I've just gotten into eating raw foods after doing the Master Cleanse and I'm so happy that I started with this book. The recipes are very easy and everything is delicious! I think the is the BEST raw food cookbook to start with before getting into more elaborate dishes and techniques.

Yes, some of the recipes require a dehydrator but to start out you could use an oven on a low temperature with the door open. And of course if you're going to be making raw foods you'll need a dehydrator eventually.

Happy eating!

I'm not a vegan, I'm not even a veggie. I like animal products such as eggs and cheese. I even like virtually all kinds of meat. So why am I recommending this book.

Mr. Armsden gives seven reasons for his decision to be a vegan and to eat virtually all of them raw. All but one of these don't seem to make much sense to me. His comments about a koala bear living on eucalyptus doesn't really make much sense to me, I'm not a koala bear. His comments on 'Mental Outlook and Spiritual Progression' border on a religion that I don't follow. Humans are omnivores, just look at our teeth.

It's the first of his reasons that makes me a fan of the book -- uncooked vegetables simply taste better. Cabbage tastes better (to me) as coleslaw rather than with corn beef. Carrots are better raw than boiled to almost tasteless mush. And you can say the same thing about cauliflower, broccoli, virtually all the fruits, tomatoes, spinach and many, many more.

What I was looking for was a cookbook of recipies that would emphasize raw foods. And this one does an excellent job. To be sure I don't follow his instructions to the letter. Instead of making artificial cheese or 'mock' meats, I use the real stuff.

What I wanted was the recipies on raw veggies. And on these he does an excellent job. Don't give up on this book because of his views on veganism expressed in the first thirty pages or so. Go for the recipies.

`RAWvolution' by raw food entrepreneur Matt Amsden is the third book on a purely `RAW' cuisine. It really offers very little more than Juliano's `RAW The Uncook Book' and far less than Charlie Trotter's `Raw'. The only improvement it makes over Juliano's book is that it requires the use of extra virgin olive oil, since the unqualified `Olive Oil' is often extracted by heating, after the first cold pressing. The only major difference Amsden offers over both books is his bringing down the maximum temperature to 105 degrees Fahrenheit or human body temperature, depending on where in his book you read the statement. Otherwise, the book has all the caveats I've found in Trotter's and Juliano's book.

The `Raw Food' doctrine is a more extreme extension of the Vegan approach to what we eat. While the vegans exclude all animal products, including milk and eggs, but allow cooking such as in Deborah Hamilton's superb `Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone' and other titles, the `RAW' disciples believe that when food is prepared, it should never be raised above a `tepid' body temperature or some other low number. To the various vegetarian and vegan rationales, they add the fact that raising food above this low temperature destroys nutritious enzymes that aid in the digestion and contribute to overall health in many different ways.

The `Raw Food' advocates are not simply promoting good nutrition through a special kind of diet. They are promoting a whole way of life, not unlike the famous `counter-cultures' of the 1960's or even the Utopian schemes of the 1800's and earlier (such as the Shakers). A sure sign that this is a whole `World View' (sorry, I'm not sure of my spelling of the classy German expression `Weltanshaung' (sic)) can be seen in Amsden's seven (7) reasons for eating only raw foods. Some of the reasons are totally true (1. Unbelievable Flavor) and some are pure bunk (2. Living Water, 5. Examples in Nature). A third group of reasons (6. Quality of Life, 7. Mental Outlook and Spiritual Progression) are less attributes of eating raw food than they are of rewards of dedicating oneself to a healthy lifestyle that includes high quality exercise and discipline as well as good food. The act of dedication in itself contributes to a brighter outlook on life.

Thus, this book will probably be of little interest to you unless you are willing to buy into the extreme Vegan / RAW doctrines excluding absolutely all animal protein and heat in food preparation. I have three concerns about this program.

First, none of these three books have adequately cited good authorities on the value of getting your uncooked enzymes and natural vitamins. I am entirely in agreement with the related notion that by relying on your diet rather than on supplements for your vitamins and other nutrients, you are less likely to be overlooking an important nutrient the scientific world hasn't discovered yet. But then, this would apply to eating meat raw as well as to eating vegetables raw. I am constantly puzzled at why the `RAW' advocates don't free themselves from the Vegan gospel and embrace sushi, tartare, carpaccio, and ceviche! It is certainly well known that there are nutrients humans need which are simply rare in plants, but abundant in animal protein. I would not consider a RAW lifestyle unless I knew what those nutrients were, and where I would get then from the Plant kingdom.

Second, a very large number of the dishes in all three of these books rely on a special piece of equipment called a dehydrator, which is simply not carried in many stores. I have not once seen one in Sears, Bed, Bath and Beyond, or Walmart. And, the recipes that use this piece of equipment literally require 12 to 24 hours to complete the preparation. Essentially, the `RAW' technique replaces baking with `drying'. I'm almost surprised they don't advocate freeze drying, which dries food at sub-zero temperatures. It also relies on a juicer, which, to be sure, is much more common, but certainly not cheap.

Third, so many of the `RAW' recipes seem to require unusual ingredients, which may not be very easy to find outside a major metropolitan center. I do give both Juliano and Amsden credit for not requiring as many `autre' ingredients as Herr Trotter, but they seem to delight in loading up on agive nectar, Nama Shoyu, Thai coconut water, raw nori, clover sprouts, and raw nuts (all toasted nuts and spices are, of course, totally forbidden.

One thing I find odd is that I have found not one reference to tofu in this book. And, there is no tofu in Juliano's book either, except for a `mock tofu'. Oddly, miso does appear as an ingredient in Juliano's `RAW', and that is fermented tofu, so I don't quite see where tofu violates any `RAW Food' dogmas.

If I were to find any deadly deficiency in the RAW program, it's the absence of potatoes, let alone the absence of eggs, cheese, organ meats, butter, and cooking with wine.

Of the three `RAW' books I've reviewed, Juliano's is the best choice. There are just too many plainly wrong `pie in the sky' statements in Amsden's book, not to mention his calling his eggless allioli (Spanish condiment) with mayonnaise. And, like his paper-thin procedure for making the allioli, most of his procedures are simply not detailed enough. Juliano is a nice compromise between minimalist Amsden and super gourmet Trotter.