Raw doesn’t necessarily mean green, but the raw food chefs certainly tend to also support fresh local, organic food. Angelenos got to taste a nice sampling of yummy raw food at the “Celebration of Living Foods” at Vernare’s Living Showroom in West Hollywood last night.
Organized by Women of the Green Generation, the event attracted an almost all-women crowd — though men too were invited to this event. Raw foodies and raw-curious milled about nibbling “powerballs” from Zenergy Superfoods, “untuna salad” from the all-organic Juicy Ladies (above), and organic kale chips from Rawk-n-Roll Cuisine.
Raw naked fruit tarts from Tia’s Bakery (above) went fast, but the tastiest desserts, IMHO, were the little cake bites made by Patisseraw. The gluten, egg, and dairy free desserts were moist, healthy tiramisu-esque morsels — made with fresh fruit and cacao.
The better-known L.A. raw food restaurants like Leaf, Juliano’s Raw, Cru, and Euphoria Loves Rawvolution Cafe weren’t there, and most of the featured companies didn’t have their own storefronts or restaurants. But many of their delicacies can be found at independent grocery stores like Co-opportunity and Erewhon — as well as local Whole Foods stores. Many of the companies also offer raw food catering services.
The trouble raw foodies go into making raw food look and taste (at least somewhat) like cooked food sometimes strikes me as odd — after all, it’s a lot simpler and often tastier just to bite into a fresh nectarine — but most of the raw food I ate was quite tasty and jam packed with great nutrients and lots of healthy flavor. I don’t think I’ll ever go all raw, but I certainly think most Americans would benefit from enjoying more fresh fruits and salads in their daily lives.
Although I know some raw things don’t really taste much like the cooked versions, I think having these things can be a little more alluring to some people that think of raw food as something super boring or really weird. It gives people a reference point. As someone that likes experimenting when cooking, I think it’s also just fun — a challenge of sorts. I’ve always enjoyed raw fruits and veggies, but years ago I received a gift of a food dehydrator and I knew there had to be more that I could make in it besides dried fruits. It was my research on dehydrator-oriented recipes that got me interested in raw foods! I also find only eating raw food whole to be a little painful to eat some of the time (I’ve had some pain problems w/ my jaw before). Like in the winter, if you try to eat local, in season things. So many apples and cirtus are available, but not so many soft berries and nectarines. Plus there’s the whole value added idea that gives someone something else to sell.
Comment by M — September 24, 2009 @ 9:37 pm
The “strange” raw foods are also just sort of entertaining — I do enjoy trying them just to see what they taste like :) Most don’t actually tempt me to try going raw though :P
Comment by Siel — October 19, 2009 @ 6:34 pm
Your comment about the trouble gone to to make raw food taste like traditional cooked food is so true. We recently visited a raw food restaurant & had “pasta”. My husband says he would have been more satisfied had they just called it a salad, since the zucchini noodles were raw. It tasted good, just doesn’t need to mimic the traditional to be accepted.
Comment by Svea — June 24, 2010 @ 4:34 pm