In Raw , award-winning chef Charlie Trotter elevates the flavors and complexity of raw fruits and vegetables, using basic techniques such as juicing, dehydrating, and blending .
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.
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.
I had the good fortune to eat a single meal at Roxanne's in Marin County in California (run by the second author of this book Roxanne Klein). It was maybe the best meal, and definitely the most expensive meal of my life thus far. I am not a raw food fan, but this meal was amazing, and some of what I ate at that meal I see in this book. So I have to recommend it. But, it really is for experienced raw chefs. The recipes are complicated and labor intensive, although I’m sure well worth the effort. This book is also absolutely beautiful: there are a large number of photos of the finished recipes and also of plain raw foods. The book and the recipes are works of art.
Anyone who has had the supreme pleasure of dining at Roxanne's Raw, knows why I was so excited to receive this gorgeous coffee table book in the mail. Of course, you won't want to keep it in the living room all the time, because you'll need it in the kitchen to create Charlie Trotter and Roxanne Klein's delicious gourmet cuisine.
A warning: this book is not for the faint of heart. But let me say that even if you never take the time to make one of these fabulous creations, you'll find yourself dreamily flipping through the pages over a cup of herbal tea and wishing for your own personal raw chef. I love to leave this book out for two reasons: one, it inspires and challenges me when I'm feeling bored with my food, and two, it so beautifully answers the question "So what do you eat - salads?"
Each 2-page spread is devoted to one glorious recipe and a full-page color photograph of the finished product. Believe me when I say that every single second of time and energy that goes into one of these recipes will be rewarded with a wonderfully worthy raw meal. The section on "pairing wine and raw food" is accentuated by Wine Notes with each recipe.
I'm very sad that I will never set foot in Roxanne's restaurant again since the place had to close down in 2004, so I will hold on to this book and keep it as a treasured part of my recipe book collection. Each time I open it, I know that I hold in my hands a part of raw food history and the key to recreating the singular experience that it was to dine at her establishment.
But let's not forget Charlie Trotter, six-time James Beard Award-winner and one of the top chefs of our time. He met Roxanne and her husband through his restaurant in Chicago and challenged him by requesting raw meals. His introduction to the book alone will provide you with a number of valuable tips to raw food preparation and a view into how one traditional chef exanded his horizons. Roxanne herself was led down the path to raw foods when she met up with actor and raw foodist Woody Harrelson in Thailand while researching cuisine for a vegan cookbook.
In her words: "My raw cuisine is about discovering the inherent sensuality of each ingredient in its natural state, and then highlighting it in the final dish." This food is indeed sensuous, and, in your hands, this book could be the one to awaken your own desire to create awe-inspiring dishes.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
A cookbook, a photographic essay, this is really a treat to see.
Charlie Trotter was one of the premiere chef owners in Chicago's restaurant culture. He was beloved and respected not only within the professional culinary world but by Chicago's foodies. He was known for his exquisite palate, extraordinary attention to detail, deceptively simple presentation, and creating complex flavors. A generous man, he was always striving to challenge himself and expand his repertoire.
I can't really say that I understand the raw food movement which goes beyond vegan; but this book really makes it interesting. Trotter himself looked upon this as a challenge to his "culinary abilities" to fulfill a seemingly straightforward approach: "either cut everything thinly, chop it finely, or puree it; add a few herbs, a vinaigrette, maybe spice mixture, or possibly chile; and serve it up. Raw cuisine appeared to be as simple as that. But like most things that seem simple on the surface, the preparation of raw and living foods isn't simple at all." And of course he elevated this style to an art form, with his collaborator Roxanne Klein. This features appetizers, soups, salads, entrees, desserts, and beverages. In addition to the ingredient list, each recipe includes instructions of method and assembly. Each recipe includes wine pairings as well as notes on equipment. It's really amazing!
i’m still not really sure how food that is dehydrated for hours is not really considered cooked. it seems like cheating to me but i guess if it were not for that process, this would be a book of salads. not that there is any thing wrong with that salads are good and the recipes in this book while time consuming and complicated are tasty.
Oh Charlie Trotter. Oh Charlie! The pictures in this collection of recipes are gorgeous. Pretty verdant landscapes and almost "portraits" of food. On the other hand, the ingredients in the recipes are ridiculously expensive and hardly common in the everyday kitchen. Useless for your average middle class "chef" but certainly a good coffee table book if you want to show off to your guests.
Long, intensive recipes. Ingredients I would never have on hand. I only found one recipe I would consider making. The photography is stunning, and if not for that I would have given this book one star. Is a book to impress? Sure. But I wanted a cookbook I could use, not a pretentious show edible artwork.
The pictures were amazing and I'm sure the recipes are delicious, but they were all too impractal for me to make. I don't know where the heck to find half the ingredients on every page, let alone afford them. I'll stick to recipes that I can make with fresh food from my Farmer's Markets.
The recipes were too exquisite for my kitchen, but the photography was stunning. I enjoyed looking through the recipes and photos and wished that the food I cooked was as presentable.