Dirt
Candy: A Cookbook. Flavor-forward Food from the Upstart New York City
Vegetarian Restaurant
By
Amanda Cohen and Ryan Dunley, with Grady Hendrix
Charlotte
Potter Publishers, 2012, 224 pages
I
don't normally review cookbooks here, but I made an exception for
Amanda Cohen's Dirt Candy,
because it is absolutely unique: part recipe book, part graphic
novel, part vegetarian manifesto, it doesn't apologize for its
hybridity, but instead embraces it. The result is both fun and
invigorating.
I
am not a vegetarian, and neither is anyone in my family. But, like
many, I am trying to reduce the amount of meat we eat. I limit
red meat, trying to feature chicken or fish when possible, which is
easy enough. But doing without animal flesh altogether is more of a
challenge. I personally like beans and pulses, but not everyone at
home does. Once you eliminate those, it's hard for me to think of
filling vegetarian dishes that aren't pizza, pasta, risotto, or some
sort of root vegetable gratin. Which I guess isn't too bad, but it
gets to be a lot of carbs and/or cheese.
