Raw (Hardcover)

by Charlie Trotter (Author), Roxanne Klein (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
If you think "raw food" means carrots and alfalfa sprouts, Raw will astound you with its elegance and inventiveness. It's a combination no-cook book featuring gourmet recipes using raw and dehydrated vegetables, and a gorgeous, eye-popping, food photography book. The large, glossy book is beautifully designed, with well-arranged recipes, presentation notes, elegant language, and full-page, bigger-than-life photographs of exquisitely arranged food. Each recipe is introduced by an enticing description, e.g., "…the juxtapositions of the crunchy peppercorn pieces and the creamy cheese [made from cashews], the crispy smoked almonds, and the chewy dried apricots, the erotic gooeyness of the honeycomb mounds and the elegant crispiness of the thyme spouts…." This is for special meals, not everyday--the recipes are not quick to prepare, and many include references to other recipes. Authors Charlie Trotter and Roxanne Klein are master chefs at two internationally acclaimed gourmet vegetarian raw-food restaurants--Charlie Trotter's in Chicago and Roxanne's in California. Photographer Tim Turner turns food photography into contemporary art. Wine notes by Jason Smith give the final touch of elegance. Highly recommended for the adventurous, gourmet cook willing to go the next step in vegetarian fine dining and anyone-- cook or not--who appreciates food photography. --Joan Price

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.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 216 pages
• Publisher: Ten Speed Press; illustrated edition edition (March 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580084702
• ISBN-13: 978-1580084703
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 9.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #253,267 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

104 of 111 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 (Austin, TX United States) - See all my reviews

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!)

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

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

By	"ginny_vb" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

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.

55 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Raw and engaging, tasty too, January 21, 2004

By	Norman Guadagno (Redmond, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.