Vegan Chef Tal Ronnen is "known for his convincing Oprah to try going vegan," but when a fav vegan blogger posted a video cooking recipe of his, I was stunned to learn more about his approach to vegan cooking. An excerpt from the blog post:
"Tal Ronnen, the notorious chef that got Oprah to [try to] go vegan [and failed], shares his enticing, unexpected vegan dishes with everyone who relishes eating beautiful, flavorful, and filling food. In the Conscious Cook every recipe delivers on his promise to omnivores and foodies: “You won’t miss the meat.”" [but the added fat will still mess with your cardiovascular system]
Okay, I decided to check out Tal's video for "Chicken Scaloppini." I won't embed it on my blog. It's horrendous and I can't justify promoting his cooking and attitude. I've check out some of his recipes on Oprah's blog... bleech... But here's the YouTube link cited by The D.B. and then my ad hoc comments/observations:
Here's some comments and quotes about/from the video:
First of all, he's using Gardein Chicken Fillets, and I won't fault him for the ridiculous expense of spending $4 to $5 for 2.5 oz. of 11 grams of protein per serving (hell, you could get 4 lbs. of lentils or 3 lbs. of tofu for the same price). See this post for more on protein issues.
Okay, in the video, he dredges the cutlets in flour, and FRIES them in OIL (fat). Is excited that he can "cook it like a traditional protein." Ignoring that there are many vegetable and grain sources of protein that don't need to be dealt with like "meat." Figure at least two TBL of oil (probably more): 24 grams of fat. It's so clever! He's doing all the same things he would have done if the "protein" was "veal" or "chicken."
He makes a mushroom sauce. About a half cup of Earth Balance processed goop is added (judging from the video, he doesn't say how much). That's about 88 grams of fat.
We're already at a total of an estimated 112 grams of fat for a 4 serving dish. He praises Earth Balance (which is essentially pure fat, and not a real food):
"A lot healthier than butter or margarine." [not a helluva lot if you consider heart disease]
Then, in a classic moment, justifies using it:
"Fat equals flavor." [what a narrow and addicted perspective... you are a slave to your taste for fat and probably oblivious of what even the conservative Feds say about fat ingestion and heart disease, diabetes, and obesity]
Fries the udon noodle cakes. In oil. Pouring oil over them. Add another 2 TBL of oil here (I'm being kind): 24 grams of fat. Running total: 136 grams of fat. Then, this amazing statement, that tells me he has no idea as to what a healthy vegan diet is:
"Traditionally, people have focussed on creating low-fat vegetarian food. And, ah, fat does equal a lot of flavor... so I've kinda taken the other approach in using really good and healthy fats. So if you focus on the "center of plate protein" have have some really good fat, you have a vegetarian dish that is more fullfilling than something you might have eaten in the 70s, like a plate of steamed vegetables and a sandwich with hummus and sprouts, or something like that. Hippie Food."
The chef is dietarily clueless. I'm guessing around 30+ grams of unnecessary added fat per serving of his dish, which is ONE HALF of the total daily fat recommended by the Feds for a single person, and over 100 % of what Essy, Ornish, et. al. (the guys who reversed heart disease) recommend for a WHOLE DAY and this is ONE SERVING. Is "fulfilling" more important than promoting degenerative diseases via excessive fat consumption?
"Fat equals flavor?" Tal says this a couple of times in the video. Even the American Heart Association would be disturbed by his attitude and approach. And Esselstyn has shown you can lose your taste for fat.
Is Tal really that blind regarding consuming fat and heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and Altzheimer's? The fat grams in his single dish are amazing... But then, even ONE fatty meal messes with your blood vessels for over six hours. The Discriminating Brute was so "discriminate" as to note that "Chef Tal" is known for his beautiful, flavorful, and filling food (at least the word "healthy" wasn't erroneously slipped in there).
Hell, I'd definitely go with (and relish) the "hummus and sprouts" sandwich and steamed vegetables he dismisses in the video as "hippie food" before eating his excessive heart-attack special added fat-ladden fried entree. The "protein-centric" view he speaks of is also so retro and, with all due respect, nutritionally myopic. No wonder Oprah went "off the vegan wagon" if this guy was advising her. Hardly a whole foods and systems approach to diet. "Fat equals flavor?" What a shallow perspective of food preparation.
Fatty non-vegan recipes substituted with a "vegan meat" but still, with all the added fat, imho, are not any kind of achievement to praise. The addiction continues. Not really an impressive or "conscious" or "discriminating" concept. Substituting a meat analog while continuing the excessive use of added oils common in "high end culinary cooking" is harding an advancement in health. It's "unconscious" of dietary reality. We're killing ourselves via added fat, sugar, and salt. Tal's vegan recipe is pretty much as unhealthy as the non-vegan equivalent.
IMHO, a "conscious cook" would take the "health characteristics" of a meal into consideration and act accordingly. Stop with the added oil and the dellusion that "fat adds flavor." That's akin to saying to an alcoholic that "vodka adds life." People are addicted to the taste of fat, salt, and sugar, and that's irrespective of their being vegan or not. Don't cater to it. Help them get past this... learn the subtleties of taste and flavor that are beyond gross fat... that would be conscious, compassionate, AND creative. Not to mention, healthy.
Stop attacking others. It's annoying. You obviously have no self confidence.
[(1) It's not an attack. His recommendations and the "fat is flavor" attitude is an attack, however, an attack on 20 years of peer-reviewed research that shows clearly that added fat invites and promotes heart disease, as well as a host of other disorders:
http://soulveggie.blogs.com/my_weblog/2009/01/15-reasons-to-avoid-vegetable-oils.html
(2) If you're annonyed, stop reading my blog. I'm posting facts and figures, and backing them up. I'm tired of so-called "great chefs" putting out high fat-ladden meals without having the creativity (or understanding that oil isn't a real food) to do better than this.
I'm tired of the, "but it's vegan and a start" whine. Taste addiction to fat, sugar, and salt is a very very big health problem, and too often the vegan community is seduced into thinking that just because it's vegan, it's healthy.
"Added fat is heart disease," not flavor. Besides, how little creativity in his recipe. He just fried some expensive fake meat in oil, drizzled oil over udon noodles, and then fried that, too. I'm not surprised it didn't work with Oprah. Also, I did look at other of his recipes, and most fall under the same "very high in added fat" description. We need to hold our vegan chefs to higher standards than simply duplicating the same fatty meals we had as carnivores.
3) "no self-confidence?" Thanks for making me laugh! Sure, I spend all this time researching these things and doing this blog at personal cost, no financial gain, 'cause I'm not self-confidence. Heart disease is epidemic, and it kills vegans (with a little less chance) than carnivores. Going vegan without paying attention to fat, sugar, and salt, doesn't solve the problem of long-term vitality and health.
Now, if you'd said I was sometimes "arrogant" or even, "opinionated," I would be hard pressed to disagree completely.
Mark]
Posted by: Stacie | 2009.10.07 at 09:55