Learning About Raw Foods Cooking

Before we can delve into raw foods cooking let us first establish what exactly is this, relatively new trend, referred to as ‘raw foodism’. Raw foodism (or rawism) is a lifestyle promoting the consumption of uncooked, unprocessed, and often organic foods as a large percentage of the diet.

Raw foodists typically believe that the greater the percentage of raw food cooking in the diet, the greater the health benefits. It is usually equated with raw veganism in which only raw plant foods are eaten, but other raw foodists emphasize raw meat and other raw animal products. Depending on the type of lifestyle and results desired, raw foods cooking may include a selection of raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds (including sprouted whole grains such as gaba rice), eggs, fish (such as sashimi), meat (such as carpaccio), and nonpasteurized/nonhomogenized dairy products (such as raw milk, raw milk cheese, and raw milk yogurt).

Now that we have understood the concept of raw foodism lets move on to raw food cooking methods. The most distinctive feature of raw foods cooking is that you don’t actually have to cook it! Raw foodism includes a diet of primarily unheated food, or food warmed to a temperature less than 40 °C (104 °F) to 46 °C (115 °F). The most popular raw foods cooking is a raw vegan diet, but other forms include animal products and/or meat.

Many foods in raw foods cooking are simple to prepare, such as fruits, salads, meat, and dairy. Other foods require considerable advanced planning to prepare for eating. Rice and some other grains, for example, require sprouting or overnight soaking to become digestible. Many raw foodists believe it is best to soak nuts and seeds before eating them, to activate their enzymes, and deactivate enzyme inhibitors.

According to some cookbook authors, preparation of gourmet raw foods cooking recipes usually calls for a blender, food processor, juicer, and dehydrator. Depending on the recipe, some foods (such as crackers, breads and cookies) may need to be dehydrated.

So what do raw foodists eat?

Their diet includes all raw fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, sprouts, roots, root vegetables and squashes, fresh herbs and raw spices and seaweeds. Raw foodists also drink fresh fruit and vegetable juices. They also consume some processed foods but strictly only those which have not been processed above 115 degrees Fahrenheit. These include, cold pressed oils, raw nut butters, Raw nut “milks”, fermented foods such as miso, kimchee and sauerkraut, pure maple syrup, raw soy sauce, dried fruits and vegetables, vinegars and foods cured in vinegar.

Advocates of raw foodism strictly believe that following a raw foods cooking lifestyle can make you look younger and help you live a longer life. However, to a pure foodie like me, I’d rather live to eat than eat to live!

3 best spiral slicers to prepare raw foods cooking
1) World Cuisine Tri-Blade Plastic Spiral Vegetable Slicer
2) Benriner Cook Helper Slicer
3) Joyce Chen Saladacco Spiral Slicer, White

3 easy books to find raw foods cooking recipes
1) Raw Food Made Easy For 1 or 2 People
2) The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Raw
3) Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen: Easy, Delectable Living Foods Recipes