Amazon.com
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.

Wine Spectator, naming Charlie Trotter’s as America’s Best Restaurant, 2000
"Anyone who wants to understand American cuisine as it enters the 21st century must eat at Charlie Trotter’s."

Book Description
Raw by Charlie Trotter and Roxanne Klein The raw-food movement has arrived in the culinary mainstream, with top chefs like Charlie Trotter, Thomas Keller, and Norman Van Aken espousing the wonders of "living food." As Trotter remarks, the raw-food movement "encompasses the same philosophy of my restaurant—using the best possible ingredients at the height of their seasons, and not adulterating their flavors." Prepared with basic techniques such as juicing, dehydrating, and slicing, raw food has all of its nutritional value intact since it isn’t subjected to the enzyme-rupturing process that intense heat induces. Trotter’s 10-course raw-food tasting menus have converted many a skeptic, while Roxanne Klein’s eponymous restaurant in Larkspur, California, has become a mecca for raw-food devotees. In RAW, six-time James Beard Award–winner Trotter collaborates with Klein to produce a landmark collection of over 100 recipes—the ultimate tribute to the culinary heights that this dynamic cuisine can reach. The chefs exalt the innate wholesomeness and beauty of fruits and vegetables in such innovative, remarkably flavorful dishes as Heirloom Tomato Soup with Alberquina Olives and Shaved Fennel; Peppercorn-Crusted Cashew Cheese with Honey Comb, Medjool Dates, and Dried Apricots; Polenta with Wild Mushroom Ragout; and Watermelon Soup with Sharlyn Melon Granité. Artfully presented, healthful, and deeply satisfying, raw food is not about austerity, but rather the celebration of food in its glorious natural state. In such skilled hands, it’s nothing short of a revolution in the way we cook and eat.

From the Publisher
•Experience the revelation of raw food in this landmark volume, which pairs visionary chef Charlie Trotter with the leading practitioner of the raw-food philosophy, Roxanne Klein. •Tim Turner’s award-winning photography accompanies each recipe. •The New York Times heralded the arrival of the raw-food movement in the feature "Raw Talent: The Great Cooks Discover Noncooking." •Charlie Trotter’s books have sold over 300,000 copies.

About the Author
CHARLIE TROTTER started cooking professionally in 1982 and opened his Chicago restaurant in 1987. Now one of the world’s premier dining destinations, Charlie Trotter’s was recently named one of the most influential restaurants of the 20th century by Bon Appétit. Chef Trotter has authored 10 books and hosts his own cooking show, "Kitchen Sessions with Charlie Trotter." A graduate of the California Culinary Academy, ROXANNE KLEIN has worked at such renowned restaurants as Stars, Square One, the Lark Creek Inn, and Le Verdon, in France. Her acclaimed restaurant in Larkspur, California, is exclusively devoted to raw foods.


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Prepared with basic techniques such as juicing, dehydrating, and slicing, raw food has all of its nutritional value intact since it isn't subjected to the enzyme-rupturing process that intense heat induces. In RAW, six-time James Beard Award-winner Charlie Trotter collaborates with restaurateur Roxanne Klein-whose eponymous restaurant in Larkspur, California, has become a mecca for raw-food devotees-to produce a landmark collection of over 100 recipes; the ultimate tribute to the culinary heights that this dynamic cuisine can reach. The chefs exalt the innate wholesomeness and beauty of fruits and vegetables in such innovative, remarkably flavorful dishes as Heirloom Tomato Soup with Alberquina Olives and Shaved Fennel; Peppercorn-Crusted Cashew Cheese with Honey Comb, Medjool Dates, and Dried Apricots; Polenta with Wild Mushroom Ragout; and Watermelon Soup with Sharlyn Melon Granit￯﾿ﾽ. Artfully presented, healthful, and deeply satisfying, raw food is not about austerity, but rather the celebration of food in its glorious natural state. In such skilled hands, it's nothing short of a revolution in the way we cook and eat.


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