When I first thumbed through Horizons: New Vegan Cuisine, the new cookbook by the creators of Philadelphia’s premiere vegan restaurant, I had a sense of uncompromising cooking. The introductory section on vegan cooking includes admonitions like this one:

To get the perfect end result, follow the cookbook’s guidelines about which herbs to use when and don’t ever substitute fresh for dried or vice versa! [emphasis in original]

Similarly, the paragraph on soy sauce insists that you get the good stuff, leave the cheap stuff at the grocery store. There are recipes for spice mixes and vegetable stock and an interesting section on vinegar:

I have always thought that vinegar should be sold in small 1-ounce bottles for a very high price. Then people would use it sparingly and with restraint – the way it should be used. Buy quality vinegar in small bottles and spend some money. It doesn’t go bad and will reward you in ways you never thought a vinegar could.

You might get the impression that your pantry needs a do-over if you are going to use this book. But that’s not actually true.

Horizons makes elegant vegan fare easy.

Every recipe in this full-color smallish cookbook starts on a new page. Easy to leaf through to find the one you are looking for. Many of the recipes are illustrated with photographs of the actual dish, a real bonus for when you have no idea what a dish should look like.

The instructions are not long and complicated. I suspect these are versions for the home cook who wants to create something delicious to eat and lovely to look at but who did not go to culinary school. Yet the recipes bring us into many cuisines from all over the world, simply and elegantly. And anyway, according to the authors, “no dish comes out the same twice” so don’t get worked up about following directions exactly.

The introduction explains the reason for the restaurant:

…So that we can have a place to celebrate food and a place to prove to the carnivores that we are not crazy.

What this means, Rich goes on to explain, is

…that you can still be a gastronome, a foodie, passionate about cooking and eating,and all the while, not eating animal meat- yet still being truly satisfied.

The book, therefore, features specific protein sources: tofu, seitan, tempeh, beans. These foods are usually central to a meal, providing that familiar look and density meat-eaters are used to. Many of the dishes are also rich, containing olive or truffle oils (there is even a truffled hummus). It isn’t too much, the dishes are not overloaded with fats, but it’s clear this is one reason the meals are considered “satisfying”.

Another reason is the wide variety of seasonings. Even the simplest side dishes will have a special touch, a unique flavor, that keeps one eating. The foodie has got to love it.

The recipes are generous in serving size. Be aware that when the recipe says it serves 4 – 6 it may well serve twice that many.

Rich Landau wants to help you. He offers an introductory cooking section, in which he explains some basic cooking techniques. He explains spices and provides recipes for “Latin spice” and “island spice” mixes. Directions are clear and thorough, except that in a few cases I would have appreciated a good time estimate for preparing a whole dish and in other cases I wasn’t sure by the description how big the vegetable pieces should be. Minor.

The range of recipes runs from earthy, simple dishes like Brazilian Black Bean Soup to mixed culture dishes like Tortilla Pizza with Smoked Tofu to a section on how to host a veggie barbecue to beautiful stunners like Bittersweet Chocolate Tart.  You can impress your family and friends and you can provide familiar comfort food (with a twist) to your family with this cookbook by your side.

Sections: Vegan Food
Topics: cookbook, cookbook review, cooking, Food, horizons, new vegan cuisine, veg, Vegan, Vegan Food