Robertson Laurel - The new Laurels kitchen : a handbook for vegetarian cookery & nutrition

The New Laurels Kitchen shows the loving efforts of many, many friends who have wanted no thanks but that the book be as helpful as possible. Among them are readers who have written such thoughtful letters, good cooks willing to part with treasured recipes, testers unwilling to quit until the dishes turned out perfect, and friends who showed up at all hours to wash pots and pans. Doctors and health professionals, gardeners and scientists, secretaries and lab workers, all gave valued help when we needed it.

Special thanks go to George Briggs, Professor Emeritus of the University of California at Berkeley Department of Nutritional Sciences, who patiently shepherded us through the first Laurels Kitchen and has continued to give us open access to his files of current literature on nutrition.

The nutrition section of this edition is deeply stamped with the influence and inspiration of Dr. Sheldon Margen, Professor of Public Health Nutrition at Berkeleys School of Public Health. We owe him a great deal, and hope that the joy of discussing matters scientific with him is reflected in what we offer here.

Through my window I can see the rambunctious excitement of the neighborhood preteens gathering to go off to the county fair. They formed a club a year or so ago, Friends of Wildlife (FOWL), when they found out that local sea lions were dying from a lung disease. FOWL raised money to help a group of volunteer veterinarians provide medical assistance, and the kids had the satisfaction of being invited to watch the last of the cured sea lions slide joyfully back into the sea. This year they have washed cars to finance their own booth at the fair: Save the Elephants. Their enthusiasm has attracted support from top people in the field around the world.

There is a saying in India that elephants think they are small because they have tiny eyes. Facing the threats to health and relationships today, we too may feel small. But seeing doors open for those children has been a real lesson. If school children can accomplish so much, how can we grownups say, What can I do?

This book has taught us a similar lesson, for it has shown us that we are not alone. Ever since we shipped out the first hand-bound copies some ten years ago, Laurels Kitchen has continued to bring us new friends. Many of you have written us in beautiful letters that our book has made happy changes possible for you and your families, that its provided the inspiration to keep the ball rolling. Well, you have helped and inspired us with your brave stories. There are a million of you all over the country and in many unexpected places around the world, valiantly struggling against junk food and junk living. Its a sort of secret society, whose strength is growing.

In trying to bring together good taste, good sense, and good science, Laurels Kitchen was something of a pioneering effort. When we first wrote it, there were few popular books on vegetarian cooking and none with complete, reliable information on nutrition. Now vegetarian and whole foods cookery has become trendy, even gourmet, and nutrition handbooks head the bestseller lists. But we still think theres nothing like Laurels Kitchen.

So whats different about The New Laurels Kitchen? We try to put it all together: the satisfaction of good food, the importance of how its prepared, the health of those who eat it and of the world they live in. Our recipes represent home-cooking at its bestthe kind you want to do for people you care for, cooking thats tasty and healthful to eat and fulfilling to offer. Weve improved old favorites and created dozens of great new dishes, and made a special effort to lower the fat while actually enhancing the taste.