Step #2. I believe that raw vegetarian food is the most es- tential diet for the human being.
In the first part of this book, we explained why raw foodism is the most es- tential diet for the human body. We discussed the importance of enzymes and how they affect health. We told you how our bodies adapt to cooked food by producing unhealthy mucus. We discussed the connection between raw food and bacteria, parasites and disease.
Now I want to share how raw foodism has changed my family's life. Eight years ago, we were all very sick. I had an arrhythmia and was severely depressed. My husband suffered from arthritis. He was scheduled for surgery to remove his thyroid gland. My son was diagnosed with diabetes and prescribed insulin. My daughter had asthma. Doctors think all these diseases are incurable. We had other issues like poor digestion, obesity, chronic fatigue, mood swings, bad teeth, etc.п.
However, after we became raw eaters, we were all completely cured. As of today, we are full of health and happiness. I believe that our health is far above average. We don't have health insurance because we are in complete control of our own health. Our energy is always at a high level. Each of us can safely run a few miles. In 1998, we crossed America with backpacks behind us. Others may doubt it, but we know that all the changes in our health started with the switch to raw foods.
Step #3. I will learn the necessary skills, learn basic raw food recipes, and purchase the equipment needed to
to prepare live food
Is it important for raw food to taste good? We agreed earlier that for most people, food is the primary pleasure. That's why most people won't stay on raw food diet if the food doesn't taste good. Can raw food be as appe- titive as cooked food? Absolutely! I have learned how to cook delicious raw food, and my family has successfully taught the secrets of raw delicacies to men and women of all ages. For the past few years, unless I'm asked, I don't tell anyone my food is raw anymore.
A woman called me one day and said: "I heard you're a great cook. Can you cook food for a wedding for 50 people?" She didn't mention raw food, and I wasn't about to turn down money! So I said: "Sure." I thoroughly enjoyed making a 3-layer wedding cake, appetizers, soups, salads, mushroom patties, and ice cream! There were no cheese eaters at the wedding. All guests are used to the standard American Diet. But no one complained! There was only one question on everyone's mind: "How did you make everything taste so good?" The guests liked the food, and everyone wanted to meet the chef. When I announced to them that all the meals consisted of raw vegan food, no one could believe that "healthy food can be so delicious."
You won't become a raw food chef just by watching someone cook; just as you won't become a good swimmer by watching Olympic swimmers. To learn to swim, you'll have to soak and freeze and swim in water. If you want to learn how to make delicious raw foods, get out your new blender, food processor, juicer and dehydrator (dehydrator) and put it all in the kitchen. Don't just look at them, use them. Let your hands get sticky. Let the mixer splatter your kitchen. It's inevitable, so better sooner than later.
Experiment, be creative. If your creation turns out not to be tasty, take it to the compost. All the neighborhood worms will congregate in your vegetable garden and enjoy tasting your cuisine. Only by making mistakes will you learn how to make delicious meals.
For five years in a row, my daughter Valya was afraid to make cake cream. She was saying: "I won't do it. I'm not going to get any flavor." One day I was away on business, and a close friend of ours asked Valya to make a birthday cake. My daughter had to make the whole cake herself. When I came back, Valya said: "It was so easy! I mixed nuts, honey and water and whipped it all up, and it was cream! And if you add vanillin, or lemon cinnamon, or prunes, you can make different flavors of cakes, and it's so easy!" Valya showed me a dozen small cakes with different creams. She talked about it all day long, repeating: "It's so easy!"
My husband Igor was afraid to even try to cook pecan pseudo-cotlets. He said, "With meat it was simple, cut off a piece and fry it with butter. Now I have to co-create a meat flavor from carrots without a cow. He had seen me make these cutlets a hundred times and enjoyed eating them, but he thought it would be too much for him. In six years, he never cooked one. And then one day we had an emergency - too many people showed up for lunch. I was busy making soup. Who's going to make the cutlets? Igor had no choice. And he did. He made them before I finished the soup. I haven't made cutlets since. This is Igor's territory. Now we call them Igorevsky cutlets.
Igor began to enjoy cooking raw food more and more. He came up with his own recipes. His Russian Borodino breadcrumbs are popular all over the world. In Iceland, Igor demonstrated how to make raw food sandwiches. He placed the raw cutlets on breadcrumbs and garnished them with dried olives and paprika. When people tasted his raw sandwiches, everyone was surprised at how good they tasted. One woman exclaimed: "A sandwich like this is worth living for!"
If you want to learn how to make delicious raw food, please read the rest of this chapter carefully. There is a fundamental difference in cooking cooked food and raw food. The following chart will help you understand why we can't rely on recipes alone to prepare raw foods.
Comparative table of cooked and raw foods
:rice1:
In cooked food, sugar is always sugar, flour is always flour, and salt is always salt. At the same time, you won't find two lemons the same in the raw food world. One is bigger and juicier, the other has a thicker rind and is more sour. You can follow the same recipe several times, repeating each step, measuring everything precisely and the result is that thanks to the qualities inherent in raw food, the flavor of the dish will be different each time.
Boiled corn, boiled zucchini, boiled peas and other cooked vegetables taste almost identical and require the addition of oil, salt and spices. Raw cucu ruca, zucchini, peas and other raw vegetables have their own unique flavor that cannot be confused. When I cook raw food, I use recipes just for ideas or just for ingredients. At the end, I add the flavor I want using the "five flavor method". There are tons of different flavors in natural food, but if you can balance the basic five, the food will be so delicious that everyone will just lick their fingers. The five flavors are: sweet, sour, salty, spicy and bitter. When you learn how to balance these five essential flavors, then your dishes will be consistently delicious. Then all five groups of taste buds on your tongue will come to a standstill and you'll say, "Wow!"
When you want to cook a delicious raw dish, you have to make sure that all of these five qualities are present in the final result. Those who have been cooking raw food every day for months can tell what's missing right after the first taste. Others need to taste freshly cooked dishes five times, asking each time: Is it spicy enough? Is it salty enough? Is it sweet enough? Is it sour enough? Is it bitter enough? These five flavors don't have to be strong - find the balance of the five flavors individually for each dish. For example, in raw-food patties, sweetness, spiciness, and saltiness should be felt more than acidity and bitterness, but all five should be present. Otherwise, the cutlets will taste bland.
Usually, when you've just cooked a dish and take the first taste, two or three flavors are missing. Add the missing ingredients, stir everything together and sample again. And continue like this until all five main flavors come into balance. I call this process "flavor tweaking." In the beginning, this tweaking may take longer than the cooking itself. Don't get frustrated, speed will come with practice. Along with that, the flavor of your raw food will improve.
Whether you're making a cake, gravy, or nut patty these five flavors are a must-have. For some reason, many people think that if they eat healthy food, it doesn't have to taste good. Blended the celery and lemon juice in a blender and didn't even taste it. And when they start eating, it's either impossibly bitter or too sour. That's why we have to scrutinize the food we prepare and add what's missing.
After about a year and a half on 100% raw eating, you will notice that you are eating more and more whole fruits and vegetables rather than cooked foods. In fact, if they are ripe, all the flavors in them are already fully balanced naturally. Unfortunately, their flavor is so delicate that our taste buds can't taste their natural flavor due to years of ingesting cooked food with seasonings. That's why we need a transition period.
Below is a sheet of recommended ingredients for the five flavor groups. This is only a small part of what is available to us on our planet. Many plants have an array of different flavors, but one or two tend to predominate. Always use common sense and don't put vanilla in soup or garlic in candy. Be creative!
For a sour taste add: lemon, rhubarb, lemon grass, sorrel, tomatoes, nut kefir, sauerkraut brine or apple cider vinegar.
For a sweet flavor, add: dried fruits such as: figs, dates, prunes, raisins. Fresh fruit such as: ripe banana, mango, peach, pear; apple or orange-blueberry juice and raw honey.
For spiciness, add: garlic, onions, mustard (leaves or seed), radishes, horseradish, hot peppers. Dried or fresh herbs such as: basil, dill, cilantro, rosemary, mint; cinnamon, vanillin or nutmeg (for dessert).
For saltiness, add: celery, cilantro, dill, parsley, sea grass, e.g. dals, kelp, nori, arame or sea salt.
For bitterness, add: parsley, celery (tops), garlic, onion, dandelions, bay leaf, hot pepper, sage, etc..
