Tassajara Cookbook [Hardcover]

Karla Oliveira (Author), Patrick Tregenza (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 7, 2007

Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, the legendary Buddhist monastery set deep in California's Ventana Wilderness, is famous for its healthy gourmet vegetarian cuisine. Guests are known to rave about one particular Tassajara tradition: the bag lunch. Tassajara Cookbook shares these never-before-published recipes for savory sandwich spreads, pâtés and loaves, egg and tofu sandwich fillings, salads, chutneys, sauces, marinades, and butters, as well as recipes for baked goods and sweet treats.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

TASSAJARA COOKBOOK
The Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, a legendary Buddhist monastery set deep in California's Ventana Wilderness, is famous for its healthy gourmet vegetarian cuisine. Guests rave about one particular Tassajara tradition: the bag lunch. Now Tassajara Cookbook: Lunches, Picnics & Appetizers shares these never-before-published recipes for savory spreads, pâtés and loaves, sandwich fillings, granolas, salads, chutneys, sauces, and marinades, as well as baked goods and sweet treats.
A valuable resource for picnics, snacks, appetizers and small plates, Tassajara Cookbook is filled with recipes that can be prepared in advance for parties or camping and traveling. The Tassajara Cookbook is perfect for vegans and vegetarians on the go, or anyone who wants to add healthy, tasty snacks to his or her diet.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Date and Coconut Cookies (Auntie Nuke's)
For the past twenty-five years, these vegan cookies have been very popular with Tassajara guests.
1/2 cup nuts, roasted
1/2 cup date pieces
1 1/2 teaspoons nutritional yeast
1/2 cup shredded coconut
2 cups unbleached flour*
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup maple syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup canola oil or other vegetable oil
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Put the nuts and date pieces into a food processor and chop together. Put mixture into a medium-size bowl and then add the yeast, coconut, flour, baking powder, and salt; mix well.
In another small bowl, combine the maple syrup, vanilla, and oil. Mix into the dry mixture and stir together until the dough is firm and holds it shape. Spoon by tablespoon onto a greased baking sheet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool on a rack. Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies.
*For a wheat-free alternative, blend baby oats until fine and use in place of flour.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Gibbs Smith; First Edition edition (August 7, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423600975
• ISBN-13: 978-1423600978
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #311,762 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It feels like deja vu, December 26, 2007

By 

Valerie Usowski - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tassajara Cookbook (Hardcover)

All the recipes seem to be very similar with minor exceptions. The book is a nice collection of condiments and spreads and will not tax your budget too much. All the cookies that I have tried have come out well, too bad the publisher messed up the end of the book and reprinted the dressings again after the cookie section. If you are interested in purchasing this book, first preview it from a library or your local bookstore. It really didn't inspire the vegetarian in me.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Buyer beware!, December 26, 2008

By 

V. Beer - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tassajara Cookbook (Hardcover)

I was SO disappointed in this book. As a frequent visitor to Tassajara, I was expecting a range of Tassajara recipes -- because the title of the book is Tassajara Cookbook, not Tassajara Bag Lunch Cookbook (you have to read the fine print to find that). There are no entres, no hearty soups, no breads (for which Tassajara is justly famous), and no real desserts. The photos are mouth-watering. The book itself is not what it purports to be. Tassajara deserves better, and you'd be better off with the Tassajara Recipe and Tassajara Bread books, both cheaper and in paperback.

22 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I like it but many recipies are not new, September 29, 2007

By 

Pyewacket "Pyewacket" (San Francisco, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tassajara Cookbook (Hardcover)

Some of the recipes are simply wonderful and the fantastic photography really makes the dishes look fantastic. As I took a closer look at the recipes, however, I noticed that some of them are not new and the pictures don't always seem to match the recipe. For instance, on p. 44-45 there's a beautiful photo of the "Persian Olive, Walnut and Pomegranate Tapenade". Yet one look at the photo it's clear that there are other ingredients thrown in that are not listed in the recipe. Even though on the inside leaf it says these are "never before published recipies", I still thought I'd do a search on it to see if I could find some other recipes that might help me to adapt it. But what I found was THE EXACT SAME RECIPIE - TO THE LETTER that had been published in the San Francisco Chronicle. It made me angry that in the photo the item had clearly been adapted, but the recipe did not show that adaptation. Overall, this book is basically adaptations of recipes that have been published elsewhere. Some recipes do credit the source of the original, and it's clear that it has been adapted. It's nice to have this as a resource, but if you're the kind of person who adapt recipes anyway, you may just want to go online, find the original recipe and adapt it yourself.