Martha Shulman revises her classic vegetarian cookbook to provide 220 recipes that reflect the low-fat, healthful eating habits of today's vegetarians.
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More About the Author
For over 30 years I have been writing cookbooks devoted to eating well. A pioneer in vegetarian cooking, I began my career in 1973 at the age of 23. This was long before well-educated people from upper middle class backgrounds fantasized about becoming the next Food Network star or owning a successful restaurant. I was then a student at The University of Texas at Austin. I changed my major every semester, but my passion for cooking and for giving dinner parties was unwavering. I also had an interest in health, and combined the two in my approach to food, drawing upon many of the world's cuisines to create vegetarian dishes that were much better than the standard brown rice fare of the early 1970s. Culturally I was very much a product of my era, but as far as my cooking was concerned, I have always been way ahead of my time.
Once I'd had my epiphany about my calling, I developed a series of vegetarian cooking classes that I taught through the University of Texas Extension, and I opened a private "supper club" in my home. Every Thursday for two years I prepared a sit-down 3-course dinner for 30 people. My cozy "home restaurant" allowed me all the fun and few of the headaches of running a public restaurant, and at the same time gave me a place to experiment and develop a repertoire of dishes to showcase. I also learned to cook for a crowd. Soon I had a vegetarian catering service; I catered everything from breakfasts in bed and dinners for two to wedding receptions and conferences for two hundred.
I had also been, all along, a writer in search of a subject. I knew that I would write a cookbook, and when The Vegetarian Feast came out in 1979, my career had evolved from cook/caterer to food writer and cookbook author. The Vegetarian Feast won a 1979 Tastemaker Award (a precursor of the prestigious James Beard Awards) for Best Book, Health and Special Diets category, and remains in print.
I was never doctrinaire about vegetarian cooking; I just felt that I'd had my quota of meat by the time I reached the age of 21. I admired all good cooks, especially Julia Child, with whom I corresponded. In my first letter to her, a fan letter dated September 2, 1976 in which I described my cooking classes and my supper club, my catering service and the book I was trying to get published, I told her I was "trying to shed a new light on vegetarianism, to present it as an unmysterious, classical, and memorable cuisine. The art of cooking with an emphasis on nutrition as well as flavor is my interest, and because I am a vegetarian my cuisine is a meatless one."
Two years after the publication of The Vegetarian Feast I moved to Paris, where I continued to write cookbooks and articles, revived my Supper Club, and became a much better cook. During the twelve years I lived in France I traveled extensively in the Mediterranean to research its many cuisines. My book Mediterranean Light was published in 1989, just as the benefits of the Mediterranean diet were coming to light in the United States. The region continues to be my richest source of culinary inspiration.
To date, I have 27 cookbooks to my name. My work has been of a piece; not all of my books are vegetarian, but they all have a healthy focus. Several of my books have been nominated for cookbook awards and three have won them. In addition to the 1979 Tastemaker Award for The Vegetarian Feast, I've received the following nominations and prizes for my work:
*2001: International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP), The Best Vegetarian Recipes, Nominee, Single Subject category
*1995 James Beard Awards, Great Breads, Nominee, Bread and Pastry category
*1994 Bertolli Olive Oil Award, Provençal Light, First Prize, Health and Special Diets category, Julia Child Awards
*1991 International Association of Culinary Professionals, Entertaining Light, First Prize, Health and Diet category
*1991 James Beard Awards, Entertaining Light, Nominee, Entertaining category
*1989 Tastemaker, Mediterranean Light, Nominee, Health and Special Diets category
*1988 Tastemaker, Supper Club chez Martha Rose, Nominee, Entertaining category
My cooking continues to evolve, as I hone and simplify my recipes to make them accessible to a wide range of cooks. I feel that I have played a role in improving the eating habits of many Americans, particularly since I began writing a daily recipe feature called Recipes for Health for the health section of The New York Times on the Web, in 2008. Its purpose is to empower people to cook healthy meals every day by giving them straightforward, delicious recipes. Each week's column is themed around a fresh ingredient from the market, a pantry item or a type of dish, with a new recipe posted every day. The reader response has been enthusiastic; my recipes regularly appear in the "10 Most Emailed" list on the health page. It has been extremely satisfying to know that I am reaching so many people and having an impact on their cooking.
Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Enduring,
By
This review is from: The Vegetarian Feast: Revised and Updated (Paperback)
THE VEGETARIAN FEAST is a real trooper of a cookbook. Its endurance in print and in my kitchen are testimony to its strengths: 1) Mediterranean inspiration is apparent; 2) the author is conscious of not going overboard on high fats and offers some lightened recipes; 3) the food is attractive and varied; 4) every recipe includes suggestions for inclusion in 3- and 4-course menus; 5) there are some highly workable recipes here you cannot find anywhere else (or at least easily); short cuts, like using canned cooked beans, are suggested where appropriate; 7) most, if not all, ingredients can be easily found, even beyond metropolitan areas. Most of the dishes are from the author's catering repertoire, including her easy signature wheat crackers. This is a great book to ransack for ideas even if you do not ultimately use specific recipes. Vegans beware: eggs, honey and dairy are present.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
GOOD ONE !!!,
By josaysso "josaysso" (Tenn.) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Vegetarian Feast: Revised and Updated (Paperback)
This lady sure does know how to cook !! Other "chefs" sound like they get tired of food and can't tell you about their recipes....not Ms Shulman !! She's good. I have a few of her vegetarian recipe books and I never get tired of them.... In fact, if you were to come into my kitchen and see how mutilated her cookbooks are, I would be embarrassed. She gives you a little narrative to each recipe and that really make you want to try them. GOOD ONE !!
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best cookbooks -- vegetarian or not,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Vegetarian Feast: Revised and Updated (Paperback)
Out of hundreds of cookbooks I've read and used, this is one of the top five. Recipes are thoroughly tested; some are creative improvements on classics. Her Cabbage Soup is great. If you have one vegetarian cookbook, this should be it
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