All too many vegetarian cookbooks focus on how to make vegetarian cooking quick and easy. And it is true that vegetarian cooking, especially when done with fresh, whole ingredients, can be both time and labor intensive. But for people who love to cook this is not a challenge to be overcome but a pleasure to be indulged.
For those who think of cooking as play and food as one of the prime joys of life, Passionate Vegetarian by Crescent Dragonwagon is another pleasure worth indulging. This is definitely not a book that will tell you how to put a healthy meal on the table with little effort or thought. It is a book that will remind you that cooking and eating and sharing food are fundamental elements of a civilized life.
It is not that the recipes are particularly difficult (they are not, though many are somewhat time-consuming), but that they are engaging. For example, in the chapter on hors d’oeuvres, Dragonwagon includes not only plenty of the expected (and a few unexpected) dips, spreads and what she calls “slathers,” but also a variety of homemade crackers, toasts, and crunchy breads to serve with them. An entire chapter is devoted to savory cobblers and gratins, and another hefty chapter just to stews.
The Heart of The Matter
Passionate Vegetarian is not just for cooking, though. It is equally valuable for browsing. Dragonwagon includes interesting bits about the origins of her recipes and fascinating lore about the foods themselves. The book is also littered with personal anecdotes and asides. While the personal stories and family jokes do not always translate well to the page (occasionally leaving one with a sense that a fascinating person dropped by for coffee and stayed a bit too long), it is at least in part the biographical context that transforms this unique book from a marvelous collection of recipes into a touching reminder of what really matters in life.
While she was completing the writing of the book, Dragonwagon’s beloved husband died suddenly. In the introduction, she briefly tells the story of their life together and of his death. She did not, however, change the tense of the verbs or nature of the stories in the text to reflect his absence. The combined effect of the passionate approach to food and eating and the love for life that survives her enormous loss is a stunning affirmation of life.
Passionate Vegetarian is a book for people who love food, or more precisely, for people whose love of food is a central part of their love for life.
Publisher: Workman Publishing Company
ISBN-10: 1563057115
ISBN-13: 978-1563057113
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