The Vegetarian Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity with Vegetables, Fruits, Grains, Legumes, Nuts, Seeds, and More, Based on the Wisdom of Leading American Chefs Hardcover – October 14, 2014

One of The Washington Post's "Best Cookbooks of 2014"

September 17, 2015

"The cuisine of the next ten years will be vegetarian."
--Chef Joel Robuchon

"In an expectation-thwarting move, during [spring and summer] Noma will become a fully vegetarian restaurant."
--The New York Times (9/16/15)

Dear Readers,

Yesterday, The New York Times reported that the world's #1 restaurant Noma planned to shift to a vegetarian menu for half the year.

While many seemed surprised or even shocked, we weren't.  Less than a year ago, celebrated chef Joel Robuchon had declared that vegetarianism is the cuisine of the coming decade -- and we've seen scores of other leading chefs moving in that direction, through reducing meat on their menus (e.g., Dan Barber, Alain Ducasse) and/or offering vegetarian and even vegan tasting menus (e.g., Daniel Boulud, Daniel Humm, Thomas Keller, Patrick O'Connell). 

There are countless reasons that professional chefs and home cooks alike will want to learn more about cooking meatless meals.  And we have poured our hearts into creating just the resource for you:  THE VEGETARIAN FLAVOR BIBLE.  In January of this year, the Los Angeles Times reported that EatYourBooks.com ranked it "The #5 Cookbook of 2014." 

The site had amalgamated 300 lists of "The Best Cookbooks of 2014" produced by leading newspapers (including the Chicago Tribune, Globe and Mail, and Washington Post), magazines (e.g., Food & Wine), radio shows (e.g., KCRW's "Good Food" and WBEZ's "Chewing the Fat"), blogs, and booksellers.  These lists represented 2,713 votes for 811 different cookbooks, which were culled to a "Top 10."  We were thrilled to see our latest labor of love among the top five. 

As two life-long omnivores who regularly ate meat two to three times a day, we both transitioned to a whole-foods, plant-strong diet in May 2012 -- and no one could be more surprised than the two of us to discover how amazing this change has been.  We've found ourselves effortlessly lighter (to the tune of 25+ pounds each), happier, and more focused.  Best of all, our understanding of flavor has been growing by leaps and bounds as we've come to realize that any dish's flavor profile is rooted primarily in its vegetables, herbs, and spices.

So THE VEGETARIAN FLAVOR BIBLE is as ideal a resource for omnivores as it is for vegivores.  At 50 percent longer than our 2008 title THE FLAVOR BIBLE (which was cited by Forbes as one of the world's 10 best cookbooks of the past century), our latest book delves into much greater detail about a significantly wider range of plant-based ingredients, including vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, mushrooms, nuts, seeds, and more -- exactly the kind of ingredients you've no doubt been using more frequently in your kitchen to keep your body healthy and your taste buds inspired. 

Whether you're already among the 54 percent of Americans looking to reduce or eliminate meat from your diet through a vegan (2%), vegetarian (5%) or semi-vegetarian (47%) lifestyle, or whether you're just looking to add more uber-healthful vegetables to your diet, get ready to see your creativity AND your food's flavor skyrocket the minute you put this book to work in YOUR kitchen!

Delicious wishes,
Karen Page & Andrew Dornenburg
New York City