Heaven's Banquet: Vegetarian Cooking for Lifelong Health the Ayurveda Way
Author: Miriam Kasin Hospodar
Ayurveda, a 3,000 year old Indian science ensuring the total health of mind, body, and spirit, is one of the fastest growing alternative health models today. Publications from Vegetarian Times and Prevention Magazine to Business Week herald the growth of interest in Ayurveda-- a $2 billion market-- and the Maharishi Ayur-Veda Institute is the preeminent marketer of Ayurvedic products in the U.S. and worldwide. Research shows that Ayurvedic practices strengthen the body, enhance the immune system, and perform a wide range of preventative functions. Miriam Hospodar's twenty-year culinary journey has culminated in a major work that is as inspiring as it is comprehensive. Heaven's Banquet offers an accessible, informed, and passionate approach to transforming your cooking, and your health, with Ayurvedic principles. The recipes come from all over the world --Europe and the Mediterranean; China, Japan, Southeast Asia; the Jewish and Middle Eastern culinary traditions; and the Americas. Hospodar has guidance for the "new vegetarian" and for those cooking on "terrible schedules." She offers options for sugar-free, salt-free, dairy-free, and wheat-free diets, and provides a full complement of recipes in every category-- from appetizers and finger foods through main courses and desserts. Heaven's Banquet is a cookbook with a philosophy, a voice, and a mission. It is a landmark work that will be a standard for years, even generations, to come.
Publishers Weekly
"The Ayurvedic meal," writes Hospodar, "is designed to promote optimum digestion and maximum pleasure." Indeed, the Indian "life science" of Ayurveda has been ensuring the health of mind, body and spirit for many centuries. Applying ancient philosophical and dietary concepts to contemporary, holistic food preparation, Hospodar has spent over two decades researching and adapting recipes from three continents; the result is a wide-ranging compendium of 750 vegetarian dishes and a storehouse of practical information and advice. Twenty-six chapters, arranged by main ingredient (Grains, Tofu, etc.) and course (Appetizers through Puddings), present flavorful, healthy selections, such as Artichoke-Filo Pie, and Lentil Burgers with Herbed Ch vre Sauce. The recipes are designed to suit each of three body types--Vata, Pitta, Kapha (readers complete a questionnaire to identify their type). Introductory chapters explain the tenets of Ayurveda and offer cookware, seasoning and menu-planning suggestions. Recipes are geared to the fairly proficient cook and, though not specifically low calorie, are often wheat-, milk- and oil-free. Illustrations and an amusingly eclectic assortment of quotations enliven the text, which, although devoted to serious principles, manages to be unfailingly upbeat and enthusiastic. (Apr.)
Library Journal
Ayurveda, which means "science of life," is an ancient Indian system of medicine that Hospodar calls "an art and science of nourishment." Hospodar, who has worked as a chef and baker at Ayurvedic spas around the world, has been working on this book for 23 years. Upbeat and sprinkled with inspirational quotes, it includes a detailed explanation of the Ayurvedic diet and a questionnaire that allows the reader to determine his or her dosha, or body type. The recipes, though clearly written, emphasize Ayurvedic principles over flavor, omitting, for instance, eggs, garlic, and onions. Many of the recipes call for the spice hing, which is hard to come by for many cooks. Those looking for a vegetarian cookbook with broad appeal may prefer Deborah Madison's excellent Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone (LJ 9/15/97). Recommended only where there is an interest in holistic health.--Jane la Plante, Minot State Univ., ND
What People Are Saying
Betty Fussell
Heaven's Banquet is packed with an astonishing variety of recipes, placed in a global context of cultures, histories and literatures, knit together by the author's thoughtful commitment to the Ayurvedic dietary system that defines health as that which brings body and mind together. Any system that recommends "Eating for Bliss" is worth exploring in some detail.
- Betty Fussell, author of I Hear America Cooking and Home Bistro
Sue Bender
Hospodar's heartfelt book is robust, bursting with information and zest.
- Sue Bender, author of Plain and Simple and Everyday Sacred
Harold Bloomfield
A masterful integration of ancient wisdom and modern culinary science. Beautifully written with humor and compassion, Heaven's Banquet shows us how to make our kitchens a source for health and healing. It is a must for every kitchen.
- Harold H. Bloomfield, M.D., bestselling author of Healing Anxiety Naturally
Jennifer Hawthorne
HeavenЖs Banquet offers the kind of cooking wisdom and inspirational recipes that even I - a reluctant cook at the best of times-will turn to again and again.
- Jennifer Hawthorne, co-author of Chicken Soup for the WomanЖs Soul I and II, and Chicken Soup for the MotherЖs Soul
Deborah Kersten
Resplendent with palate-pleasing recipes, Hospodar has cooked up a fascinating feast for nourishing mind and body. This is a must-read for everyone who wants a deeper, more balanced relationship to food, and a personalized approach to perfect health. - Deborah Kesten, award-winning author of Feeding the Body, Nourishing the Soul
yamuna devi
You hold in your hands a rare cookbook-one that inspires you to read it, use it, and share it with others-presented in the context of IndiaЖs ancient health science of Ayurveda. Its effects will remain in the mind and body long after food has been enjoyed at the table. This is an ideal book to help demystify Ayurvedic cooking.
-Yamuna Devi, author of YamunaЖs Table, Lord KrishnaЖs Cuisine: The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking, and The Vegetarian Table, India
Table of Contents:
| The Banquet Is Served | xi |
| Nourishing the Mind and Body: Maharishi Ayur-Veda for Perfect |
| Health | 1 |
| Creation 101: Let There Be Dinner | 30 |
| How to Cook Wonderful Ayurvedic Food on a Terrible |
| Schedule | 30 |
| Operating Instructions for Novice Cooks | 31 |
| For Experienced Cooks | 32 |
| Words of Encouragement for New Vegetarians | 33 |
| Restricted Diets | 34 |
| The Ayurvedic Kitchen: Stage for the Drama of Creation | 36 |
| Ayurvedic Cookware | 37 |
| Some Useful Tools for the Contemporary Ayurvedic |
| Kitchen | 38 |
| Menu Planning and Menus: Creating Ayurvedic Meals for |
| Health, Harmony, and Happiness | 40 |
| Vegetables | 43 |
| Grains and Cereals | 144 |
| Beans | 183 |
| Tofu, Panir, and Seitan | 206 |
| Soups | 217 |
| Pasta | 251 |
| Appetizers, Finger Foods, and Savories | 276 |
| Salads and Salad Dressings | 299 |
| Yeasted Breads and Pizza | 322 |
| Unleavened and Quick Breads, Biscuits, Muffins, and Pancakes | 349 |
| Cakes | 380 |
| Pies and Pastries | 406 |
| Cookies | 429 |
| Puddings | 440 |
| Candies and Dessert Sauces | 452 |
| Fruits | 459 |
| Frozen Desserts | 471 |
| Beverages | 483 |
| Sauces, Condiments, and Chutneys | 497 |
| Dairy Products | 524 |
| Basic Ingredients for a Heavenly Banquet | 541 |
| Appendix A: Mind-Body Type Questionnaire | 577 |
| Appendix B: Sources of Information on Maharishi Ayur-Veda | 581 |
| Bibliography | 583 |
| Index | 586 |
Book review: Microsoft Office Access 2007 Step by Step or World of Warcraft Atlas
Food and Drink: A Pictorial Archive from Nineteenth-Century Sources
Author: Jim Harter
Over 350 illustrations of different foods, people eating, utensils, banquets, menus, wine lists, etc. Beautifully reproduced 19th-century line drawings depict every conceivable activity concerned with the preparation, display, and consumption of food and drink. Unmatchable resource for artists, decoupeurs, designers.
