Crowther Susan - The vegetarian chef : mastering the art of recipe-free cooking

Copyright 2015 by Susan Crowther

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

ISBN: 978-1-63220-329-8

e-ISBN: 978-1-63220-755-5

Cover design by Abigail Gehring

Printed in China

Appreciation and gratitude extend to the following people

Technical Gratitude~

The Brattleboro Senior Center Water-based Media Group, led by Maisie Crowther, and my mommy, Marcia Fagelson: for their prolific and enthusiastic contribution of the illustrations; Julie Fallone, food photography: for her intuitive culinary images and chronic Getting of me; Coni Porter, initial book design and layout: for teaching me how to sail the ship (and often supplying the wind); Tanya Taylor Rubenstein, loving drill sergeant: for pushing me to Get Serious while honoring my voice; Bernice Mennis, editor, teacher, and gentle mentor: for walking into the Brattleboro Food Co-op on the day that I really really firmly decided that I was either quitting this project for good or else God had better do something ; Jim Fallone, publishing guru: for guiding me through the self-publishing (and then publishing) process and offering experience and wisdom that would have taken me years to compile; Carolyn Kasper, neighbor and art-pal: for answering every single solitary design question with patience, kindness, and ease. Happy thanks extend to Abigail Gehring Lawrence for... well, liking my book!~ and giving it a chance. Ms. Gehring and Skyhorse Publishing have been supportive, courteous, and generous with integrity, every step of the way. Hokey be damned: thank you, for making my dream come true.

Im published! Im a real author!!

Inspirational Gratitude~

Marlene Beadle, of Marlenes Market and Deli: providing the environment and experience for the original concept; Desha Peacock, creator of The Desha Show : for following her dream and reminding me to move along my path; Jim & Julie (again) Fallone: for their encouragement, advice, humor, bizarre forms of empathy, and endless band names; Tiffany Williams, who always spent some of her own tutorial time asking me about my project and encouraging me. Thanks, gal. Michelle Liechti: for believing in me and recommending me to her good friend, Abigail; Julie Forsythe: in breath and smile; Robert Sargent Fay, mentor and friend: for being a staunch defender of integrity; Kathy DAlessio, life coach, big sister, and Italian ballbuster: for providing the external belief when I kept ing mine away; Lucas my son: for remembering that I was writing a book and actually asking me once or twice about how the project was going (a typically cognitively impossible feat for an 18-year-old American male); and to huzzy Mark Crowther, proofreader, egger-onner, and etc. police identifying 47 unnecessary etceteras. Also, for keeping the coffee hot and in the mug while I sat on my duff and finished the albatross.

For Sam,
who started it all.
Keep pushing, son.

Special gratitude extends to~

the excellent chefs, formerly of the
Culinary Institute of America (CIA), Century Plaza, and Caf du Parc:
Master Chef Roland Henin, Chef Bagna,
Master Chef Raymond Hofmeister, and Chef Pierre Latuberne.

Your excellence makes the culinary
world a finer kitchen.

Thank you.

Table of Contents

THE VEGETARIAN CHEF

F OREWORD BY M ASTER C HEF R OLAND G. H ENIN

Well... with all of this hysteria related to foods in Americasome good and some badit was bound to finally happen. Someone in this country just wrote a fabulous book about foods and what is the most important part of the cooking process. Recipe-free cooking... What a novel idea! And from Susie Crowther, a former student, on top of that... simply amazing!

Yes, I say finally, because the last one in existenceas far as I know, possibly the only one that has ever existedwas written in the 1960s by an extraordinary chef: Ma Gastronomie , by Fernand Point, Chef Owner of La Pyramide in Vienne, in the suburb of Lyon. La Pyramide was, in Chef Point's day, possibly one of the very best restaurants in the world and where many of the Bocuse Gang famous chefs did their apprenticeships.

It is simply amazing that, today, so many people cook strictly by recipes, as this is so unnaturalso mechanical, so anticlimactic. Hell, even a computer, I am sure, could be programmed to do it. And, the big question is, really, why is this?

I would certainly understand an apprentice starting out in the professiona beginner cook, someone just starting out in the kitchenusing recipes as a guide, as a crutch possibly, such as the two training wheels that came with my young sons first bike. But guess what? As soon as he got his balance figured out, as soon as he felt that he could express his own decisions, his own will, and own control over his bike... then off the training wheels went.

Sure, he fell down a few times and came home with some bruised knees. But eh, there is no free lunch, and this was a small price to pay for his learning and independence. You should have seen him a year or so after that switch, managing to drive his bike simply from torqueing his torso and legsnot even using the handle bars.

What I am saying is very simple.

Cooking with recipes, when you have passed a certain point, such as getting a good handle on the basics, is really like Painting by the Numbers, as you are simply assembling some foods together without any input from you into the process... with absolutely no feelings whatsoever. You are basically an automate , not thinking much about what you are doing, not having any contribution in the process or on the outcome, not imparting much of anything personal.