RAWvolution: Gourmet Living Cuisine
by Matt Amsden
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Book Reviews of RAWvolution: Gourmet Living Cuisine
Book Review: Simple and Straightforward, but hardly Gourmet
Summary: 3 Stars
This book is really just a clever reincarnation of Juliano's RAW (Juliano was Matt's mentor, after all). It even follows the same format with glossy appealing photos of the food, and WAY too many photos of long haired, scruffy Matt. I buy cookbooks for the recipes, not glamor(?) shots of the chef. This seems to be a trend lately, as more and more chefs become celebrities with personality photos plastered on every other page of their book.
RAWvolution is slightly more refined than Juliano's offering - thankfully, several raw un-cookbooks have raised the bar since then - but it's a LONG stretch to call these recipes gourmet! This food is not nearly at the sophisticated level of Raw Food, Real World (Kenney & Melngailis), Raw (Trotter & Klein), or even Living Cuisine (Underkoffler). However, that probably makes it better for most folks.
In the interest of being catchy, hip and glossy, there's not a lot of background or scientific information here on going raw (pick up Conscious Eating for that). The recipes are simple and straightforward, very easy for someone starting out with the living foods approach. Because the recipe names impersonate cooked foods ("cheeseburger"), the food may seem less foreign to a raw foods newbie... just don't expect it to taste anything like the cooked version! We have tremendous emotional attachments to food, and, though going raw is a cleansing & reeducation of the palate (not to mention body, mind and spirit), it still needs to taste/look/smell/feel appealing!
As with other raw books, there isn't much here for breakfast, which poses a real challenge for a lot of folks. I, for one, simply can't make it on a Power Smoothie or fruit, though some raw foodists can. However, his berry bars can be modified into a decent, dehydrated granola, which will carry most folks through until lunch.
Certainly, for more evolved, complex and gourmet raw cuisine, you'll need to go elsewhere. Also, for the ins and outs of a living foods lifestyle, you'll probably want additional material. However, for some basic recipes, this is a good place to start.
Book Review: My experiences (so far) with Rawvolution cook book
Summary: 2 Stars
The following accounts were my experiences as I tried to create my meals using "RAWvolution Gourmet Living Cuisine" Cookbook.
I first made Mock Tuna Salad recipe . . .exactly following instructions. I took a day off from work and shopped for all the ingredients that totaled a substantial amount. Then I spent the afternoon peeling, dicing, juicing, soaking seeds, etc. in preparation for the salad mixture. When I placed all ingredients together, it resulted in an enormous volume. . . .probably enough to feed several people in a restaurant.
I then realized that for a SINGLE meal (for myself) . . .I should have cut down all amounts in recipe by at least 1/10th. But it was too late. I tasted the salad mixture and it was so pungent with mustard that I realized that I should have cut the mustard out almost entirely. Since I had already spent almost half of my weekly food budget on this one meal . . . .I ended up eating this mixture for the next 7 days. I did not enjoy it with the overpowering mustard. Finally I had to discard almost half of the remaining mixture in garbage because it was too old to be edible. I wished that I had just eaten all the wholesome fresh foods that I originally bought without putting it through all the above processing procedures, as it would not have been wasted and I would have enjoyed it.
Next I bought an expensive Excalibur dehydrator that the author stipulates is the best hydrator to use for his recipes. I bought Excalibur hydrator to make his RAWvolution "famous onion bread." This time I cut all ingredients by 1/3rd --so I would not be subject to a possible upsetting surprise if results proved to be disappointing. I mixed all ingredients as directed; placed them in hydrator for 24 hours at 100 degrees; then turned it over and placed them back in hydrator for 12 more hours. Results: a pile of dried up onion slices and crumbs that all fell apart. Unappetizing.
I'm not sure which recipe that I will try next.
Book Review: Inspiring and Beautiful, but......
Summary: 3 Stars
First off....this book is a beautiful book. I will also say that it is inspiring. Seeing the gorgeous photographs of the recipes makes you realize raw foods are more than lettuce salads. For the pics, and inspiration, I would recommend the book.
Here's the "but". Many of the the recipes were not to my taste.....either tooooooo salty, toooooo oily, tooooooo much, as in overkill, on some of the spices. Don't get me wrong, I do love flavorful food...and when you're preparing raw foods alot of the volume/amounts of liquids, oils, spices depends on the main ingredients as to how much you will need to add. Just be aware of this if you follow the recipes in this book exactly as written....taste test as you can in the process.
[...].
If this is NOT your ONLY raw, living food (un)cook book, get it. BUT, don't let this be your only or your first. Not all of the recipes in this book "suck"; however, I would recommend any of the following books for the recipes before your purchase Rawvolution:
Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2 People, Jennifer Cornbleet
The Raw Gourmet, Nomi Shannon
Ani's Raw Kitchen, Ani Phyo
Living on Live Foods, Alissa Cohen
From my perspective, any of those will give you a better start to raw, living foods. Also, you'll get an understanding of what ingredients are good for crunchy or creamy, and options for sweetening, thickening and thinning so you can begin to create your very own fantastic recipes.
Juliano Brotman's RAW book is also very pretty and inspiring.....but there are definitely errors in several of the recipes.
Hope this helps. Don't hesitate to experiment....and do enjoy the renewed health and vitality that you are sure to experience by, at the very least, adding more "raw food" to your diet.
Bon Apetit
Book Review: Simple ingredients create layered, complex flavors!
Summary: 5 Stars
For the past year, my diet has been vegan (coming from that of a prolific meat eater who would still love to eat meat but I love animals (live ones) more, and therefore cannot continue to support an industry that exploits and tortures them). That being said, the transition to veganhood was not easy by any means. I was only able to do it by finding extremely delicious vegan food/restaurants/recipes. And by delicious I do not mean tofu and stir fry. I mean savory, delicious, complex flavors.
My quest for such food led me to Matt Amsden's restaurant in Santa Monica, Rawvolution, where I had the privilege of experiencing the Big Matt with Cheese and the Tacos. OMG! My taste buds will never be the same.
So I bought his book.
The first thing I made was the tacos (which I turned into taco salad because I didn't care for the collard green leaf "shells"). I was blown away, first by how SIMPLE they are to make! And then, of course, the taste. It is complex, rich, filling, and hard to believe all raw.
Then I made the thai curry soup. Same thing!! Easy. Simple. Complex.
DItto for the ranch dressing. It runs circles around any store or restaurant ranch.
Matt's book is a gift to the raw food world and those of us who are striving to make positive lifestyle changes that take into consideration not only our own health but the health of the planet and the well being of the animals with whom we share our planet.
For anyone who is new to raw food, this book is a must have. So many of the recipes are beginner friendly in that you do not need to invest in all of the typical raw food appliances. A food processor and Vita Mix blender are easily enough to get you started. Dehydrator to follow whenever you feel like you are ready.
Book Review: Good Recipies
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm not a vegan, I'm not even a veggie. I like animal products such as eggs and cheese. I even like virtually all kinds of meat. So why am I recommending this book.
Mr. Armsden gives seven reasons for his decision to be a vegan and to eat virtually all of them raw. All but one of these don't seem to make much sense to me. His comments about a koala bear living on eucalyptus doesn't really make much sense to me, I'm not a koala bear. His comments on 'Mental Outlook and Spiritual Progression' border on a religion that I don't follow. Humans are omnivores, just look at our teeth.
It's the first of his reasons that makes me a fan of the book -- uncooked vegetables simply taste better. Cabbage tastes better (to me) as coleslaw rather than with corn beef. Carrots are better raw than boiled to almost tasteless mush. And you can say the same thing about cauliflower, broccoli, virtually all the fruits, tomatoes, spinach and many, many more.
What I was looking for was a cookbook of recipies that would emphasize raw foods. And this one does an excellent job. To be sure I don't follow his instructions to the letter. Instead of making artificial cheese or 'mock' meats, I use the real stuff.
What I wanted was the recipies on raw veggies. And on these he does an excellent job. Don't give up on this book because of his views on veganism expressed in the first thirty pages or so. Go for the recipies.