RAW revelation!

[rawpriestess]

I just had a raw revalation.

It may not be a new thought to anyone but me, but it all of a sudden dawned on me, that raw and cooked are two different things entirely.

Now, stay with me a second, and yes, you can laugh at me.

I have been trying to make raw food taste like cooked food, and it doesn't work, because raw food is so much better than cooked food.

When I was a little girl, I ate a very restricted diet, (my mom was always on a low carb high protein, high fat diet, so of course, I was too). I never got things like pizza or spaghetti etc.

One day, I tasted pizza, and I loved it, I also had other tasty things, like peaches, and black olives, and cake.

Now, I didn't say, how can I make pizza taste like steak, or how can I make meat taste like cake.

What I did was enjoy the new foods, and that was it.

When I became vegetarian, I "KNEW" in my heart that I would never eat meat again, and I was happy, because I had all of these wonderfilled new things to try, well the same is with raw.

I don't have to make nuts and dates taste like meatloaf, becasue nuts and dates are simply wonderful on their own. I don't have to make cashews taste like cheese, they are great on their own.

I suppose we as adults, like to have a frame of reference with our choices, especially food choices as there are so many emotions around food, I know that I felt self worth when I was fed, we were so poor, that having enough food to eat, was a really big deal, and somthing that didn't happen very often.

So, although I may call my barley, sun dried tomatoes mix a burger, it really isn't, but it is sooooo much better.

I wish I could find a good name for all of the wonderful raw food that is out there, and maybe that will be one of my "holy grails" this lifetime.

But, I do know that when I was eating cooked food, I missed some of my raw food friends, and so I made them raw, and ate them, I didn't care if they were raw or cooked, or Asian or Hawaiian, I just like the food, so ate it.

So, I say, eat whatever you like, as long as it is raw, and make up new names for it. Enjoy each new recipe, and if it reminds you of an old cooked favorite, great, but don't be dissapointed if you can never find a macaroni and cheese recipe that tastes like the old cooked kind, It's really okay to eat new and exciting foods every day. and to release the old foods that no longer serve us. (and probably never did)

[Rawkinlocs]

BEAUTIFUL post!!!

I agree. I think that is winning half (or maybe the WHOLE) "battle" of being and staying raw - to not look for our new raw delicacies to taste like our old cooked ones, but to just look at this as a whole new world of delicious, nutritious food and enjoy it.

Like you were saying we don't look to make cake taste like meat, etc....we don't look to make Italian cuisine taste like a Big Mac...raw food is like eating another cultural dish - it is what it is and it's unique in and of itself.

Thank you. This post and what CAdreamer wrote in the "coconut" thread is REALLY helping me to put some things into perspective that I think will allow me to enjoy being raw on a whole new level!

[annieH]

Yes...thats really a wonderful way to look at things. I think raw food is best looked upon that way.
I think that using raw things to make raw dishes is like using them to make cooked foods. but... i can see what you mean about it all standing on its own though.

I thats a really great perspective...and one i will try to keep in mind when i am deciding what to eat.

Now... I have to post something that i just discovered....something that goes against what you are talking about here.... LOL... thanks for your thoughts though.

[Rawkinlocs]

Yes...thats really a wonderful way to look at things. I think raw food is best looked upon that way.
I think that using raw things to make raw dishes is like using them to make cooked foods. but... i can see what you mean about it all standing on its own though.

I thats a really great perspective...and one i will try to keep in mind when i am deciding what to eat.

Now... I have to post something that i just discovered....something that goes against what you are talking about here.... LOL... thanks for your thoughts though.

Annie, I think it can probably go both ways. I mean, there are some raw dishes that do come amazingly close to the cooked version, but some things you simply cannot and will not be able to duplicate. Like, I doubt we'll EVER have anything raw that tastes exactly like (or even close to) cooked french fries! I've seen the jicama fries and I admit, they do LOOK like french fries, but in all the raw recipe books I've ever seen, I have YET to see the author say that they look AND TASTE just like fast food fries! LOL!

So, they can just be spicy jicama sticks rather than "fries"! :D But things like marinara/spaghetti sauce, those sauces to me are dead ringers, especially after I get done sprucing them up with herbs and onions, peppers, etc!

[Autumn]

I agree wholeheartedly! Maybe that's why I only make recipes occassionally. I am enjoying all the new raw foods in of themselves without looking to alter them into something from my cooked-food past. I do like to make recipes when the urge strikes and I've made some pretty wonderful stuff, but there's nothing wrong with just enjoying the raw, without placing some other expectation on it, in all it's rawsome rawness. :D

Great post, RP!

[Ireland]

Yes, an excellent post! Makes a lot of sense. I think moving over to this way of thinking could help a lot of people go raw. Myself included.

[Fuzzball]

This reminds me of quitting smoking.

I didn't want gum....I wanted a cigarette.
I didn't want candy, I wanted a cigarette.

I just had to tell myself that I was a non-smoker everytime my body tried to tell me I needed a smoke.

I want to be raw and I want to have a variety of raw foods to eat because I don't want to get bored with it. Call it Lasagne all you want, but I know it's not the Lasagne that I really like, but it tastes great and comes close to the same flavor. I like it because it's not the same old salad.

Good topic RP !

[jennplas]

wow, thanks for that revelation ... it *really* helped me.. i am one who tries to make those meals that are supposed to be like a SAD meal and then i get very disappointed and even grossed out at times by the way it turns out, and that makes my RAW journey rather difficult. Your revelation makes so much sense, and it just clicked in my mind as well. why try so hard to make an old food, and why not just enjoy the *new* food?

:)
thanks for sharing this revelation with us! some of us sure needed to hear it! :)
jennP

[CAdreamer]

I think that this is why people 'fall off' either vegetarian (with all the fakey meats) or raw. It's vitally important to not try to make anything raw duplicate the taste of cooked...if it comes close, that's okay, but learn to love all of the new tastes, colors, textures as their own. Also, many young people today have no idea how to 'cook', so that would probably translate to a lack of experience in raw as well, and make for limited choices. I don't think I'd have been so successful on a raw diet if I'd had limited experience in cooking and developing recipes. 'Variety is the spice of life' and without variety in raw, one would soon tire of the sameness and boredom. Also, my experience and love of 'cooking' helps me to be able to save considerably more on a raw food budget than those who have to depend on buying food that its already prepared.

[Cinnamon]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us! It certainly does put it all in a very good perspective and I appreciate that very much. "Food" for thought!

[Ginger]

Truely words of wisdom! Brilliant post Priestess! :D

[RawTruth]

*applauding*

[annieH]

hey Rawkinlocs... just saw your post about the french fries HA! i guess we must have been on the smae wave length. i just now read it....and thats funny becuse i hadnt seen it before i posted my french fry post. cool.

[Carolyn]

Excellent post, RawPriestess!!! :D I've been one who tries to make this so difficult on myself, and reading your post really put it all in perspective! Thanks so much!!

[Jodi]

Yes, a most excellent post, RW. Even tho I have just begun my raw journey, I have fallen into the struggle of trying to make my raw foods taste like SAD foods. It just isn't happening. I need to redirect my efforts into finding raw dishes that I simply enjoy...not ones that remind me of others.



Jodi

[UltrasonicRaw]

i am sure everyone who is raw, maybe vegan or vegetarian before that, has been asked by others why or when you "became" whatever you are. i finally made up a canned answer to just give them some kine of explanation, but it was only a small summary of my reasons. when i talk to a fellow veggie-type person it is so refreshing (as it is on this website) to just tell people the whole story, the whole truth. it is a whole new way of living! its about nourishing your body, eating something that makes you feel good...it is so obvious to me that fast food, overcooked greasy, slimy meat (is this gross yet?:) ) is just not apetizing! it is like waking up with a new brain, new eyes and a new perspective on life. i think most people would say, once they know the truth about food, you cant ignore it! you cant just pretend you dont know that raw food, veggies, fruits etc. are just the best tasting and the best for you.

anyway, what a great thread! i think it is all about perspective and just like raw priestess said, we forget that it is not about forcing veggies and fruits into "fake" cooked food versions, it is about looking at them in a new way and making our own language to describe our meals. when i first went vegetarian, i had to train myself not to make meat the center of my meal, i had to relearn that the "side dishes" could be my "main dish". it was really HARD at first. same with raw now, i have to relearn that a whole watermelon could be my lunch or a green smoothie my breakfast. such a new concept for me! i would never think that either would be a "meal"....it is all about perspective!

thanks raw priestess!

leslie

[ksabe98]

I really enjoyed this post very much. With this frame of mind or mind set about raw food you can move on from the old ideas about what food should look like or taste like and move into the reality of raw food and if you are not trying to recreate a food but just experimenting with raw food you may be happier with the outcomes. I am glad to see this post today very helpful for me.
Lisa

[StrawberryFields]

Just read this post, and what Rawpriestess had to say and it helped a lightbulb go off in my head. Thanks for the new perspective! Now I can really get into this new journey, trying all these brand new foods, much the same as when you try any new food from another culture. Thanks again....

[ebonysea7]

I know that when I see a recipe for a raw "burger" or "spaghetti" it sets me up to expect the outcome to taste like a burger or spaghetti. When it doesn't I'm disappointed which leads to craving the real thing, which often leads to falling off the wagon. I think it helps more with the transition to just realize that you're eating when you're eating raw is an entirely new experience totally unrelated to cooked food. Actually, I prefer to call it live or living food. That just pulses with energy to me.

/gfj

[Mommax4]

Really drives home the point my hubby made to me the other day. "You have had all that (meaning cooked food) it doesnt work for you, live food is different and the quality and goodness of it can't even compare with dead food." He told me I just had to look at it that dead food is in my past because I have been there done that, and I shouldn't be trying to copy something that obviously didn't work for me.

[sport]

I agree. I have been vegetarean most of my life and that fake meat amazed me. If I wanted something that looked like meat smelled like meat and tasted like meat I would have eaten meat. It is the same now with raw

[deedub]

"I concur" RP this is a great thread.

I work construction so at lunch we sit together and eat so of course people notice what you are eating. Sometimes I bring leftover "lasagna" that I have made from a recipe. When the fellows ask about it I say its a zuchini casserole. I never mention its not cooked. I agree its best to think of the food as unique and decide whether I like it best on how it taste and not whether it taste like something. So in case anyone is wondering I got over my chicken wing thing. I do like to develope foods like today for a snack I had cashews and pastashios drizzles with a really good first cold pressed olive oil and a product called "Parma" which is yeast flakes and walnuts. It was wonderful. Maybe I'll call it popnuts - Just kidding.

[starry-eyed-doe]

Thanks for another great post RawPriestess! :)

[GlimR]

Thank you for such a great post! Really does help to put things in a whole different perspective. Last night I made a nut cream over chopped apple and walnut...(bad combining I know, have learned a lot in these 5 days raw*s*)
It was......ok........but afterwards I thought I should have just had the apple and a few walnuts, I would have been a lot more satisfied but I was using old thinking and wanting something "else".

[LNdolls]

Yes, it is stepping into a whole new,healthy world. Excellent post, RP!!
I certainly had that same experience when I went macro... enjoy the macro food, don't try and replace the food that did not work for you!!
Best,
LN