Beverly Lynn Bennett and Ray Sammartano:
Vegan Living (2005)
The full title of this book is The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Vegan Living, and what’s up with that?! Someone’s calling me a complete idiot?! Why would I want to read their book, already?! Well, apparently it’s a part of a whole series of Complete Idiot’s Guides (which makes sense; complete idiots probably need lots of guides), and apart from the idiotic title (ha!) it was quite interesting.
I bought the book in New York because I wanted to learn more about veganism, and it does give a good overview of different aspects of veganism, ranging from nutrition, how to deal with family and friends and quite a few recipies. However, it is decidedly written for Americans, and some of the advice feels quite … unnecessary to a European who’s actually used to cooking my own food. For instance, I know how to buy food in a supermarket. I know that fresh vegetables are healthier than french fries, even though the fries are made out of potatoes. And so on on that level. Furthermore, the book mentions a lot of specific brands that I haven’t got access to over here, but it’s still interesting to know what’s out there.
The sections on animal welfare and “hidden” animal products in foods and other goods was maybe the most interesting part of the book. Did you know that gelatine (boiled pigs, basically) is used in the production of some wines and beers? Urgh.