates how appetizing it can be. The collection of vegan recipes, all cooked at temperatures below 118°F, is decidedly gourmet. Dishes worthy of dinner parties include Three Peppercorn-Crusted Cashew Cheese with Honeycomb and Balsamic Vinegar, Salsify with Black Truffles and Porcini Mushrooms, Portobello Mushroom Pave with White Asparagus Vinaigrette, Indian Red Peaches with Vanilla Ice Cream (made with almond milk) and Banana Chocolate Tart with Caramel and Chocolate Sauces. Wine notes with each recipe remind readers that raw food can be complemented by a fine vintage without breaking any rules because "wine, at its most basic, is also an unadulterated creation, never rising above 118°F during its production." The recipes tend to be labor intensive since the taste, textures and flavor of sophisticated raw food can't be bought pre-packaged at the supermarket. But for those who want to reap the reported health benefits of raw food without sacrificing the luxurious taste of fine cuisine, the effort required for these recipes is worthwhile.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Anyone who wants to understand American cuisine as it enters the 21st century must eat at Charlie Trotter'¬?s. . . . No restaurant in America comes closer to delivering a flawless total dining experience. -Wine Spectator, naming Charlie Trotter'¬?s as America'¬?s Best Restaurant"There'¬?s a whole philosophy behind this cuisine, but for Klein it'¬?s more about sensuality and bringing out the best in food. . . . Klein has uncovered a seemingly unlimited palette of flavors. She breaks every preconceived notion about a vegetarian diet. . . . Whether carnivore, vegetarian, glutton or gourmet, the food will make you a believer." -San Francisco Chronicle"Roxanne Klein is in charge of the Bay Area'¬?s (if not the country'¬?s) most talked-about kitchen. At her living-foods restaurant in Larkspur, almost all the food is raw. The results are both innovative and spectacular."-Bon App?©tit"Roxanne Klein'¬?s artistry. . . is rocking the elite food world. . . . Adventurous home cooks as well as chefs may be inspired to learn some of her techniques and to look at vegetables with a fresh eye."-Gourmet

 

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Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Ten Speed Press; First Edition edition (March 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580088341
• ISBN-13: 978-1580088343
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 0.6 x 11 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #88,225 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

128 of 138 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Love this Hoity Toity Raw Coffee Table Book December 7, 2003

By Avocadess

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

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!)

49 of 50 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Industrial Veggie May 16, 2005

By Aceto TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

The ratings for this book are all over the place. Although I am giving it five stars, I do not disagree with those in the two and three camp. Their remarks are largely true. The important thing to remember is not to buy this one unless you have your eyes wide open. The mechanics of preparing this food is heavily dependant on both machinery and motivation. When Trotter says you need a dehydrator (or live in Phoenix), a HEAVY DUTY juicer, HIGH SPEED blender and an ice cream maker, he means it. For me, it was a dang good excuse to triple my capital budget for the kitchen. Second, the complaints about his ingredient list are valid. Short of 'eye of newt', he is really pushing it. But once you get through the technical side, you can make viable substitutions. And the stuff such as 'celtic' sea salt, and 'Manodori' balsamic is more to make you aware than to be a requirement, same as the wine suggestions. You can use English sea salt (which has the highest nutrient count) or any balsamic at least sixteen yrs. old. The value of this book is that these dishes work very well. My test cases (read: guests) responded very well in every instance. This stuff tastes good and feels good to chomp on. If you are concerned about nutrition and health, it all seems good on all counts. This is food you cannot make any other way without brute force and primitave tools. While the photos are good for coffee table art, the real value is to people like me, who have no sense of presentation and sling hash as a Jackson Pollack (sic, my heritage) imitation. If you are so inclined to spend the time and cash, you will be pleased.

49 of 51 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth the Effort May 27, 2004

By "ginny_vb"

Format:Hardcover

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.