Jean Christian Jury
“ The craze of eating so much meat started only about 50 years ago . Before it was a luxury. People ate very little and a lot of vegetables”, explains the Frenchman Jean-Christian Jury.
And he is emphatic: "A green diet is a necessity and the only option that makes sense for the future of humanity and the planet. We have exceeded all expectations of modernity, but we have neglected the most important thing to maintain a healthy body and a strong immune system : fresh plant-based food. We need to change our relationship with food.”
Vegan: The Cookbook (Phaidon, 2017)
The chef attributes to his lifestyle and poor nutrition the problems of heart failure that he suffered and from which he deepened in the raw food study and vegans, going back to the diets of Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, Phoenicians, Persians, Aztecs…. He says that this type of diet "contains all the nutrients necessary to maintain high energy levels."
Thank you Mother, Los Angeles
He has tasted it on his flesh (excuse me). Since he changed his diet 11 years ago, he assures, he feels various benefits in his body of having away from meat and lactose : "My vision has improved and I can't remember the last time I caught a cold or fell ill."
Although his motivations were not initially ethical, Jury supports initiatives such as Happy Cow, Cow Huggers, PETA "and anyone who seeks a better life for animals."
Recipe Book Vegan: The Cookbook (Phaidon)
In 2007 he opened his first vegan restaurant, La Mano Verde, in Berlin, now closed. He now lives in Los Angeles and continues to travel the world to explore global vegan cuisine. “It's getting easier all the time. Soon all restaurants will have these options. Something is changing in the world ”, assures the cook.
Haus Hiltl, Zurich
jury highlights South Korea and Taiwan as the best countries to improve habits at the table, due to its Buddhist influence. "Some monks of seoul and that area are amazing vegan chefs. Perhaps the worst places to take this step are Kazakhstan, Iceland either Finland because of the long winters that make fresh ingredients more expensive and inaccessible."
Elizabeth's Gone Raw, Washington
GETTING BORED IS NOT AN OPTION
“For a long time vegans had to make do with ‘side’ dishes. But plant-based food opens the doors to wonders: pure and organic ingredients such as algae , new flavors thanks to new kitchen tools such as ginger, blue ginger or turmeric juicers, and a new generation of dressings based on coconut oil, which solidifies at low temperature and gives you many textures and nuances on the palate” .
For those who need ideas, in his book Vegan: The Cookbook (Phaidon, 2017), Jury collects some 500 vegan recipes from more than 150 countries , capable of dismantling the clichés around healthy food with a stroke of the pen: “I don't miss any animal ingredients. This diet is very rich and has a wide variety of flavors. The worst thing you can do when adopting it is try to mimic the taste and texture of meat."
'Vegan: The Cookbook'
One last piece of advice: "Our palates are so used to flavor enhancers and excessive amounts of salt and sugar in processed foods that I advise you to first do a purifying diet. When you start to get used to the taste of fresh and pure food, it is very difficult to go back to the previous thing”.
Ginger, fresh wasabi, and turmeric are his must-haves, and lately he has developed new techniques to squeeze them and add them to dishes at the last moment, without eliminating their properties with cooking, and preserving an incredible flavor and aroma.
With what recipe would you surprise some non-vegans? “I would prepare raw ravioli with thin kohlrabi strips with a fresh cashew and walnut cream served on a bed of fennel and apple ginger mint, decorated with sprouts and a pear tartare. For the main course I would prepare a garden lasagna made with layers of zucchini , cucumber, red and yellow pepper with a dried tomato cream and walnut shavings. For dessert I would prepare a fruit and cashew cheesecake, coconut, mango and passion fruit, dried fruit, Medjool dates and chocolate”.
Keep reading his recommendations for vegan restaurants around the world in the September issue (on newsstands from August 16). Subscribe to the printed edition (11 printed issues and a digital version for €24.75, by calling 902 53 55 57 or from our website) and enjoy free access to the digital version of Condé Nast Traveler for iPad. The September issue of Condé Nast Traveler is available in its digital version to enjoy on your preferred device.
Dessert?