Recipes for radiance

Rawlicious is no ordinary cookbook. "Firstly, no cooking is done. And secondly, it describes a whole new paradigm in relation to food," says Beryn Daniel, co-author with husband Peter of South Africa's gourmet raw food vegan "un-cook" recipe book.

"Raw food is simple," adds Peter.

"It provides your body with the nutritional building blocks for abundant health, energy and vitality."

Retailing at their information packed website www.superfoods.co.za for R265, the self-published recipe book offers scrumptious raw recipes for radiant health.

It includes anecdotes and scientific notes as to why "going raw" is the new health trend or "healthstyle" - not diet, as the Daniels put it.

In the US and the UK, there are now dozens of raw food vegan gourmet restaurants. Having spotted a distinct gap in the market for raw food education and the importing of superfoods, the Daniels arrived back in South Africa to promote the concept here.

Ironically, they had initially gone abroad to work as standard chefs in the French Alps - and Beryn had grown up in her parents' popular bakery, speciality cake and party shop.

"With more than 140 recipes, our un-cook book will guide you to prepare and experience raw food meals that will delight even the most hardened sceptic," Beryn says.

"The sky is truly the limit in terms of raw foodist vegan equivalents for old favourites such as pasta and, need I add, chocolate - yes, you heard me right," enthuses Peter.

The couple have two pet hates when it comes to recipes books:

1 Books that use ingredients you can't get; and

2 Those that have no pictures.

"This is why we have written a raw food recipe book specifically with South Africans in mind.

"We've used ingredients you can find and terminology you can understand."

There are stunning full-colour pictures with nearly every recipe, to capture the vibrancy and energy of raw and living food, he says.

The Constantia-based couple include in their book "how to fillet" an aloe leaf, as well as how to create your own raw, wheat-free tortillas, plus plenty of other raw equivalents for old recipe favourites.

To find out more, visit the website www.superfoods.co.za.

• This article was originally published on page 13 of The Mercury on September 09, 2009