Georgina Campbell's Book Review

Raw: Recipes For a Modern Vegetarian Lifestyle by Solla Eiríksdóttir Published by Phaidon; hardback, 240 pp, 100 specially commissioned photographs; £24.95/€34.95.

Like Ireland, Iceland is a relative newcomer to the concept of food tourism, but they are making up for lost time - their food, culture and landscape is currently touching a special chord and, very unusually, a (possible) visit to Iceland was flagged to reviewers on the publication of this book.

But you don’t have to be one of the lucky few invited on a press trip to experience the unique food culture of this special country; ‘Eat in Iceland - Scenic Food Tours in Iceland’ (www.eatiniceland.com) organises ‘slow travel’ trips on which visitors can sample the best that Iceland has to offer, and meet some of its stars of New Nordic cuisine.

Among them may well be the author of this book, Solla Eiriksdóttir. One of Iceland’s most famous chefs, she runs five restaurants, an organic food market, her own food brand, and is regularly on TV - and she has been a proponent of the raw-food movement since the early 1980s. So, however timely this, her first book in English, may be, she is no fashion-led johnny come lately.

It’s a lovely book, quite spare and disciplined and as much of interest for its portrayal of Iceland - as seen through the eyes of a family committed to an organic and eco-friendly lifestyle - as for the food and recipe content. Wonderful photography conveys the grandeur of the landscape, the agriculture, the seasons (hugely important in a country where day length varies from just four to 21 hours), and the elegant simplicity of Solla’s plant-based cuisine. The seasonal structure of the book allows for important seasonal activities, such as the seed sprouting given below, to be included alongside the recipes

The trend for ‘clean’ and plant-based raw eating goes with the reasonable assumption that this is a healthy lifestyle choice, and Solla Eiríksdóttir certainly makes a strong case for it. On the other hand, there is something so comforting and relaxing about hot food that one can’t help wondering if it is wise to ignore it.

I noticed an interesting article in the Daily Telegraph magazine, Stella, recently, in which actress Sadie Frost goes to an alpine medispa, VivaMayr Altaussee for a ‘detox holiday’ and discovers, to her great surprise, that she’s been eating ‘too many vegetables, juices, salads and raw foods’, while ‘cooked food…is much easier to digest’.

However, Solla wrote this book with her daughter, Hildur, who studied nutritional science and shares her mother’s approach to health and wellbeing. It is an interesting read, the philosophy is compelling and, while the proportion of raw food recipes is high, many are cooked, but at extremely low temperatures, allowing the vegetables, grains and pulses to retain their maximum nutrients.

Solla’s own diet is at least fifty percent raw plant food but, even if that is not for you, there are elements that will please the most middle of the road eater - and the current popularity of vegetarian and vegan diets will make it a go-to book for a huge number of people, certainly far more than would have been the case just a few years ago.

All of the easy to follow recipes are vegetarian and each is marked with a symbol indicating whether it is suitable for a dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free, raw, or vegan diet. Some of the ingredients may not yet be on your regular shopping list but many of the recipes, such as the morning smoothies and shots, will be familiar to most readers and, alongside the fermented recipes that are quite rightly causing such a stir at the moment and other obviously healthy dishes, there are plenty with mainstream appeal such as a versatile seed bread, soups, homemade butter and some very tempting treats including a seriously luscious layered chocolate cake.

And, among the sometimes unlikely seasonal activities, there’s even a recipe for making your own adzuki bean face mask.

SAMPLE from Spring Recipes and Activities: Sprouting

Sprouts are a beautiful reminder of how life wakes from hibernation in the spring. Homegrown sprouts are easy and fun to prepare.

1. Rinse the seeds, grains, or beans of your choice in a strainer (sieve) and then discard any that do not look healthy.

2. Put the seeds, grains, or beans into a sterilised glass jar and add water. The ratio of seeds to water should be 1:4. Instead of a lid, cover the jar with a piece of mesh (from inorganic fabric) and secure with a rubber band. Let sit overnight.

3.The next day, rinse the seeds, grains, or beans. Do this by turning the jar upside down and letting the water drip out, then fill it up with fresh cold water and let drip upside down again.

4. Next, put the jar on a drying rack, facing upside down, for an hour to drain the seeds. Let the jar sit for 3-6 days on the rack, rinsing twice a day with water as described above. For the first 2 days cover the jars with a cloth to keep the light out, then for the last few days, let the sprouts have light so that the leaves can produce chlorophyll.

5. When the sprouts are ready, put them into a bowl filled with water; after a while the husks should float to the top and can be removed easily.

6. Dry the sprouts with paper towels or a clean dish cloth, then put them into an airtight container and store in the refrigerator.

7. The sprouts will keep for up to a week if you wash and rinse them every 3 days and let them dry before storing again. A good rule is to smell the sprouts to check if they are okay to eat. Sprouts should smell fresh, not mouldy.