Rabbit food. That’s what my dad calls vegetarian cooking and
cuisine. Salads and vegetables – can’t be anything more to it,
can there? Oh, but there is. Vegetarian cooking is at least as
varied as ‘regular’ cooking – and in some cases, far more
imaginative.
Nearly thirty years ago, Diet for a Small Planet, and the
follow-up cookbook, Recipes for a Small Planet hit the bookstore
shelves with a resounding thud that still echoes. While many of
the theories of protein complementarily that Frances Moore Lappe
presented have been proven to be naïve by further research, the
basic theories of eating and the wonderful meatless – and truly
vegetarian - recipes endure. The Moosewood Cookbook and The
Enchanted Broccoli Forest followed, and then an avalanche of
cookbooks devoted to the vegetarian gourmet.
Vegetarian cooking is more than just ‘meatless’. There’s an art
to mixing flavors and textures in just the right combinations to
create masterpieces that are as appealing to carnivores as to
those who’ve eschewed meat. For Hindi chefs who practice
Ayurvedic cooking, food is more than nutrition – it is a
meditation, a gateway to the higher consciousness. There are
three major components and six tastes (sweet, salty, sour,
bitter, pungent and astringent) to be considered in the
preparation of every dish, and a meal prepared according to the
Ayurveda is a feast for the eyes, the nose, the mouth and the
mind.
The very best vegetarian meals are not ‘meatless’ versions of
dish that usually has meat in it. ‘Meatless’ lasagna suggests
that something is missing from the recipe. Anyone who has dined
on spinach lasagna knows that there’s nothing missing – the
blend of creamy cheese and spinach and spices is perfect in and
of itself. Polenta with spicy black bean sauce has no need of
meat to make it more complete – made right it melts on the
tongue AND sticks to the ribs at the same time.
Even within the overall umbrella of ‘vegetarian cuisine’ there
are variations. Outside Western culture, most meals have little
or not meat at all – so it is not surprising to find vegetarian
main dishes in Indian and Chinese cuisine, nor in Russian
cooking and African regional cuisines. Many base main dish meals
on legumes and nuts. Peanut and cashew soups, humus with spices
and lemon, fermented black bean sauces ladled over bread and
pasta and rice and couscous – Middle Eastern and African cooking
offers all of those and more.
If one approaches vegetarian cuisine as a ‘substitute’ for
cooking with meat, one is sure to be disappointed. It is a way
of eating and cooking, of spices and combinations that can be as
light and fluffy as a meringue or as dense and chewy as the best
seven grain bread. If you’ve never tried a real vegetarian meal
– as opposed to a ‘meatless’ or ‘meat substitute’ – the very
best place to start is at your nearest Indian or Middle Eastern
restaurant. You’ll be amazed at the flavors and textures – and
you won’t even notice that there’s no meat.
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