Maria Elia: The Modern Vegetarian

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Keep an eye open for the remarkable cookbooks being published by Kyle Cathie Books. The latest, Maria Elia's The Modern Vegetarian (2009) is a standout. Stunning in presentation, and originality, this is a book that will inspire you to plant a garden, search out perfect sprouts at the farmers market, and re-think vegetarian cuisine. The photography by Jonathan Gregson, captures the colors of dishes and fruits and vegetable in vivid background colors that will make you hungry. Maria is a British TV chef, journalist, and head chef of the Delfina Studio Café. She was born into the business – her father ran a Greek Cypriot restaurant in London – and followed her passion around the world, including stints at elBulli and The Oriental Cooking School in Bangkok. What this book does best is explore one vegetable in many different recipes. After all, when asparagus or peas are in season, the idea is to taste them in all their splendor without boring your taste buds with the same textures and flavors. A recipe is so much more than a log of ingredients, it's about bringing those ingredients together in harmony and letting them come alive to reveal their diverse flavors and textures, in all their glorious simplicity or complexity. For example the "texture of" peas and beets and coffee sections that appear here are collections of recipes that really take that ingredient out of the box and show it in its many different guises (p. 9) The idea behind each recipe is to contrast flavors and combine textures and then present the dish in a pleasing way. The first chapter, "Sophisticated Starters," begins with Carrot Pancakes with Hummus and a Feta Salad (p. 14). The photograph shows a thick pancake topped with layers of humus, feta and greens. Feta appears again in Chile-Roasted Feta and Watermelon Slab (p. 18) a fine twist on a traditional mezze served all over the Middle East – cool watermelon, salty cheese and spice. Maria is a huge fan of figs. They are featured in Fig Tarte Tatin with Shaved Manchego and Arugula (p. 20). Again, the dish is all about the sweetness from the figs, the sourness of red wine vinegar, set off by the creaminess of the cheese. Figs are also featured in Roquefort and Fig Crème Brulee with a Pecan Salad (p. 26). Its sweet meets peppery and crunchy. The heart of the chapter is her exploration of peas. She makes Fresh Pea Stock (p. 29) from pea pods, shallots, mint and basil, and then uses that as the base of Sweet Pea Custards (p. 30), Pea, Basil and Mint Soup (p. 31), and marvelously inventive Pea Jelly (p. 32) flavored with tarragon. The final recipe is Smashed Pea, Dill and Feta Crostini (p. 33) with feta cheese. The recipes uses plenty of herbs – dill, tarragon, basil – but the point is to explore pea flavor. Maria Elia believes in experimentation. Her recipes are only guidelines, but as such they encourage exploring vegetables in depth, with a sense that each vegetable can be enjoyed in countless ways. The Modern Vegetarian is never dull. Previous articles: [Cookbook Reviews - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging, cookbooks, cookbook reviews --> back to Super Chef