The Vegetarian Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity with Vegetables, Fruits, Grains, Legumes, Nuts, Seeds, and More, Based on the Wisdom of Leading American Chefs - Hardcover

Page, Karen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 031624418X ISBN 13: 9780316244183

Publisher: Voracious, 2014

Synopsis

Throughout time, people have chosen to adopt a vegetarian or vegan diet for a variety of reasons, from ethics to economy to personal and planetary well-being. Experts now suggest a new reason for doing so: maximizing flavor - which is too often masked by meat-based stocks or butter and cream. The Vegetarian Flavor Bible is an essential guide to culinary creativity, based on insights from dozens of leading American chefs, representing such acclaimed restaurants as Crossroads and M.A.K.E. in Los Angeles; Candle 79, Dirt Candy, and Kajitsu in New York City, Green Zebra in Chicago, Greens and Millennium in San Francisco, Natural Selection and Portobello in Portland, Plum Bistro in Seattle, and Vedge in Philadelphia.

Emphasizing plant-based whole foods including vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds, the book provides an A-to-Z listing of hundreds of ingredients, from açaí to zucchini blossoms, cross-referenced with the herbs, spices, and other seasonings that best enhance their flavor, resulting in thousands of recommended pairings. The Vegetarian Flavor Bible is the ideal reference for the way millions of people cook and eat today-- vegetarians, vegans, and omnivores alike. This groundbreaking book will empower both home cooks and professional chefs to create more compassionate, healthful, and flavorful cuisine.

About this title

From the Author

September 17, 2015

"The cuisine of the next ten years will be vegetarian."
--Chef Joel Robuchon

"In an expectation-thwarting move, during [spring and summer] Noma will become a fully vegetarian restaurant."
--The New York Times (9/16/15)

Dear Readers,

Yesterday, The New York Times reported that the world's #1 restaurant Noma planned to shift to a vegetarian menu for half the year.

While many seemed surprised or even shocked, we weren't.  Less than a year ago, celebrated chef Joel Robuchon had declared that vegetarianism is the cuisine of the coming decade -- and we've seen scores of other leading chefs moving in that direction, through reducing meat on their menus (e.g., Dan Barber, Alain Ducasse) and/or offering vegetarian and even vegan tasting menus (e.g., Daniel Boulud, Daniel Humm, Thomas Keller, Patrick O'Connell). 

There are countless reasons that professional chefs and home cooks alike will want to learn more about cooking meatless meals.  And we have poured our hearts into creating just the resource for you:  THE VEGETARIAN FLAVOR BIBLE.  In January of this year, the Los Angeles Times reported that EatYourBooks.com ranked it "The #5 Cookbook of 2014." 

The site had amalgamated 300 lists of "The Best Cookbooks of 2014" produced by leading newspapers (including the Chicago Tribune, Globe and Mail, and Washington Post), magazines (e.g., Food & Wine), radio shows (e.g., KCRW's "Good Food" and WBEZ's "Chewing the Fat"), blogs, and booksellers.  These lists represented 2,713 votes for 811 different cookbooks, which were culled to a "Top 10."  We were thrilled to see our latest labor of love among the top five. 

As two life-long omnivores who regularly ate meat two to three times a day, we both transitioned to a whole-foods, plant-strong diet in May 2012 -- and no one could be more surprised than the two of us to discover how amazing this change has been.  We've found ourselves effortlessly lighter (to the tune of 25+ pounds each), happier, and more focused.  Best of all, our understanding of flavor has been growing by leaps and bounds as we've come to realize that any dish's flavor profile is rooted primarily in its vegetables, herbs, and spices.

So THE VEGETARIAN FLAVOR BIBLE is as ideal a resource for omnivores as it is for vegivores.  At 50 percent longer than our 2008 title THE FLAVOR BIBLE (which was cited by Forbes as one of the world's 10 best cookbooks of the past century), our latest book delves into much greater detail about a significantly wider range of plant-based ingredients, including vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, mushrooms, nuts, seeds, and more -- exactly the kind of ingredients you've no doubt been using more frequently in your kitchen to keep your body healthy and your taste buds inspired. 

Whether you're already among the 54 percent of Americans looking to reduce or eliminate meat from your diet through a vegan (2%), vegetarian (5%) or semi-vegetarian (47%) lifestyle, or whether you're just looking to add more uber-healthful vegetables to your diet, get ready to see your creativity AND your food's flavor skyrocket the minute you put this book to work in YOUR kitchen!

Delicious wishes,
Karen Page & Andrew Dornenburg
New York City

From the Back Cover

"Open this book to just about any page and you will find yourself in an orchard of inspiration and useful information organized from every angle:  seasons, flavors, ethnic traditions, ingredient affinities.  The logic of delicious plant-food cookery is ripe for the picking -- accessible, instructional, and even playful.  Karen Page's thorough, generous message is an intuition booster for every level of experience, and Andrew Dornenburg's beautiful images will make it all feel magical and pull you in, guaranteed."
--MOLLIE KATZEN, author of The Heart of the Plate and The Moosewood Cookbook

"Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg are experienced professionals who offer an excellent guide to common questions about using a whole-food, plant-based diet for all those who care about their health and the health of their family, their friends, and everyone else who will listen.  This is an excellent resource."
--T. COLIN CAMPBELL, PhD, coauthor of The China Study and Whole, and Jacob Gould Schurman Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Biochemistry at Cornell University

"As a chef-restaurateur, I've used The Flavor Bible for years as an idea starter when coming up with new dishes.  I know our mixologists find it just as useful when they're creating new cocktails.  THE VEGETARIAN FLAVOR BIBLE is going to be invaluable at the restaurant, and I plan to keep a copy at home, too.  Bravo!"
--TAL RONNEN, author of The Conscious Cook and chef and founder at Crossroads (Los Angeles)

"THE VEGETARIAN FLAVOR BIBLE is that beautiful best friend who knows absolutely everything.  From nutrition to food history to flavor pairing, this book will answer all your questions about a plant-based diet.  But what's even more important is that it does so deliciously and joyfully."
--ISA CHANDRA MOSKOWITZ, author of Isa Does It, Veganomicon, and Vegan with a Vengeance and contributor to Forks Over Knives: The Cookbook

"THE VEGETARIAN FLAVOR BIBLE underscores the fact that not only is a plant-based diet better for your health, for the animals, and for the planet, it's an extraordinarily flavorful and satisfying way to eat, too."
--NEAL D. BARNARD, MD, founder and president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and author of Power Foods for the Brain and Dr. Neal Barnard's Program for Reversing Diabetes

"Although I am not entirely vegetarian (allowing for lapses and dinner parties), I am inspired by this book.  What a helpful guide to anyone who is at a loss when approaching an unfamiliar plant, be it vegetable, fruit, legume, or grain."
--DEBORAH MADISON, author of The New Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone

Edition details

• Publisher: Voracious
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 031624418X
• ISBN 13: 9780316244183
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 576