So I recently got my hands on Living Raw Food
, the second book of recipes from the Pure Food and Wine proprietor. It did pretty much the same thing the last book did, which was reignite my interest in working with raw foods.The appeal of raw foods wasn't so much about health (O.K. wasn't only about health) but a cross between the sort of primitive molecular gastronomy practiced by many raw foodists and the meaningful exploration of high quality ingredients. I was also taken in by the use of whole foods, given processed foods lost much of their appeal to me during that brief Atkins-diet phase I had when I was 20 or so. While I ditched the diet of waterbath cheesecake made with splenda, I never quite picked pasta and other refined starches back up.
It is recipes like the above, calamari with tartar sauce, that are reigniting my passion for exploring this cuisine. However it is also reminding me of the frustrations when dealing with the not-so-vegan-inclined..
Tess (my vegan buildingmate): "Ike, you want to come upstairs with us to get some raw vegan calamari?"
Ike (Tess's not so vegan but very blue partner): "I don't like calamari."
Tess: "Well it isn't calamari."
Ike: "I don't really like things fried."
Tess: "It is raw! How can it be fried?"
Ike: "Well, you said it was calamari."
Tess: "It is raw vegan, how can it be squid or fried?"
Ai. Ike did come upstairs. Ike ate raw vegan calamari. Raw vegan calamari was deemed good, or at least acceptable for those who don't like fried calamari.
Honestly it isn't all that much like calamari, though if you like calamari you'll probably like these. It is definitely a snackable concoction that makes for a good traveling companion, it is cute, and novel, all told pretty easy to make. Cutting them into rings is a vanity that you can surpass if you feel like it. Regardless of the differences, the inspirations you find raw foodists make from the original food is a delight.
While I'm not going to post the recipe here (see the book below, it is worth it), I'll mention that a mix of spices, ground up golden flax seeds, some lemon, and king oyster mushrooms are friends of yours... And of course, do not forget the salt.
