Raw Foods Cover Story in the Oregonian's FoodDay

[Guest guest]

[There was also a rude article written by a chef ridiculing raw

food. I'll type that up a little later and send it on.] Annette

 

The Oregonian Food Day ran a cover feature on raw food and

SmartMonkey Foods. You can read it online or read it below:

 

Story

http://www.oregonlive.com/foodday/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/exclude/1

079268907121140.xml

 

Resources

http://www.oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/exclude/107944204621

720.xml?oregonian?fdes

 

 

 

FOODday News

In the raw

 

Some celebs and chefs say a diet of uncooked food will keep you trim

and energized, but not everyone agrees

 

03/16/04

EMILY PURO

 

Raw food, a roadside attraction on the nation's culinary map, has

captured the imagination of hot chefs with its vibrant, fresh

ingredients, and high-profile celebrities with its promises of

slender, ageless beauty.

 

Now Portland's mainstream is embracing it as well.

 

Local supermarket shelves boast more raw foods every day, and

cooking schools offer a growing list of " uncooking " classes to meet

increasing demand.

 

The International Raw and Living Foods Association makes its home in

Portland, holding monthly potlucks and an annual summer festival

purported to be the largest gathering of raw foodists in the world.

 

And this weekend, Food Front Cooperative Grocery in Northwest

Portland puts raw cuisine in the spotlight with a tasting and

information fair.

 

This once-fringe diet mostly owes its popularity to actor Woody

Harrelson, one of the first celebrities to tout raw food as the

hippest, healthiest, most eco-friendly diet around. Shortly after,

Roxanne Klein's raw-food restaurant in Larkspur, Calif., became the

darling of the healthy set, and Chicago chef Charlie Trotter took

note. Before you could say Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore signed on to

get a hard body look for the " Charlie's Angels " sequel.

 

Raw foodists say that cooking food above 115 degrees destroys its

nutrients and vital digestion-aiding enzymes. Proponents believe the

diet increases energy and longevity, and keeps weight off. Some even

say it can cure high blood pressure and diabetes and stop hair loss.

 

They also consider the diet eco-friendly because most followers eat

only organic, vegan foods, and it supports sustainable, local

agriculture without polluting the environment.

 

While eating a raw apple is easy, preparing raw-food cuisine is

labor-intensive, requiring slicing, dicing, pureeing, soaking and

dehydrating. To help the uninitiated, a bevy of raw-food cookbooks

has been published in the past year, including " Raw, " by Trotter and

Klein (see accompanying story).

 

" This is a way of eating that embraces healthful living, " Trotter

says, " but it is also a wonderfully exciting approach to food

preparation that opens up fresh ways to celebrate flavor and

texture. "

 

Klein, tagged one of the most innovative chefs of the past 10 years

in Bon Appetit's annual restaurant issue in September, is not the

only raw-food chef enjoying the spotlight. Raw chef to the stars

Juliano Brotman -- known simply as Juliano -- prepared a

living " cheezeburger " on " The Late Late Show With Craig Kilborn. "

And Karyn Calabrese of Chicago restaurant Karyn's Fresh Corner

appeared on an Oprah show titled " Age-Defying Women. "

 

Here at home, followers are just as vocal. Erik Rothenberg, who owns

and operates a renewable energy company with offices in Portland,

San Francisco and Los Angeles, credits his raw diet with increased

focus, energy and drive. Going raw, he says, has eliminated the gray

in his hair and made his skin appear more youthful.

 

When Portland's Magdalena Pauna wanted to improve her diet, she

turned to raw for alternatives to the common salad. " I wanted to

integrate more fruits and vegetables into my diet with a different

twist, " says the Adidas creative resources manager. While her diet

isn't 100 percent raw, Pauna enjoys the cuisine for " the colors,

textures and aromas from fresh herbs and fruit, and the amazing

taste. "

 

" The payoff, " she adds, " is that you feel energetic, alert, and in a

great mood. " She also notes the ease with which one loses weight on

a raw diet. " You feel great and you don't feel deprived. "

 

Among Pauna's favorite raw dishes is a " spaghetti " (see accompanying

recipe) with noodles made by cutting squash into long, thin, wide

bands.

 

Not everyone, however, thinks a raw-food diet is the golden path to

good health.

 

Victoria Warren-Mears, a registered dietitian and clinical director

of the Dietetic Internship Program at Oregon Health & Science

University, is among the skeptics. " Our bodies are made to use the

enzymes we produce, " she says. " Short of some health problem, we

should have adequate amounts throughout our lifetime. "

 

Warren-Mears encourages a diet high in fresh fruits and vegetables.

But the benefits of eating these foods, she explains, come from " the

fiber, phytochemicals and nutrients as opposed to the enzymes (in

their uncooked form). " She also voices concern about vitamin B-12,

protein and calcium deficiencies for raw-food followers.

 

" I think (a raw diet) would have to be very carefully planned, " she

says.

 

Claudia M. Gonzalez agrees.

 

A spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, she says the

diet " restricts so many important foods that it becomes a challenge

to get all the nutrients the body needs, " adding that followers may

frequently feel tired.

 

Whether or not its principles have scientific merit, the raw-food

movement is growing.

 

At Adidas' on-site Portland restaurant Colours, executive chef

Bradley Hargens is exploring raw menu items. " This is Adidas' U.S.

headquarters, " he says, " very athletic, very health-oriented. " Raw

cuisine complements Adidas' fast-paced corporate culture and

Hargens' focus on healthy, sustainable fare.

 

Hargens is partnering with SmartMonkey Foods, a raw-catering company

in Southeast Portland. Hargens carries SmartMonkey's Extreme Energy

Lemon Bars and plans to introduce more raw items soon. " If you eat

here, then go back to work, you tend to fall asleep if you're eating

comfort food, " he says. " (Raw food) produces high levels of energy,

and people are really liking it. "

 

At Saucebox in downtown Portland, co-owner Joe Rogers thinks his

clientele will welcome upscale raw cuisine as well. He and his staff

are also collaborating with SmartMonkey Foods to develop gourmet raw

items for the menu, part of their goal of providing options for as

many dietary preferences as possible.

 

Raw-food classes are gaining popularity as well.

 

Ivy Manning, cooking school coordinator for Whole Foods Market

Salud! Kitchen, was skeptical when she first tried raw cuisine. " The

experience was exceptional, " she recalls, adding that it's not about

what you can't eat, but about looking at foods in a new way.

SmartMonkey Foods co-owner Ani Phyo now teaches raw classes for

Salud! about once a month.

 

Meanwhile, SmartMonkey is finding a national market. When Superset

Tennis came to Portland last fall, coordinators included the

company's lemon bars in the gift baskets of participants, including

Andre Agassi and Anna Kournikova. Last year, Carnival Cruises, known

for pioneering healthy shipboard fare, asked the caterer for an all-

raw menu, which debuted in November on a Caribbean cruise.

 

As the raw diet continues to spread, critics may be drowned out by

the din of blenders and rave reviews.

 

Emily Puro is a Portland writer.

 

 

 

 

Here are the Resources from the Food Day article.

 

 

LEARN MORE ABOUT UNCOOKED COOKING

 

03/16/04

 

POTLUCK AND LECTURE

 

Eden Health Ministries hosts a raw food potluck and a free lecture

by author and chef Paul Nison; 6 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday; Eden Health

Ministries, 20349 S. Leland Road, Oregon City; for more information

or to R.S.V.P., contact Crystal Iijima, 503-518-3632, or e-mail

info.

 

 

UNCOOKING CLASSES AT WHOLE FOODS

 

Indian Cuisine: Learn to prepare Indian Squash " Rice " with Coconut

Chutney, Mixed Greens with Curry Dressing, Mango " Lassi, " and Pecan

Chai Pie; 1-3:30 p.m. Saturday, April 10; $40.

 

Heavenly Soups and Salads: Menu includes Garlic Walnut Soup,

Gazpacho, Berry Soup with Frozen Lemon-Mint Ice, and Spring Herb

Salad; TIME HERE Friday, May 28; PRICE?

 

All menu items are vegan and raw. Both classes are taught by Ani

Phyo of SmartMonkey Foods (www.smartmonkeyfoods.com). Whole Foods

Market Salud! Kitchen, 1210 N.W. Couch St.; for more information, or

to register, call 503-525-4343.

 

THURSDAY DINNERS-TO-GO

 

SmartMonkey Foods offers gourmet vegan raw dinners-to-go every

Thursday evening. This week's menu features RawZania (squash " pasta "

layered with marinara, sunflower " cheeze " and olives), Garlic Walnut

Soup, Mixed Green Salad With Lemon Dressing, and Orange Vanilla

Shake ($25 per dinner). Desserts, including Pecan Pie, Lemon Bars

and Brownies, are $5 each. Call 503-236-7878 by Tuesday to place an

order, or visit www.smartmonkeyfoods.com.

 

RAW FOOD TASTING AND INFORMATION FAIR

 

Local raw food chefs and representatives from raw food companies

share samples of their products, offer tips about how to prepare raw

foods and answer questions about the raw food movement; 11 a.m.-4

p.m. Saturday, March 20; Food Front Cooperative Grocery; 2375 N.W.

Thurman St. 503-222-5658.