Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Available On Air Stations
Watch Live

KPBS Midday Edition

Surprising Culinary Combination To Visit San Diego Sunday: A Vegan, French Chef

The raw lime cheesecake from the "Vegan - The Cookbook" shown in this undated photo.
Vegan - The Cookbook
The raw lime cheesecake from the "Vegan - The Cookbook" shown in this undated photo.
Surprising Culinary Combination To Visit San Diego Sunday: A Vegan, French Chef
GUEST: Jean-Christian Jury, author, Vegan - The Cookbook

Lots of vegans don't stay vegans and even more people don't even try. That is because the idea of creating a delicious diet without animal-based ingredients without meat, fish, eggs, or dairy can seem impossible. Now a new cookbook is challenging the notion that Beacon is restrictive and unsatisfying in the person behind the book is a celebrated French chef. He has cooked in kitchens around the globe. Heart attack led them to embrace a vegan life and now he has written a cookbook he hopes will make plant-based foods accessible and appealing. The books name is simply vegan the cookbook. He joins me now. I assume that you were trained in preparing traditional French cuisine meats, sauces, soufflés how much of that training have you had to abandon or change since you started cooking begin? My experience with cooking international and a lot of fusion food -- once you learn the way to make flavor it's a much easier then -- I understand that in this book you introduce some new techniques for cooking vegan. Yes, a lot of new techniques that I learned in countries they have 3 to 5000 years of cooking history. This is what my new book is all about. You change your diet to begin after having heart problems. How was your health now? 100%. I have energy and I'm not sick. I did not have cold since 2004. So it is great. Is the best medicine in the world. This is a very big cookbook. It contains nearly 500 recipes. Did you create all these yourself? Yes, most of them. What I do when I study food in a country I tried to vegan nines -- turned recipes into vegan. I just bring one more healthy touch to the recipe. I tried to cook with less ingredients as possible. And always use international ingredients that Wii can find everywhere on the planet. Can you share a couple of your favorite recipes? Yesterday I cooked a lime cheesecake which is completely raw. I do my cheesecake with coconut oil. So when you put it in the fridge the coconut becomes a firm like a cheesecake. So we've shared a beautiful lime cheesecake and very fresh and made with natural products. Sounds delicious. Are there staple foods that you return to again and again like say avocados or potatoes question mark Avocado is my favorite fruit and ingredient for cooking because you can do it in any way possible. Chocolate and avocado and you can do it spicy, salty, you can cook it you can eat it raw. It's an ingredient that you can find everywhere and it's so healthy and good for your body. It is very good asset in the kitchen. What are some misconceptions you think about becoming vegan? I ask you since you been to that change yourself. Misconception is a lack of information. When I do a lot of conferences around the world, the same questions always coming back to me, which is what do we need? You need any supplements because if you eat fresh every day, you don't need anything else. Your body is able to eliminate any cash it's a very easy way and a very delicious way to maintain a good healthy system. I've been speaking with Chef Jean-Christian Jury who will be at Jacob Grigolia-Rosenbaum this Sunday to talk about his book . Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.

Chef Jean-Christian Jury is pictured in this undated photo.
Courtesy photo
Chef Jean-Christian Jury is pictured in this undated photo.

A surprising culinary combination is coming to San Diego this weekend: a vegan, French chef. Jean-Christian Jury has cooked in restaurants and kitchens across the globe. A heart attack led him to embrace a vegan diet more than a decade ago. Now Jury has written "Vegan - The Cookbook" which he hopes will make plant-based foods accessible and appealing to more people.

A vegan diet includes only plant-derived foods such as grains, seeds, legumes, fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Vegans don not eat any animals or animal byproducts, including milk, eggs, or honey.

Advertisement

"Vegan - The Cookbook" features nearly 500 recipes adapting traditional dishes from around the world for a vegan diet.

"I try to veganize some recipes to bring them to the table of the vegan community." Jury said. "I try to cook with the least ingredients as possible so as not to struggle in your kitchen and I try also to always use international ingredients that you can find everywhere around the planet."

Jury will be presenting and signing copies of his book at Chino Farm in Rancho Santa Fe on Sunday, July 16, from 10:30 am - noon.

A recipe for a raw lime cheesecake from "Vegan - The Cookbook":

Preparation time: 25 minutes, plus one hour freezing and two hours chilling.

Advertisement

Cooking time: none.

Makes one nine-inch cake

For the base:

vegetable oil, for greasing

2 cups raw cashews, soaked in water overnight and drained

1 cup coconut flakes

1/2 cup pitted dates

1/2 cup raw cacao nibs

a pinch of salt

For the filling:

1 large Hass avocado, peeled and pitted

1 1/2 cups cashews, soaked in water for at least 2 hours and drained

1/2 cup melted coconut oil

1/2 cup fresh lime juice

1/2 cup maple syrup or agave syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

a pinch of salt

1 tablespoon finely grated lime zest

Grease a nine-inch springform pan with vegetable oil. To make the base, using a food processor, pulse the cashews, coconut flakes, pitted dates, cacao nibs and salt a couple of times until they are mixed and broken down. Spoon the mixture evenly over the bottom of the prepared cake pan. Press with your fingers to make a firm base. Set aside in the refrigerator.

To make the filling, using a food processor or a high-speed blender, combine all the ingredients and process until smooth and creamy. Spread the filling over the base and, using a rubber spatula, create a smooth surface.

Chill the pie in the freezer for one hour, then transfer to the refrigerator for two hours before serving.