Entertaining in the Raw - Matthew Kenney [0]
Matthew Kenney
Photographs by Miha Matei
ENTERTAINING IN THE RAW
Digital Edition v1.0
Text © 2010 Matthew Kenney
Photographs © 2010 Miha Matei
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except brief portions quoted for purpose of review.
Gibbs Smith, Publisher
PO Box 667
Layton, UT 84041
Orders: 1.800.835.4993
www.gibbs-smith.com
Library of Congress Catalog-in-Publishing Data
ISBN-13: 978-1-4236-0208-8
ISBN-10: 1-4236-0208-0
1. Cookery (Natural foods) 2. Raw foods. 3. Entertaining. 4. Cookery, International. I. Title.
TX741.K46 2009
641.5’636—dc22
2008030784
To my parents, Shirley and Robert Kenney
Acknowledgments
My life has been blessed with inspiration and support from many talented people. I would like to thank:
Liz Figueroa, for her love.
Miha Matei, the best photographer I have ever met.
Maryellen and Paul Schoeman, and Patrick Kenney, who I am proud to have as family.
Lenny Lagana, for friendship and words of wisdom.
Kristen Reyes and Andrew Tupper, for their hard work and creativity.
Anna Elisa de Castro, for her styling brilliance.
Michelle Witte and Jennifer Grillone, my editors, for their patience and skilled guidance.
Jennifer King, Christopher Robbins and the entire team at Gibbs Smith, Publisher, for being true partners.
Gibbs Smith, an incredible visionary, whose company I am fortunate to work with.
Peter Schatzberg, a warrior, both as a friend and a business partner.
Leo Monroy, Michael Schatzberg and the team at Freefoods, for their dedication to excellence.
Chase’s Daily, a miracle in Maine.
Debra McQuiston, for her impeccable design skills.
Entertaining in the Raw
Table of Contents
Introduction
Blossom
Contemporary
Inspiration
Spice
Radiance
Revolution
Meaningful
Metric Conversion Chart
Introduction
The goal of life is living in agreement with nature.
—Zeno (335–264 BC)
Entertain—The first time I stepped into a raw food kitchen, I knew that I had discovered something magical. My senses had been on high alert as I remained deeply suspicious about uncooked food, and many years in professional kitchens had created a foundation of principles contrary to what I was about to experience. Yet I nearly became an instant convert, ready to forgo not only fire and heat but also the majority of ingredients that were the building blocks of my cuisine.
To this day, I still remain captivated by steaming pots of risotto, the hearty aromas of a wood-fired oven, and the intense flavor brought on by a long-simmering reduction. Yet nothing has ever captured my attention in a kitchen like the crisp smell of fresh ginger mingling with coriander and lime juice, as I entered that day. And nothing has held it like the explosive clean flavor of well-prepared raw organic foods.
My first year of preparing raw was somewhat challenging. Just as I was entering a phase of my career where the skills I had learned and experiences I had accumulated should have provided me with the tools I needed to cook at a higher, more mature level, I chose to discard everything and begin anew. Fortunately, it was a natural decision, taken not only for professional and creative reasons but also in light of my own personal preferences, which had begun to lean more and more toward a plant-based lifestyle. The choice led me to the most rewarding and creative experience of my life.
In the beginning, just as with traditional European-based cuisine, it was necessary to learn the basics. Instead of stocks and bases, searing and braising, I needed to experiment with Brazil nut milk and vegetable juice–based sauces and to focus on marinating and dehydrating as ways to intensify flavor. In the beginning, there were a few triumphs and many failures; but as I experimented more, dishes began to emerge that would open up a raw food world of unlimited potential. At Pure Food and Wine, the first raw food restaurant I built, early recipes such as Heirloom Tomato Lasagna