‘What the Fat?.. Fat’s in, sugar’s out’…
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By Rachel Grunwell
I was at the launch of this cool book at Loop Restaurant in Kingsland. Check out some of the Instagram pictures I took by checking out the Inspired Health Instagram account by clicking here. There were politicians, university and media folk, researchers, chefs, dieticians and more there to celebrate the launch including the three book authors.
Firstly, this book is a collaboration of great minds and talents (heavy weights in the industry, if you like): a professor, dietitian and a chef. It’s also heavy in weight – there are a lot of recipes and background information on how you go about eating certain foods and why. I’d call it a “good eating bible”. There are endless tips and tricks and I buried my head in this for hours and still have a lot to learn and recipes to try out!!!
There are recipes including soups to meals with side dishes and also snacks and drinks, but the authors talk about lifestyle, research on the latest science on food and there are even success weight-loss stories in this 300-page book (and they’re not just average Jos either, but rather knowledgeable folk…).
The great minds behind this venture are Professor Grant Schofield (nicknamed “The Fat Professor” as he talks about good and bad “fats” and the research side of the equation), Dr Caryn Zinn (nicknamed The Wholefood Dietician obviously for her preference for whole and real foods and expertise in this field) and Craig Rodger (The Michelin-trained Chef).
They’re on a mission to get Kiwis to change the way they eat and “flip the food pyramid” and consider the science of the low-carb, healthy-fat (LCHF) lifestyle. It’s essentially about eating whole and unprocessed foods like veggies, fruit, full-fat dairy products, legumes, good protein and good fats from sources like avocados, olive oil, nuts and coconut oil (some of these can be a controversial with experts from different backgrounds however). I wrote one of my weekly “wellbeing columns” on stuff.co.nz interviewing Caryn about “food for Fit Folk’ and you can read it by clicking here.
I’ve whipped up a few recipes from the book including the ‘low-carb bread’ to the ‘butter chicken, cauliflower pilau, raita and coconut naan’ recipes and they are AMAZING – nutritious but unbelievably delicious. In fact these recipes were so good they’ve been made a couple of times each within a week! I’ve even made the pilau with other dishes (this cauliflower side dish is replacing things like rice and potatoes in our house for some dinners). I’m super excited about trying more of the recipes. I’ve got to say the edge on this recipe book (over a lot of other cook books) could be there’s a Michelin-star chef involved. These recipes are not just good for you, but they also taste great! I think this book is a game changer in the recipe world; there’s nothing else that comes close to it. It give you the what, why and how-to on good eating. The book retails for $39.95.
ps: Here’s my attempt at the ‘butter chicken, cauliflower pilau, raita and coconut naan’ recipe. It doesn’t look as pretty as the one in the book, but it tastes darn good.