Matthew Kenney - Entertaining in the Raw

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.

Chases Daily, a miracle in Maine.

Debra McQuiston, for her impeccable design skills.

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 juicebased 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 would become popular signatures, providing colorful and tasty dishes that were not incredibly difficult to prepare. And over the first year there, other experiments that I had begun, such as White Corn Tamale with Raw Cacao Mole, were flushed out by talented cooks. The menu evolved to include some of these earlier, more straightforward dishes as well as a handful of newer, more complex ones.

Over the next two years, I would begin to delineate two styles of raw food preparation: practical dishes that are faster to prepare at home or for a quick meal, and more elaborate dishes that require a bit more patience and effort. Those more elaborate dishes are in large part what make raw food so remarkable. The health benefits and flavors of everyday raw food are incredible on many levels. As a chef, I am most inspired by the tastes, textures, and presentation of the more advanced recipes.

There is no denying that some of the best raw food dishes are downright challenging to prepare. Several steps may be involved, often beginning with sprouting nuts, seeds, or grains, and ending with as much as forty-eight hours of dehydration. Others may provide a bit more instant gratification. This book is written in honor of the more elaborate, but very worthwhile, recipes that challenge the cook and please the guest. The attention, persistence, and care that go into the recipes in this book deserve to be celebrated and enjoyed by those who are fortunate enough to eat them.

Share In my earlier days with raw food, I often found myself shying away from preparing it for family and friends, instead finding a middle ground with perhaps vegetarian or vegan dishes. Over time, as my food evolved, I became more confident about peoples reaction to this incredible cuisine, and now I prepare it whenever I have the opportunity. In fact, I firmly believe that it is often the best choice of food to entertain with. Whether it is an extravagant wedding dinner on an exotic beach or dinner for two by candlelight, the impact and pleasures of raw food are, by and large, incomparable to other challengers.

No other culinary style offers the same vibrant, deep flavor without guilt or other effects that celebratory foods often have, such as a heavy feeling or fatigue. Raw food is the most colorful on the planetit literally jumps off the plate! Raw is very modern, forgoing heavy sauces, dairy products, and breads, allowing each bite to pack maximum flavor. In every one of my raw dining experiences, I have found that the food ends up not only being enjoyed but also being used as a conversational piece, where guests marvel at their surprise to learn the food before them is composed of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds, none of which have been cooked, canned, or processed in any way.

Some of the ideas are pretty out therethink Willy Wonkas chocolate or Andy Warhols art factory, where unbounded creativity exists in an effort to pursue meaning and, in this case, the essence of raw food. My philosophy is guided by one stipulation: all of the culinary efforts shall be devoted to preparing the most advanced, flavorful, and realistic raw food anywhere. As long as my work considers those fundamental issues, I allow pretty much free reign to spontaneously experiment and create. The results should entertain not only the guests but also the cook.

Plan This book represents that philosophy and the results of freethinking that has always kept a sharp eye out for flavor, presentation, and originality. At the end of the day, its all a good mealand a good meal should never be eaten alone.

There is always much more to entertaining than the food. With raw food, its even truer, and many of the traditional rules change. That should never be seen as a barrier but, rather, as an opportunity. Raw food is vegetarian and, when handled by responsible chefs, is largely produced from organic ingredients in a sustainable environment. The location and setting of a raw food meal need not be elaborate, but it should respect nature, and any additions to the setting are most appropriate when they also show the same respect. Natural materials, fresh wildflowers or bamboo, clean design, and plate settings are all more appropriate than leather or over-designed cutlery and china. The best rule of thumb is to always consider natureif something is a step removed from nature, its probably suitable. If you dont know how it is made, then its probably not.

Ingredients are always the most important part of a great meal. This holds even truer with raw food, where nothing will be masked by flour, sugar, butter, or heavy cooking. It is always worth the effort to search for the freshest organic ingredientslocal if at all possible. Many raw food recipes require soaking, sprouting, marinating, and dehydrating. For that reason, it is best to sit down with the recipes you intend to prepare and make two lists: one for shopping and another for preparation. The great thing about raw food is its versatility as to when it needs to be served. Whereas some cooked food often becomes dry or inedible if not eaten when it is finished cooking, the recipes in this book that wont hold up for a very long time are designed to be prepared ahead but assembled when ready to eat. Many of the most complicated dishes can actually be plated and garnished in no time, as long as the preparation (what chefs call