1 🧵 /Plant Based /Alexander Gershberg / Short Review
I approached this latest book with a fair amount of scepticism - oh yeah, another plant based book that has no care for the needs of people on a plant based diet.
But I was nicely surprised. And as I browsed this book while eating plant based food at Topiary in Adelaide's north east, I fell in love with it. This recently published book is a translation from Dutch - Alexander is a Netherlands-based chef, cooking teacher and cookbook author (https://alexandergershberg.com).
Plant Based, by Alexander Gershberg
Published: 2023
Pages: 300
Publisher: Smith Street Books
Price: around $42AU, but look around as prices vary. Ebooks are often cheaper.
Ok, let's get my one negative out of the way. The PR says "The ingredients Alexander uses are 100% vegan and organic, preferring locally grown vegetables and whole foods rather than processed and commercially refined foods." But he uses dashi made from dried fish in one of his recipes. It is only a side-note that you can, in-fact, make dashi in other ways. I was disappointed by this one slip.
2 🧵 /Plant Based /Alexander Gershberg / Short Review
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Other than that small slip, the recipes are great! There is a adequate protein throughout the book ✅ 💃 and some definite favourites. One such favourite is Malaysian Vegetable-Stuffed Tofu with Spicy Peanut Sauce - I have made this dish forever and a day after it was given to me by a Malaysian Indian in the Central Market as we both bought fresh tofu. Those were the days before the Central Market Admin kicked out the best Asian shop in the market #shame
I love that there is an in-book class on making dumplings.
The photos are wonderfully vibrant, the recipes are modern and mouth-watering. The book does not have a bookmark, more is the pity, but postit notes will do. The index is tiny and organised around ingredients NOT recipe names 🤔
He divides the book into chapters on
🔖 Whole Grains
🔖 Beans and Proteins
🔖 Root Vegetables
🔖 Sweet round vegetables
🔖 Green Vegetables
🔖 Sea Vegetables
🔖 Pickles and Fermentation
🔖 Fruits and Desserts
There are 80 umami-packed recipes in total.
This book is recommended for all starting out on or already committed to a Plant-based diet. Love it. 😍
Honestly, I have been bemoaning the fact that there doesn't seem to be many books out there that provide excellent information to people who want to go plant-based, vegetarian or vegan.
At last! This book has gathered all of the information together and presented it in a colourful and fun way.
📖 Plant-based For Tired People: Boost Your Energy While Saving the Planet, by Rachel Morris
Published: 2021
Publisher: Centennial Books
Pages: 192
Recipes: 36 Vegetarian 💃
Cost: it is only $8.90AU at that huge online mega store
Pages and pages of information (139 of them, to be exact). There are 17 chapters of information, and 3 of recipes. The information is organised around Why? (The Power of Plants), Making the Switch, and Smart Living.
It addresses issues like getting sufficient protein, and a range of other nutrients, fake meat, grocery shopping, what you need on your plate in a plant-based diet, and cooking for a crowd (and much more).
It is PACKED full of information - more of a bible for starting out on a plant-based diet than a recipe book, although there are around 35 or 40 recipes. It is modern (no hippy stuff in it), practical and comprehensive. It also has oodles of info on key plants, grains, lentils, pulses etc.
Recommended for everyone considering a plant-based diet, or wants to learn more about it.
Full notes on the bookwyrm entry but suffice to say this is a brilliant book, which I've been looking forward to since I heard from @Kon that it was on the way.