Savoring: Meaningful Vegan Recipes from Across OceansHardcover (2024)

ISBN-13: 9780525611790

Media Type: Hardcover

Publisher: Appetite by Random House

Publication Date: 03-05-2024

Pages: 288

Product Dimensions: 8.32(w) x 10.30(h) x 1.02(d)

EXCERPT FROM THE INTRODUCTION

My earliest food memories are of my early childhood in the Republic of Congo. I was born in a coastal town called Pointe-Noire, where I lived for the first eight years of my life, often heading to the beach on school lunch breaks with my mom to catch the low tide. I remember the warm, clear, light blue water, the white sand, and how far I could walk into the ocean before even half of my body was submerged in the saltwater. I was blessed to have an early childhood characterized by slow, intentional living, and a close connection to nature. I loved climbing our backyard trees to get a better view of our house, crushing tropical flowers together to create “perfume” for my mom, observing the snails and slugs that would appear on our doorstep after a torrential rainfall, and playing with colors on canvas in painting lessons.

In August 2002, my family came to arrive in Montreal, Canada. There were multiple shock factors: the sounds (I never thought cities could be so loud!), the language (although Congo’s main language is also French, Quebec vocabulary and accent are unique), and, of course, the food. My mom became the primary cook in our household, which allowed her to reconnect with some of her own Russian culinary heritage as she dedicated her precious time to experimenting in the kitchen to create tasty dishes.

Some of my most cherished memories are of the weekends after church: my family and our friends—many hailing from different continents—would gather at each other’s houses with dishes of food, often from our native countries (stuffed cabbage rolls from Ukraine, sauerkraut from Estonia). Through these meals, I realized the power that food has to forge a community. All those colors, textures, and flavors were a true feast for my senses, each dish helping me develop my palate and appreciate the love and care that went into cooking it. It was the beginning of my food journey.

Food—preparing it, sharing it—is something I want to take my time with. Through food-filled gatherings with my family’s church friends in Pointe-Noire; to weekend mornings in Montreal, my mom preparing her crepes or French toasts; to my solo college weekends when I would pore over a new recipe; to meeting my husband, Sam, and discovering a whole new world of flavors through our travels together and his own family history, I’ve come to realize that food is an anchor, it’s love. And it’s my way of showing love to all those who matter to me—and now, to the world—through the recipes I share with you in this cookbook.

Dedicating an entire evening to preparing dinner, or investing a few extra moments in grilling additional flavor into the peaches to top waffles for a decadent Sunday brunch, allows me to delve deeper into my food journey, uncovering flavors, textures, and stories behind the dishes. There is something so satisfying about choosing to consciously slow down and create a dish of my own—or to execute someone else’s recipe—without distractions. I get in a zone where I am fully present and connected to the food, attentive to how it changes as it cooks slowly on the stove or bakes in the oven. And I feel a sense of excitement when a recipe calls for refrigeration to allow for the recipe to come together! Spending time in the kitchen preparing food is about love—for food, for yourself, and for others. It’s about celebrating the ingredients that give us life, and dressing them up in a way that will make them stand out. Whether I am cooking for myself as an act of self-love or for others as a way to show them my love, every step of the process is permeated with this emotion.

So, this book is for the other adventurous cooks out there. The ones looking for reinvented classics and new flavors to explore. If you’re looking for a book full of quick-and-easy weeknight dinners, this is not it (although a handful of the recipes might fall in that category, allowing you to still get all the flavor while on the go!). But rather, these recipes are geared toward the home cook who loves to set aside a special time on weekends or Friday night to explore new recipes, new flavors, and new cooking techniques—the cook who does not want to rush the cooking process but enjoys every step, from the browning of onions to caramelizing them to the slow stirring of the risotto and all the way to the final garnishing touch.