Fernanda Capobianco - The Vegan Divas cookbook: delicious desserts, plates, and treats from the famed new york city bakery

I dedicate this book to my mom and best friend, SUELY CAPOBIANCO , and to my brother, MARCUS CAPOBIANCO my greatest role models in life, who supported me when I moved to New York in 2009 and started this exciting journey. Also, to MARCUS CAPOBIANCO , my dad, who had a fun life and who made me realize that our health is the biggest treasure we have.

HOW I BECAME A VEGAN DIVA

B ORN AND RAISED IN BRAZIL, A COUNTRY KNOWN FOR CATTLE RANCHING AND WHERE BEEF IS USED IN MANY POPULAR DISHES, I AM AN UNLIKELY VEGAN. FROM THE TIME I WAS A CHILD, I REJECTED MEATI HATED ITS TASTE AND TEXTURE AND REFUSED TO EAT IT EVEN WHEN, EVERY SUNDAY, MY WHOLE FAMILY HEADED OFF TO THE LOCAL CHURRASCARIA FOR A CARNIVORES FEAST. THANKFULLY, MY PARENTS NEVER FORCED ME TO EAT MEAT, BUT THEY DID TAKE ME TO SEE A NUTRITIONIST TO HELP ME REPLACE THE PROTEIN I WASNT GETTING IN MY DIET. THE FIRST DOCTOR I SAW WASNT VERY HELPFUL. IN FACT, HE COULDNT CONCEIVE WHY I WOULD WANT TO EAT ONLY PLANT-BASED PROTEIN AND FELT HE COULDNT DO ANYTHING TO HELP ME UNLESS I AGREED TO INCLUDE MEAT IN MY DIET. (WHICH, OF COURSE, I DIDNT DO!)

Growing up I had a host of health problems. I struggled with my weight, had severe acne, dramatic mood swings, chronic digestive problems, and recurring bouts of pneumonia. One of these bouts even landed me in the emergency room. My mother was desperate to cure me and took me to all types of doctorslung specialists, homeopaths, spirit doctorsyou name it. At the same time, she was making sure I drank plenty of cows milk, which she thought was good for me. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the milk was contributing to my lung problems and pneumonia.

When I was seventeen, I met a wonderful man who changed my life, Dr. Jos Efrain Melara. Dr. Melara was an eighty-six-year-old naturopathic doctor from El Salvador who could be mistaken for fifty. His practice was based on the fundamentals of naturopathy, an alternative medicine practice that favors a holistic approach to treatment with non-invasive techniques. His advice made perfect sense to me: follow a plant-based diet, learn to breathe correctly, get lots of exercise, and sleep well. After my first visit to Dr. Melara, I did a three-day cleansing juice diet. After those three days, it was as if I was a new personmy skin was glowing, I had so much more energy, and I had a great attitude and a feeling of renewal. Healthwise, I felt I was on the right track for the first time in my life.

My belief in the practice of both naturopathy and eating a plant-based diet is rooted in my thoughts about the evolution of human health. The gradual erosion of our diet has had a tremendously negative impact on our health as a society. Processed foods, dairy, refined sugars, and poor-quality food are making us sick. And instead of treating the source of the problem and changing our lifestyles to prevent the onset of illness, we seem to be satisfied by treating the symptoms with prescription after prescription in order to make life more manageable. Over the course of millions of years the human race has reached superior stages of intelligence and civilization. Unfortunately, the modern diet that most of us have adopted is literally killing us.

When I was twenty-three I lost the person in this world that I loved most, my dad. My father had major health problems: diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular issues, and hepatitis. Hed experienced several strokes over the years; the last one took his life at the age of fifty-four. Whenever I tried to talk to him about his poor diet and lifestyle, he would laugh and say, Are you planning to go to Mars with your flying saucer anytime soon? He loved to enjoy life but had no interest in changing a lifetime of bad habits, which included a diet rich in red meat and other animal products. At the end he was lying in a hospital bed hooked up to a bunch of tubes, at the mercy of the machinery of modern medicine.

Eating a vegan diet has changed my life and radically improved my health. I have spent the past twenty years researching the best foods to eatand the most delicious ways to prepare them. It is in the memory of my father that I hope to share this knowledge with the world so that more people will take steps to improve their own health.

A VEGAN WITH A SWEET TOOTH

In 2004, I was working as a journalist and public relations specialist in Rio de Janeiro. Even though I had become a vegan, I still had a major sweet tooth and craved high-quality chocolate, which I had trouble finding in Rio. Luckily, a friend of mine had opened a branch of the well-known Payard ptisserie and restaurant in So Paolo, and he kept me supplied with good chocolate. In fact, I loved Payards chocolates so much that I opened a branch of the Payard ptisserie myself in Rio. This was the beginning of my food career. It was a big change from working in public relations. All of a sudden I was dealing with food orders, waiters, and cooksit was a new world for me. I rented a kitchen and started doing a lot of catering for events and parties. Brazilians really watch their figures (probably because we want to look good on the beach), so in addition to all the butter-heavy pastries I prepared, I began to experiment with healthier options, using local fruits and organic and dairy-free ingredients. The response was overwhelming, and the business took off!

In 2009, my life changed again when I sold my business in Rio and moved to New York City. I knew that in order to continue in the food business I needed to follow my instinct and do something that I was passionate about and really believed insomething that would affect peoples eating habits on a larger scale. Eventually the Vegan Divas concept was born: My goal was to combine high-quality, wholesome ingredients, classic pastry technique, and an elegant presentation to create a line of vegan treats so delicious that even non-vegans would come back for more. Today, with a bustling caf, a constant stream of catering orders, and a devoted and loyal clientele, I consider that goal accomplished. Our bakery is successful because we allow people to indulge their sweet tooth without guilt. And the recipes in this book will help you do the same!

THE ETHICAL DIVA

Let me start by saying this: Even though I love it when people choose to eat a plant-based diet, I believe everyone has the freedom to eat what they want. The same way I expect people to respect the way I eat, I must respect other peoples food choices. For me veganism is not just reflected in my diet; its a life choice. But everyone is on his or her own journey and we must appreciate that.

Food is much more than nourishment; it is a cultural and social event that brings us together for everything from birthday parties to family celebrations to business events. Food also creates unforgettable memories and emotions that are translated into flavors, tastes, aromas, and colors that are linked to memories of our childhood, favorite places, and loved ones. Over time we find ourselves almost addicted to certain flavors and textures, whether its a succulent steak, crispy fried chicken, rich, cheesy pasta, creamy ice cream, or any of the other palate pleasers that we have come to associate with the pleasure of life. It is this concept of palate pleasersand the traditions handed down to us by our familiesthat largely dictates the choices we make when it comes to food. To me, there are other important considerations: our health, the health of animals, and the health of our planet.