Food Question.....HELP??

[Guest guest]

This may sound stupid----but Im tossing the

question out anyway....<br><br>Are dried beans considered

" RAW " ? I have read the book " RAW: The UNcookbook " and

found it completely inspiring! Im anxious to try some

of the recipes...but the HUMMUS recipe calls for

" RAW " garbanzos. Are the bagged garbanzos what I need??

Its not in the

book.<br><br>Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!<br><br>Christie

[Guest guest]

I've seen fresh ones at salad places, but never

just for general purpose. <br><br>Are the bagged ones

soft enough to mash easily? If not, for hummus I would

try the canned. (By the way, they also go under the

name of Chickpeas with no difference, except chickpeas

usually are by the rest of the canned veggies, where

garbanzos sometimes end up by the mexican foods like taco

shells and seasonings).

[Guest guest]

I knew that--canned garbanzos or chickpeas are cooked.....Im looking for

RAW...so Im still wondering if dried ones, soaked and sprouted are

RAW?<br><br>Thank you for your input though!

[Guest guest]

I think you have to be careful with dried

ingredients, as you don't know what temperature they were

dried at. If it is over 105 degrees Fahrenheit, I think

the enzymes start to be destroyed. I seem to recall a

place to buy raw, sproutable Garbanzo beans...but I am

drawing a blank as to where that is. I'll reply when I

remember.<br><br>Tim

[Guest guest]

Thanks! I appreciate it.....<br><br>Christie

[Guest guest]

That book contains many recipes with heated

ingredients. When i briefly looked at it i found around 20 or

30 different heated ingredients used in the recipes.

It is written by a guy named Juliano who also runs a

supposedly raw food restaurant. He probably uses the same

heated ingredients, in his restaurant, that he uses in

his recipes.<br><br>Juliano is evidently enthusiastic

about eating raw, but he hasn't been very thorough

about finding out what foods have and have not been

heated. Actually, most 'raw' cookbooks use ingredients

that are heated. Even Ann Wigmore uses heated

ingredients in her recipes in her books. <br><br>All canned

food of any type has been heated. All frozen

vegetables and beans have been heated but frozen fruits do

not have to be heated, but they often are heated

anyway. <br><br>Just because something can be sprouted

does NOT mean that it is unheated. Recent research has

shown that some types of nuts that are heated can still

sprout and that some nuts that are not heated can not

sprout. Sounds pretty confusing, doesn't it?<br><br>If

you want to make raw hummous use bagged dry garbanzo

beans or sprouted garbanzos. Also Bob's Red Mill makes

garbanzos that have already been ground into flour. Bagged

dry garbanzos and garbanzo flour have been heated the

least amount. <br><br>I don't know how garbanzos, or

chickpeas, have been heated when they are dried. But i once

got, from a farmer, some garbanzos from a that had

been picked the day before and they were as large and

as liquidy as sprouted garbanzos, which means that

alot of heat may be necssary in order to dry them.

<br><br>Garbanzos, or chickpeas, are actually a pea, not a bean.

Peas and beans and lentils are legumes. Peas and

lentils are not as 'heavy' as

beans.<br><br> & gt; & gt;<br>Are dried beans considered " RAW " ? I have read the

book " RAW: The UNcookbook " and found it completely

inspiring! Im anxious to try some of the recipes...but the

HUMMUS recipe calls for " RAW " garbanzos. Are the bagged

garbanzos what I need?? Its not in the book.<br> & gt; & gt;

[Guest guest]

In my view, Raw means that there is still enzyme

activity. If something sprouts then it has sufficient

enzyme activity to do so. I actually heat things all the

time, yet I consider myself " Raw " . This is because I

dehydrate various foods at temperatures which are low

enough to not kill the enzymes. It seems you are

nitpicking here. Are you " raw " , by the way?<br>Kathryn

[Guest guest]

These 'raw' cookbooks use some foods that have

been heated to boiling temperature, 212 degrees

fahrenheit, which destroys much more vitamins, minerals,

fiber, and enzymes then the lower heat used by the

dehydration process you mention. <br><br>For example, Juliano

uses Miso which is thoroughly cooked before it is

fermented for several years. Ann Wigmore uses Blackstrap

Molasses which is a byproduct of the processing of white

sugar which involves high temperatures. Miso and

Blackstrap Molasses couldn't possibly be considered 'raw' by

anyone who has read about how they are

made.<br><br>Also, they, and most other raw foodists recipe authors,

use nuts that are heated during their processing.

Even nuts that say 'raw' on the label may have been

submitted to boiling temperatures for the sole purpose of

making them look nicer. All cashews that are labeled

'raw' have been submitted to a high heat to remove the

cashew's poisonous substance, only one cashew company

doesn't use this method and instead mechanically

processes their cashews.<br><br>I am not 'nitpicking' by

sharing this information. I am not accusing anyone of

doing anything wrong or suggesting that anybody do

something differently. I am merely trying to help people

become more aware of which foods have been heated and

which have not so that they can make a more informed

choice about what they want to eat. If somebody is not

aware of this inforation and they write a 'raw'

cookbook that actally uses heated ingredients without

telling their readers which of their ingredients are

heated, then these authors have done a disservice to

those of their readers who truely do want to eat

unheated foods. <br><br>Even those fresh 'raw' fruits and

vegetables have chemical pesticides and other chemicals that

have been heated. To eat totally unheated foods you

would need to eat only fruits and vegetables and other

foods free from chemical pesticides and other

chemicals, even certified organic foods may legally contain

many chemicals. There are very few raw foodists who

are able to get all their food free of chemicals or

other unheated ingredients.<br><br> & gt; & gt;<br>This is

because I dehydrate various foods at temperatures which

are low enough to not kill the enzymes. It seems you

are nitpicking here.<br> & gt; & gt;

[Guest guest]

I am not aware of any chemicals on certified

organic foods. Please tell us what those chemicals are,

if any. I eat only certified fruits and vegetables,

unless I eat out (and that is getting to be few and far

between). I find this to be interesting. I do make miso

soup for myself even though it is cooked. So far, that

is the only food I would eat cooked, except maybe

some brown rice and that is very

infrequent.<br>Marlene

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the major input....<br><br>I did

wonder how miso & maple syrup were considered

" RAW " .<br><br>Iam in agreement with backpackinggirl...I dont see

anything wrong with dehydrating or warming etc if the temp

stays low enough to preserve enzymatic

activity.<br><br>And whoa! that info on the new labeling for organic

foods is INFURIATING! I mean what the heck is going on

here? When I buy organic and pay the pretty pennies for

it--I expect it to be FREE of chemicals, additives and

pesticides! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr<br><br>And to think that GMO's

can be included....ggrrrrr<br><br>I guess your only

safe if you plant, nuture and harvest yourself these

days!<br><br>Christie