We love Sunrise Celebration Festival – an annual four-day event near Glastonbury celebrating all things organic, musical, creative, environmentally-aware, alternative and fun. This year, there were wild food foraging workshops, a raw food lecture by Holly Paige, a raw chocolate making workshop, natural beauty product making (raw cacao featured lots!) and much much more.
Veggie and vegan food was everywhere of course, but this year raw food had snuck its way onto the festival scene in a way bigger than ever before! A few cafes sold raw chocolates and cakes, there was an organic fruit and veg stall for stocking up on salad, but the best raw find was the little cafe Simply Rawgeous. Over the festival we sampled their spicy superfood green smoothie (ginger, turmeric, hemp milk, goji berries, dates, spirulina, maca, cacao and cayenne), raw falafels, raw lasagne and raw pizza – check out the pictures! Although it was tucked away in the corner, by the end of the festival it was hard getting a seat there – proof of raw food’s ever-growing popularity.
Emma MacDougall runs the rather brilliant raw food blog, Raw Food Scotland. Her site is informative and full of ideas whilst being super-friendly, vibrant and so much fun to read. So when I heard Emma had released a new e-book I was very excited to get my hands on a copy. Emma is one of those raw food educators who just seems to have so much FUN with eating raw that I couldn’t wait to read her pearls of wisdom!
‘So You Want To Be a Raw Foodist?‘ is unique. It’s not a recipe book or a nutrition manual, but a straightforward guide on incorporating more raw food into your diet. Without any guidance or support, that’s not always as easy as it sounds.
What I loved about this book is that it really simplifies the notion of raw food. Emma makes clear raw is a way of eating that you choose to follow because you want to. One thing this book won’t do is put any pressure on you to eat more raw food, drum away about how terrible cooked food is, or create some complicated nutritional science around eating raw that would daunt anyone let alone a beginner. There are plenty of other raw food books out there for that!
What ‘So You Want To Be a Raw Foodist?’ will do is:
So would I recommend this e-book? For those who are already eating as much raw as they ever want to and always find it easy – might not be top of the reading list. But for beginners – definitely. For those who’ve read a lot about raw but haven’t actually made much change to their diet – definitely. And for those who already eat a lot of raw but struggle from time to time – definitely.
You can download Emma’s book for £6.99 here, and be sure to have a good browse around her blog while you’re at it.
We’ve been sending out free samples left, right and centre recently – it seems every blogger wants to review Rawr at the moment! (We love it!)
Cashew Power
1) Emma MacDougall of Raw Food Scotland did a review with her raw food meet-up group and video-taped it! Definitely worth a look. Check out the whole review here. Here’s a summary of what she thought of our different flavours:
Rawr Intensity: “definitely my favourite – this one I didn’t share with anyone! It really reminded me of the richness of Bournville chocolate. Really smooth, dark and powerful…”
Rawr After Dinner: “very reminscent in taste of After Eight dinner mints”
Rawr Zest: “nice and deep without being too overwhelming or sickly”
Rawr Passion: “the goji and vanilla work very well together”
Rawr Purity: “I really liked the simplicity. As with the Intensity bar, it had a rich dark flavour uninterrupted by other flavours or ingredients”
Rawr Cashew Power: “it was very nice to have the combination of the choc and the creamy cashews together”
Rawr Intensity
2) Brit Chick Runs. Read her review here.
“Well well well! It was SO silky, SO intense, and SO lovely! And I’m not just saying that (I’ve had other brands of raw chocolate before and was distinctly unimpressed – too dusty textured), it truly was the smoothest chocolate ever. Melty deliciousness.”
Rawr Zest
3) Moves ‘n Munchies. Read her review here.
“Packed with taste is an UNDERSTATEMENT!!!!!
I am SO for real when I say that this is the best chocolate I have ever tasted. EVER. Not only is it the best raw chocolate, but the best chocolate HANDS DOWN.
I cannot get over the SMOOTH texture that literally MELTS in your mouth.. this isn’t hard and snappy- its soft and delicate!”
Rawr Passion
4) White Lace and Strange. Read the whole review here.
Rawr Intensity: “The chocolate had a lovely dark colouring with a glossy sheen (not what I expected with the raw alternative),also the bars are nice and solid and making a pleasing “snap” sound when you break a square off.”
Rawr Passion: “I was so impressed with this chocolate as although it was just as smooth and glossy with the same tempting smell,the texture was not grainy in the least and actually reminded me of the more conventional processed chocolate bars.”
Purity and Zest
5) Salad and Sequins.
“I tried the Purity Raw Organic Dark Chocolate last night and WOW this was good!… When I think of a bar of Cadburys after tasting something like this there is no contest I’m staying raw!”
Read the whole review here.
Before Christmas I invested in a bunch of new books for my growing raw library – so many that I haven’t had time to go through them all yet! It’s already clear which are going to be my staples: usually those with non-specialist ingredients, beautiful layouts and the tastiest recipes. Here are my top 5 so far:
1. ANI’S RAW FOOD KITCHEN – Ani Phyo
This was my first raw book and is the one I always fall back on. With lots of recipes that don’t require a dehydrator, and lots of additional information about living the raw lifestyle (including raw food for dogs!), it’s definitely a favourite. Clear and easy to understand recipes, nicely presented, although not as high on pictures as some.
Recommended recipes: Coconut Breakfast Cakes (which we ate as pancakes on Shrove Tuesday last year), Baja Cheese Burrito with Taco Nut Meat and Red Pepper Corn Salsa (one of my all-time favourite recipes), Pecan Chai Pie.
One of the less mainstream raw books, not as glossy and photo-filled as some, yet contains amazing, straightforward recipes.
Recommended Recipes: Koftedes (‘meat’ balls that taste genuinely meaty. A great variation on raw falafel recipes), Houmus, Spinach Pie (delicious and creamy).
Jason Vale is the master of the raw juice world. Occasionally we’ll replace a meal with one of his vegetable juices, and we’ve used this book in the past for juice fasts/feasts. Has lots of nutritional information about fruit and veg, and includes juices to drink before bed or while ill.
Recommended Recipes: The Steven ‘Meal’burg (really filling juice/smoothie using carrots, apple, cucumber, avocado, cinnamon and more), The Schwarzenegger (massive juice for when you’re poorly, including pineapple, garlic, beetroot…).
An absolutely beautiful, thick, lustrous volume. One to dig out for special occasions rather than everyday eating. Recipes usually take more time to prepare and occasionally more specialist ingredients, but the ones I’ve tried have been divine.
Recommended Recipes: Soft Corn Tortillas (absolutely delicious though took a LOT of preparation. Ranks alongside Ani’s Baja Cheese Burrito as an all-time favourite), Macaroons.
Like ‘Raw Food Real World’ this makes a great coffee-table book. Really enjoyable to flick through, and the beautiful pictures alone will make your mouth water!
Recommended Recipes: Robbin’s Ice Cream (really sweet, gorgeous ice-cream, only a blender and freezer required. Mango, cashew, dates, bananas, fresh orange juice…).
I also really like Shazzie’s Evie’s Kitchen (make sure to at least double the recipes if making for yourself rather than small kids!), and Shannon and Duraz’s Raw Food Celebrations (great if making for guests). Equally there are books I would not recommend – beware those which use too many specialist superfoods, and if a recipe doesn’t have particularly tasty ingredients, it usually won’t be tasty when you’re finished. Just because it’s a recipe in a famous-name book doesn’t mean it will taste good!
There are more raw recipe books coming out all the time, here are a few more suggestions.
Easy / everyday recipes: Everyday Raw, Matthew Kenney; Raw Food Made Easy For 1 or 2 People, Jennifer Cornbleet; Easy Raw Vegan Dehydrating, Kristen Suzanne; Alive in 5: Raw Gourmet Meals in Five Minutes, Angela Elliot; Eat Smart Eat Raw, Kate Wood.
Gourmet: Living in the Raw Gourmet, Rose Lee Calabro; Raw Food Real World, Kenney and Melngailis; The Raw Gourmet, Nomi Shannon; Raw: the Uncook Book, Juliano.
Smoothies and juices: Green for Life, Victoria Boutenko; Ultimate Fast Food, Jason Vale.
Christmas and other holidays: Easy Raw Vegan Holidays, Kristen Suzanne; Raw Food Celebrations, Shannon and Duraz; Christmas Recipes ebook, Russell James.
Health-focussed: Recipes for Longer Life, Ann Wigmore; The Hippocrates Diet and Health Program, Ann Wigmore; Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine, Gabriel Cousens; The Sunfood Diet Success System, David Wolfe; Living Foods for Optimum Health, Clement.
Passion reviewed by Chocolate Reviews
Rawr Passion is one of my personal favourites in our raw chocolate bar range. Although I’m not a huge fan of goji berries by themselves, combined with our chocolate and Madagascan vanilla the taste is just simply divine – chewy and fruity and chocolatey all in one go. And with all those whole gojis on top, it’s one of our most pretty and eye-catching bars.
So I was delighted when I saw this review for Rawr Passion on the Chocolate Reviews website. You can read the whole thing here, or have a skim of some of the things the lovely Lee had to say:
“Under the outer wrapping and inner foil there was a bar of chocolate that was more solid than I thought it’d be. Previously the raw chocolate I’ve reviewed was more Wispa-like in texture. This had a much greater density – which actually made it look and feel more like a “normal” bar of chocolate…Also there was a magnificent shine to it that I don’t previously recall as being present with the other raw bars of chocolate I’ve tried…..In terms of flavour: it’s mild, slightly sweet but with a nice smooth taste that belies its lack of processing. It’s very enjoyable.”
Dinner at InSpiral
Last Friday was my lucky day…. Not only did I get to visit Saf for brunch (see review below), but dinner was at InSpiral in Camden – one of the last raw restaurants in London on my ‘to visit’ list!
InSpiral has a fantastic location – right on the bank of the river and just opposite the vibrant Stables area of Camden Market. On the day we visited it was hot and sunny, and Camden was buzzing. We had our raw dinner overlooking the river and some great street drumming!
InSpiral, like Saf, serves a combination of raw and non-raw food, but the comparisons end there. Whereas Saf is gourmet with a very classy atmosphere, InSpiral serves raw food like you’d make at home (in fact, I think I know just which raw recipe books our food came from!), cheaper (£7/8 for each main meal), and with a more cafe-style environment. Saf is for special occasions; InSpiral for a yummy but everyday meal.
Raw Koftas
As there were two of us eating, we chose the two different raw meals on offer: a Sun Burger with ‘ketchup’, and raw koftas with lemon sauce. Each main came with a choice of 3 of 5 salads. We could also have chosen avocado halves with a mixture of salads instead of a main.
Both the burger and koftas were nice, but very strong in flavour, and just like the dehydrated food I make at home. I really enjoyed the accompanying salads though, perhaps more so than my koftas – a great range of ingredients and flavours.
InSpiral’s juicer was broken when we visited, so we had to pass up green juice in favour of one of the pre-made smoothies. Mine was very sweet, with banana, mango, coconut and agave; my Rawr partner’s was a little fresher with berries and banana.
Having skipped dessert at Saf earlier in the day, we made sure to share one at InSpiral! There was a good range of raw desserts to choose from, including key lime pie, chocolate cake, and numerous small chocolates and truffles. Raw chocolate being readily available in our house, we went for the key lime pie, which was delicious. On the side we had a scoop of vegan ice-cream with lavender and purple corn – the cafe has a huge range of homemade, cashew-based ice-creams with superfoods such as cacao and camu-camu.
Saf will always be my favourite raw restaurant, but InSpiral wins at the non-gourmet end of the scale!
Our meal at Saf...yum!
If you’re interested in raw food and you ever get the chance to visit London there are an increasing number of raw restaurants on the menu. You can find a quick guide to them here.
Over the last couple of years we’ve visited several from the list, including Dragonfly Wholefoods, the original Saf and VitaOrganic. Saf was hands down our favourite – so I was thrilled to hear they’ve recently opened a second London branch, in the health foods mecca that is the WholeFoods Market in Kensington High Street. And I was even more delighted to be taken there for my birthday brunch!
We visited early, at 11 a.m., but even though we were the first to arrive we certainly weren’t the only diners by the end of our delicious hour there. Word has obviously got round! Saf also serves hot vegan food and cocktails, catering well to raw and non-raw.
Cheese Platter
As it was still early in the day, we decided to share a large raw cheese platter and a salad rather than going for two mains. Both came beautifully presented – Saf is definitely more on the gourmet end of the scale than the other raw restaurants we’ve tried. The cheese course came on a large slate plate, with several different types of raw vegan cheese, dehydrated crackers and a smattering of dehydrated tomatoes. Amazing. I’ve tried making seed cheese myself but nothing I’ve ever made has tasted as close to ‘real’ cheese as Saf’s did – truly delicious.
Sea Vegetable Salad
To accompany the cheese platter we chose the Sea Vegetable Salad: a really tasty mix of beetroot, carrot, daikon and sesame-ginger vinaigrette with half an avocado on the side.
Although the portions were quite small looking, we felt surprisingly satisfied afterwards. Though had we been hungrier we would have needed to order more, or at least a main course with, for example, dehydrated bread or more nuts and seeds. It was also quite pricey for the amount of food – £16.99 for the cheese platter for two (Saf also serves a smaller, cheaper platter for one as a starter) and £8.50 for the salad. But the price did reflect the amazing presentation and taste of the food – if only the raw food I make could taste as good!
Definitely one to visit, and perfect for a special occasion.
Eanie Greenie's Swedish Raw Blog
We’ve had lots of requests to review our chocolate recently, but Eanie Greenie’s blog is a first in that it’s Swedish! Although none of us here at Rawr know a word of the language, this blog’s a raw feast for the eyes – just check out some of Cecilia’s gorgeous photos.
Here’s a few snippets of what Eanie Greenie thought of our Rawr Zest chocolate (she thoughtfully added an English translation at the bottom of the page!): “Rawr Zest. I. Love. Love…Rawr Raw Chocolate sailed straight to the top of my favourite raw chocolate bars. Now all I need is for someone in Sweden to start selling these so I can try all the other flavours too.”
And on Pecan Power: “I usually don’t go for chocolate with things like nuts or seeds or berries in them. I like a strong chocolate flavour and am quite happy with just that, so boy am I glad I got to try the Pecan Power! …the pecans are really fresh and soft, with no bitterness whatsoever. The chocolate is soft and sweet and a great match with the pecans.”
Read her whole review here.
Thanks Cecilia!
