Cooking "Raw"

I guess the the phrase "cooking raw" is an oxymoron, considering anything that is true raw food is never brought abouve 116F. The reasoning behind this food movement is to preserve the "life-force" or energy of the food product used to nourish our bodies to the fullest extenet. By bringing vegetables, grains and legumes for instance above this cooking temp is believed to cook all of the natural enzymes out, leaving nothing to fill our tanks if you will . . .

We have a few guests that join us in six.one.six every once in a while looking for new and interesting raw dishes. To be a true skilled chef I believe you must be able to cook all styles of food with some sort of grace and fluidity. Raw food is some of the more difficult to do well.

Here are a couple of examples of raw dishes we have done, with a good amount of positive feedback from the deserning tounges of our raw foodists!

-Raw Sushi persimmon roll with blood plum gastrique! Sushi rice made with finely chopped parsnips and pine nuts, seasoned well with a bit of water and vinegar.

Pear Hazelnut "bisque" with raw honey cashew "creme" and macerated pear relish!

Jicama and corn "succotash" with jalepeno lime powder and avocado crudo salad!

If your interested in eating raw or just talking food, please stop and see us at six.one.six located in the lobby of the JW Marriott Grand Rapids.

Looking forward to seeing you in six.one.six, indulging in our "real food" movement!

-Andrew Voss, Executive Chef, JW Marriott Grand Rapids