The Vegan Cookbook
By Alan Wakeman and Gordon Baskerville.
Just recently republished by Faber and Faber, this cookbook is a classic among vegan cookbooks.
It is interesting to note that in the introduction the authors remember a time (not so long ago) when vegan meant nothing to most people and it was virtually impossible to get anyone interested in the mistreatment of calves or the cruelty of battery hen-houses (mainly because they didn't realise what was going on).
This book offers more than authentic cuisine - it proffers a way of life based upon compassion for all living things. For veganism is grounded in the simple truth that primary food - fresh fruit and vegetables, grains, seeds, nuts, pulses and so on - are not only healthier, but ecologically, ethically and spiritually superior to the mass-produced fodder of agri-business and factory farming.
Gourmets will find delights here among over 200 recipes ranging from the everyday to the celebratory.
Yes its true that Chickpea and Rosemary Soup, Lime Coriander and Coconut Rice with fresh parsley and Tomato Flan might seem innocuous enough but it's great cookbooks like these ones that trail-blazed a pathway that helped considerably raise the consciousness of an otherwise inert and uninformed public - and that wasn't so long ago either!
