The raw ingredients

As nature intended … fresh produce stays away from the stove as raw food grows in popularity. Photo: Getty Images

Uncooked food – nutritious and fast – takes the heat out of the kitchen, writes Lissa Christopher.

The green smoothie is easy to love. There’s the taste (gently sweet, fresh and with a distinctive note of celery), the verdant shades it’s possible to achieve (Irish countryside, Colombian emeralds, Kermit the Frog) and the rich feeling of righteousness that comes with knowing you’ve downed two, perhaps three, serves of virgin leafy greens.

Kemi Nekvapil advocates a mix of blended (not juiced) fresh fruit and vegetables as a first step towards getting more that’s raw into your diet. She says the unheated vitamins, minerals, enzymes and phytochemicals in the fresh, natural produce promise increased energy and mental clarity.

Eating raw is gaining momentum outside its traditional sphere (earnest, purist chaff-chompers; allergy sufferers; vegans). It has something to offer not just the health-conscious but also serious gourmets and kitchen chemists, the time-poor and, indeed, anyone who loves good food that also happens to be good for them.

Chef Kemi Nekvapil. Photo: Eddie Jim

”I’m not a food fundamentalist in any way,” says Nekvapil, who worked as a baker and chef in London before moving to Melbourne. ”If my food doesn’t taste great, I’m not going to eat it, however healthy it is.” Nekvapil eats cooked food as well as lots of raw; she eats eggs and fish – but not other meat – and loves cake. She also has two young children and recently ran a half marathon.

”[Eating raw] is gaining huge momentum in Australia,” she says. ”I think that’s because we all know we could eat more fruits and vegetables and, if it’s presented to people in a way that’s inspiring and that makes sense, people just grab hold of it.”

Elizabeth Taylor, of Sydney’s Organic Food Markets, organised a well-received raw food event as part of the Crave Sydney International Food Festival.

Parsnip and walnut cous cous.

Presenters included chef Simon Lawson from Agape restaurant, Rachel Grisewood, who started the Manna from Heaven bakery, and Charlotte Inglis and Sibele Marques of The Goodness Company.

Taylor is keen to increase her family’s intake of raw food and says Lawson’s demonstration highlighted for her how quickly it could be prepared. ”He made some amazing food but it was also very quick,” she says. ”It suddenly made me realise, ‘oh, there is more than one advantage to this raw food thing”.

Raw can be fast, Lawson says, but not always.

While heating might be out, ”you want different textures, so you might chop something more finely and precisely … you might pickle things or sprout grains and that can take days”, he says.

Raw is defined as food that hasn’t been heated above 46 degrees. It might be dehydrated, pickled, milked, curdled or simply chopped and served. It also includes meat and fish – served as carpaccio, ceviche or sashimi, for example.

Lawson says he continues to be intrigued by the chemistry of gourmet raw food.

”I made this mushroom puree that was Swiss browns, washed and soaked, blended with raw honey and soaked mustard seed with a little bit of salt and garlic,” he says. ”And seriously, once you blended it, it tasted cooked.”

Lawson was seduced by a raw vegan chocolate ganache cake Inglis and Marques showcased at Crave. ”The bottom was like a coconut crumble, the middle was like the chocolate mousse and the top was a chocolate ganache, he says. ”It was absolutely incredible.”

PARSNIP AND WALNUT COUS COUS

1/2 cup walnuts

1 small garlic clove, crushed

2 cups parsnips, peeled and roughly chopped

Zest of 1 lemon

2 tbsp mint, chopped

2 tbsp coriander, chopped

3 dried apricots, chopped

1 tbsp currants

1 tsp olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Place walnuts, garlic and parsnips in food processor. Pulse until it resembles cous cous. Place in a bowl, add remaining ingredients, mix and serve. Lasts up to threedays in the fridge.

Serves 2

GREEN SUNRISE SMOOTHIE

2 kiwi fruit

1 cup fresh pineapple

1 passionfruit

1 stick celery

2 handfuls spinach, silverbeet, swiss chard or kale

3 cups water

Blend all ingredients well. Lasts up to three days in the fridge.

More raw

Kemi’s Raw Kitchen

kemisrawkitchen.com.au.

The Goodness Company

thegoodnesscompany.com.au.

Agape organic restaurant and bar

1385 Botany Road, Botany, Sydney, phone (02) 8668 5777. A multi-course raw feast is planned for Agape next month.

Vegetarian, Raw and Vegan with Bill & Sheila
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