"Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all."

-Harriet van Horne.

If you have seriously decided to adopt a raw-food diet as your primary way of eating, acquiring raw-food preparation skills is of foremost importance. It doesn't matter if you have a raw-food restaurant on your block or if your spouse is an accomplished raw gourmet chef. After many years of observation, I came to the conclusion that every raw-fooder who depends on others for his or her daily meals is less likely to remain on a raw-food diet while drifting through different life challenges.

I have taught thousands of people to prepare delicious raw gourmet concoctions, and I know that the absolute majority of people are capable of learning the basic skills of raw cuisine fairly quickly and easily.

First, I would like to explain why such expertise is so important. People on a typical cooked-food diet consume more or less the same things every day. For example, be it a steak, or goulash, or burger, or barbeque, it is still beef, even though it appears differently. Even when subst.i.tuted with chicken, pork, or fish, all meats have a similar taste, texture, and nutritional content (except for the amount of fat, which may vary depending on the quality). I bet most consumers wouldn't be able to distinguish between the taste of a beef, pork, or chicken hot dog, or even between a chicken or tofu burger if the same seasonings were used.

Foods that are typically eaten with meat, such as fried potatoes, baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, rice, pasta, or bread, consist of mostly carbohydrates and fat, and these are also very similar in their taste and nutritional value. Of course, adding raw vegetables to a meal would create a major nutritional improvement, but unfortunately that is still a rare occurrence: "When Americans dined out in 2005, the leading menu choices remained hamburgers, french fries, and pizza. The presumably healthier option of a side salad was the No. 4 choice for women, and No.5 for men, according to the eating pattern study."1 In contrast, there is a wide variety of fresh produce available in this country. Each supermarket in the U.S. carries a variety of 130 fruits and 196 vegetables throughout the year.2 Raw, uncooked vegetables, greens, fruits, nuts, and seeds all possess their own unique flavor.

To cook an unusual gourmet dish with such monotonous ingredients as meat and potatoes, one has to be an experienced and gifted chef. The epicurean tastes of a cooked diet are typically achieved through enhancing recipes with complex combinations of herbs and condiments, without which the dish would taste bland. For the convenience of consumers, who generally lack such skills, there are many premixed cooked foods sold in supermarkets. To keep the food cost down, the main condiments used in those packages are narrowed down to salt and pepper. To increase the shelf life, preservatives are added. The typical diet of citizens living in industrialized countries consists primarily of a combination of pre-cooked or partially cooked packaged foods. Meanwhile, "Fewer than 1/3 of all meals prepared at home are made from 'scratch'."3 In contrast, preparing a raw-food meal requires merely basic skills, and the taste of raw food is determined not by condiments but rather by the diversity of natural flavors of vegetables, greens, fruits, nuts, herbs, etc. For example, take a recipe, "I Can't Believe It's Just Cabbage," from this book.* There are only three ingredients in this recipe: cabbage, oil, and salt. Yet I have been successfully serving this dish at many gatherings, for guests with various food preferences, and even to my gourmet meat-eating relatives. Everyone loves it. I am constantly observing people being amused by the unexpectedly scrumptious taste of raw cuisine.

Tired of the rather boring taste of cooked dishes and longing for tasty, nostalgic, homey, or authentic dishes, people go out with increasing frequency: "In 2005 there were 925,000 restaurants in U.S., serving more than 70 billion meals and snacks. Having 12.5 million employees, the industry is the largest employer besides government."4 According to ABC News, "Americans are eating out at restaurants increasingly more often. Statistics show that the average household spends 40% of its food dollar eating away from home."5 However, food in most restaurants is far from being "nostalgic, homey, and authentic." Due to soaring prices of high-quality ingredients, the high cost of services of professional chefs, and tough compet.i.tion in the restaurant business, increasingly more restaurants adopt a fast-food style of preparing meals. The statistics for just three popular fast-food franchises follow: Total number of Subway restaurants in the U.S. in July 2006 was 20,000.6 Total number of McDonald's outlets in the U.S. in 2005 was 12,658.7 Total number of Wendy's restaurants in the U.S. in 2005 was 5,840.8 Given that I stayed for many years first on cooked and then on the raw-food diet, I have had a chance to compare the two ways of eating. I noticed that these two eating patterns required my body to perform in two different ways. I think that when I ate mostly cooked food, I almost never satisfied my bodily requirements for nutrition. Therefore, my decisions about how much food to consume in one meal were not determined by the amount of nutrients from this meal but rather by the feeling of fullness in my stomach and possibly by fulfilling my cravings that stemmed from a dependency on certain foods. Since I adopted a raw-food lifestyle, my appet.i.te often stops while I am only in the middle of my plate and I feel completely fed and satisfied despite the absence of a full feeling in my belly.

There is also a big difference between motives that drive raw-or cooked-food diners to make their food choices. I discovered this diversity while conducting an experiment in one of my cla.s.ses, when I interviewed about forty of my students, both cooked-and raw-food eaters. I asked everyone a simple question: "What is your favorite meal?" Most of the people on a cooked-food diet knew exactly what their most wanted dishes were, along with many details, such as which sauce had to accompany this dish or at which restaurant the meal was served. Unexpectedly, all of the respondents who ate raw food named dozens of favorite recipes, fruits, vegetables, berries, nuts, and so on. In addition, many of them mentioned that their favorite foods were constantly changing; others enjoyed particular foods only when they were in season.

I concluded that people eating mostly cooked food are driven in their desire to eat largely by the taste of food, by their possible dependency on particular foods, and on rare occasions by their bodily nutritional demands. By comparison, raw-food eaters are generally motivated by particular nutrients in certain produce. That is why their preference keeps adjusting to the changing of their bodily nutritional demands.

I hope that after reading all these facts and observations you will understand why it is vitally important for every raw-fooder to be capable of preparing her or his own meals.

I have observed that most people who implement a raw-food lifestyle pa.s.s through three main stages: 1. The transitional stage. During this time, which may last from a couple of months to a couple of years, people consume a lot of so-called "raw gourmet foods" that usually contain lots of nuts, oils, and condiments, and are not made according to the rules of proper food combining.* Raw gourmet dishes traditionally have names and appearances that resemble popular cooked recipes, such as "Un-burrito," "Nice Cream," or "Rawsage." You will encounter a lot of these dishes in raw-food restaurants and at raw-food festivals. The food during this stage is somewhat comforting due to its heaviness and gourmet taste, and therefore such foods help to overcome the dependency on cooked foods. Many people crave a lot of flax crackers and other dehydrated foods during this stage. You don't have to learn how to prepare many different gourmet recipes unless you want to, but I highly recommend learning three or four basic recipes.

The Salad Stage. At a certain point in your raw-food life, you will begin to naturally crave simpler dishes as opposed to those heavy gourmet concoctions. From this time on, little by little, salads will become your staple for a long time, possibly for years. An endless variety of salads with some fruits and nuts or seeds will totally satisfy your needs for calories, nutrition, and pleasure.

The Whole-Foods Stage. People usually arrive at this stage after many years of living on a raw-food diet. During this phase you will naturally prefer whole foods to salads. You will develop a strong preference for the highest-quality seasonal ripe fruits and vegetables. You will most likely stop or greatly reduce your consumption of oils, sweeteners, and dehydrated foods. You will always crave exactly what your body needs for your health, and you will consume those precious foods with heavenly enjoyment. I don't know yet if there are more stages after this one.

Don't rush or pull yourself through these stages; rather, follow your bodily intuitive guidance. That will ensure your happy thriving on a raw-food diet.

Following are nine main advantages of being self-reliant in terms of preparing raw meals: You will always be well fed no matter where you are.

You can individualize your diet based on your personal cravings to ensure the adequate nourishing of your body.

You will always eat delicious food of your own choice.

You will be able to quickly adjust your diet according to your personal transitions from one stage to another.

Your skills in preparing a couple of perfected, scrumptious raw gourmet dishes will enable you to pleasantly surprise your guests and will attract more like-minded friends into your social life.

You will always be appreciated at raw and vegan potlucks.

Your dining will always be most economical.

You won't have to depend on others to be fed.

You can teach raw culinary arts to many others.

Start with obtaining the necessary raw kitchen appliances. The following is my family's favorite raw-food kitchen equipment.

*Vita-Mix Blender.

After many years of preparing raw dishes and trying various blenders, we have concluded that the Vita-Mix is the best. It is super-powerful and reliable. This heavy-duty blender can almost liquefy wooden blocks.

*Champion Juicer.

We use the versatile Champion to make juices, purees, pates, and ice creams. The Champion is a very practical juicer because it is easy to use and clean.

Cuisinart.

This food processor is absolutely the best because it lasts forever and has high-quality blades that don't get dull. The Cuisinart grinds hard vegetables, nuts, and seeds that give other food processors trouble.

Excalibur Dehydrator.

We like this dehydrator because it dries crackers, cookies, and veggies evenly and thoroughly. It conveniently opens in the front and has a thermostat that you can set to low temperatures. We recommend the nine-tray version even for one person because no one would want to make a new batch of crackers every day.

Milk Bag/Sprout Bag.

We use these bags to strain nut and seed milks and also for sprouting seeds and beans. You may make your own nut milk bag out of nylon fabric or buy one through our website: www.rawfamily.com.

Begin using your new tools. It's impossible to turn into a raw chef by merely watching accomplished chefs, just as it is impossible to turn into a good swimmer by observing Olympic swimmers. Pick one or two recipes, buy the ingredients, and start practicing. If your creation doesn't taste good yet, you may put it in your compost. All the earthworms from your neighborhood will gather in your garden, attracted by your cuisine.

I remember how I couldn't convince my husband to help me make garden burgers. Igor was afraid to spoil the ingredients. He reasoned, "It was easy with real meat-you just cut a piece and fry it with oil. But now I am supposed to create 'meat' from carrots, and without a cow?" He saw me preparing live garden burgers dozens of times but he was certain that it was too complicated for him. One day we had an emergency situation when too many people showed up for a catered raw-food dinner. I was busy preparing soup. Somebody had to prepare garden burgers, and Igor didn't have a choice. So he did it! Even before I finished making soup he was done. Since that day I have never made another live garden burger myself because Igor took over this task. Now in my family we call this dish "Igorburger."

Igor enjoyed preparing raw food more and more. He created many of his own recipes. His Russian Borodinsky crackers are popular all over the world (also called "Igor's Crackers" and found under that name in this book). In Iceland Igor demonstrated how to prepare a raw sandwich. He put live garden burgers on crackers and decorated them with green leaves and tomatoes. When people tried his raw sandwiches they were amazed at how delicious they were. One woman exclaimed: "This sandwich is worth living for!"

In this chapter I share important tips for preparing gourmet dishes through the transitional stage of your raw-food life. I don't think anybody needs my recommendations for their further stages because after several months of living on a raw-food diet, most people feel comfortable preparing their own meals.

Many ingredients in cooked dishes always have the same standard taste. For example, sugar always tastes like sugar, flour like flour, and salt is always salt. In raw-food cuisine, no two lemons are alike. One is bigger and has more juice; the other one has thicker skin and is less sour. Cooked corn, cooked zucchini, cooked peas, and other cooked vegetables taste almost the same and require at least the addition of oil and salt. By comparison, raw corn, zucchini, peas, and other raw vegetables all have their own unique tastes that are impossible to confuse.

For this reason, when preparing a raw dish, following a recipe doesn't guarantee a delicious result. You need to always adjust the final taste. When I prepare a raw dish I use recipes only as ideas or general guidelines. For adjusting the final taste I use the "method of five tastes." The rule is to have an element of each flavor in every dish. These five tastes are: sweet, sour, salty, spicy, and bitter. When you learn to balance the five tastes, your food will stimulate different groups of taste buds, thus making the food delicious.

In nature, all fruits and vegetables already have a balanced bouquet of tastes. However, the taste buds in our mouth have been altered from years of eating cooked food filled with condiments. That is why we are unable to sense all of the delicate natural flavors in raw fruits and vegetables while eating cooked food. As our taste buds recover during the transition time to a raw-food diet, we begin enjoying simpler foods.

When you attempt to un-cook a delicious meal, make sure that all five flavors are present in the final bouquet-that not even one is missing. People who have been preparing raw gourmet meals every day for many months can definitely tell if one or two ingredients are missing by just tasting the food once or twice. Others have to taste freshly made meals five times, asking each time very simple questions: "Is it spicy enough? Is it salty enough? Is it sweet enough? Is it sour enough? Is it bitter enough?" The five tastes don't have to be strong but just enough for a particular dish. For example, the strongest tastes in a garden burger should be sweet, spicy, and salty with only a touch of sour and bitter, but all five have to be present. Otherwise the garden burger will taste bland.

Usually, when you prepare a dish and go through your first round of five-spoon tasting, two or three tastes are missing. Add ingredients for the missing tastes, mix again, and start five-spoon tasting once more. Continue until the five major tastes are balanced into a nice bouquet. I call this process "adjusting the taste." In the beginning adjusting can take a long time. Don't be discouraged; your pace will speed up with practice. At the same time your raw food will become unbeatable.

The following is a list of suggested ingredients for the five taste groups. Please be creative, as this is only a fraction of what is available on planet Earth. Many plants possess a variety of tastes but have one or two that are dominant. Also, please apply common sense and don't add vanilla to the soup or garlic to the torte.

For a sour taste add: lemons, cranberries, rhubarb, lemon gra.s.s, sour gra.s.s, sorrel, tomatoes, sauerkraut, nut or seed yogurt, or apple cider vinegar.

For a sweet taste add: dried fruit such as figs, dates, prunes, raisins; fresh fruits such as ripe banana, mango, peach, pear; apple juice, orange juice, raw agave nectar, raw honey, or fresh stevia leaves.

For spicy taste add: garlic or onion shoots, cloves, or bulbs, ginger, mustard greens or seeds, radish, horseradish, cayenne pepper, wasabi, seaweed, and/or herbs-fresh or dry-such as basil, dill, cilantro, rosemary, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and peppermint.

For salty taste add: celery, cilantro, dill, parsley, or sea vegetables such as dulse, kelp, nori, arame, or Celtic sea salt.

For bitter taste add: parsley, celery tops, endive, garlic, onion, dandelion, bay leaf, sage, poultry seasoning, or cayenne pepper.

I believe that skillfully prepared raw-food dishes are comparable to the most sophisticated cooked recipes, and in many cases raw-food dishes taste better. I personally stopped telling people that my food was raw a long time ago, beginning with the wedding that I was invited to cater. The couple to be married didn't ask for a raw wedding and due to my desire to be hired, I didn't push to clarify. However, I was confident that I could satisfy their palates whether they wanted raw or cooked food for their reception. I enjoyed preparing and decorating the three-tier raw wedding cake. I made lots of beautiful finger foods, colorful refreshments, a big salad with a variety of dressings, and nut patties. I remember how my daughter and I spent several hours drawing lines on those patties, making them look like real barbecued burgers.

Then the reception began. There were about fifty guests, and no one noticed anything unusual for about an hour. Then people started having questions and called the chef (me) to the dining hall. When I came out they asked me, "Is this Russian cuisine? What kind of herbs did you use in everything? Your food is so good, but we've never tasted anything like it!"

I looked at this group of fifty people and suddenly realized that knowing all the food was raw would be a shock to them. They looked at me quizzically. I asked them, "Would you like to come into the kitchen? I'll show you how I made it."

My kitchen s.p.a.ce filled with many curious guests, and I prepared two dishes very quickly in front of them: nut meat pate and a candy ball. All the guests were amazed by how speedy, simple, and tasty the results were. Now they forgot all about the bride and the groom and began asking questions. Women were grabbing pens out of their husband's pockets and scribbling on napkins, on each other's shoulders, asking, "How much lemon did you say?" One chubby-looking man wanted to know, "Can you teach my wife how to make this food?" Later that week I held a huge cla.s.s that was filled with many guests from this wedding.

Over many years of eating raw food, everyone in my family has learned how to quickly fix delicious meals. Based on our experience, we have developed simple techniques that we successfully teach to thousands of other raw-fooders. Following are five formulas that are incredibly simple, almost primitive. They enable anyone to prepare tasty, quick, easy, and inexpensive raw gourmet meals.

Basic Formula for Delicious Soup.

The base.

Five flavors.

Something to float (for example, grated carrot or other root, chunks of avocado or some vegetable, chopped parsley or other herbs).

The base for the soup is always the same: 1 cup water.

1 stalk celery.

1 tablespoon olive oil.

Mix everything in the blender except the floating chunks; add them afterwards. I use this simple formula for any gourmet soup that I prepare.

Yield: 2 cups of soup.

Basic Formula for Delicious Nut Burgers.

1 cup any nuts 1 cup any vegetables 1 tablespoon oil to make it stick together Five flavors Mix in a food processor.

Note: If you want a heavier burger, put more nuts. For a lighter burger, use more vegetables.

Yield: 2 cups of burger pate.

Basic Formula for Delicious Candy or Cake Dough.

1 cup any nuts 1 cup any dried fruits 1 tablespoon oil to make it stick together Spices (optional) Mix in a food processor. Roll candies or use as crust layers for the cake.

Yield: 2 cups of delicious dough

Formula for Delicious Dressing