Why eat raw foods?

Roxanne Klein, a leading chef in the raw-foods movement and co-author of this cookbook, explains: "I love the sensual experience of eating foods in their natural state, and I love the way eating them makes me feel."

There are many health arguments in favor of raw foods. Their nutritional value is supposedly higher than cooked or processed foods and their natural enzymes, critical to digestion, have not been destroyed. But none of this matters much if raw foods are not consumed, and unless tastefully presented and artfully flavored they will be passed over.

Enter Klein and co-author Charlie Trotter, of Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago, who bring raw-food cuisine to its heights with this landmark collection of over 100 recipes, splendidly illustrated and accompanied by assembly instructions and wine notes. The recipes demand ingredients and time-consuming techniques unfamiliar and unavailable to many chefs and most home-based gourmets, but they are nevertheless inspirational and worthy of adaptation and emulation.