Eat Dangerously!

By Benjamin Lewis and Rodrigo Velloso

The kitchen has become a tremendously politically correct place of late -- Avoid red meats, cut back on salt, eat your greens, and don't even think about finishing your wine! And this is just the beginning; the Dietary Police will soon have us subsisting primarily on seaweed and fish, with whole grains thrown in for roughage. At least olive oil escapes their scourge, and they aren't objecting to fruit (though if it's ripe it is a little too sugary). Yet.

But they will.

Fortunately, there are ways out of this predicament. One is to eat Italian food -- the Mediterranean diet is at the heart of healthy living and the Italians, whose location has put them in a position to practice it for centuries, have gotten it right: lots of pasta, greens, vegetables, and the rare morsel of meat, all washed down with wine. Small wonder the Italian life expectancy is one of the highest in the world.

Another is to remember the classic Italian proverb, meglio un giorno da leoni che cento anni da pecora, better to live a day like a lion than a century like a sheep, and spit in the eye of the Dietary Police. This is the tack taken by Benjamin Lewis and Rodrigo Velloso, who dive into the sensuous and sensual and emerge licking their chops. Lots of good and tasty recipes, none prepared with an eye on a diet chart, and all guaranteed to bring a smile to the face of anyone who enjoys good food the way it was before we were all bitten by the Bug.

And the most amazing thing about it is, the most of the recipes aren't unhealthy. At least not if you prepare them with the proper spirit, remembering that fine dining is a libidinous and sensual experience, not something that ends in a glazed stupor. Especially if you're putting together an evening with that special someone, as the authors clearly intend you to do when the recipe feeds two.

The recipes, an eclectic collection from throughout the globe, are introduced tongue firmly in cheek, and are arranged into a number of self-explanatory sections: Pleasure, Delight, Elation, Relish, Exhilaration, Exaltation, Enchantment, Indulgence, Luxury, and Rapture, all with handy definitions. I had been planning to present the Most Expensive Burger on the Planet, which combines a pound of ground Angus with 2 ounces of minced fresh black French or Italian truffles, but got sidetracked by the Light Euro-Dinner:

On the "morning after" go urban hiking with your date for the ingredients for the following meal. To urban hike: Get a backpack, nice shoes, a sport coat or dress, mace, lighter, and a pack of cigarettes. First buy a long baguette and make sure it sticks out of your bag so everyone knows you mean business. Then hike from store to store shopping for food, stopping often for espresso. Then have her over again for light fare, and, afterwards, wash the dishes together... in the shower.

6 slices of prosciutto di Parma, thin enough to fax

1 roasted clove of garlic

1 roasted bell pepper (red, yellow, or green, oh my!) with basil and olive oil

1 chunk o' goat cheese

Excellent olive oil

1 halved baguette, doused with the olive oil and briefly toasted

To roast the garlic, put in a medium oven of about 350 degrees F [175 C] for 30-40 minutes wrapped in foil or a terracotta device.

To roast the bell pepper, coat with olive oil and put directly on an electric stove burner turned on high heat until black. OR, broil until black. Put in a paper bag for a few minutes. After removing from the bag, dunk in ice water and peel off the skin. Gut and slice.

Soak the goat cheese for a few hours in excellent olive oil.

Arrange the ingredients on separate plates and dig in.

Serves 2 people who have seen each other in the buck.

One could do a lot worse, and emerge much less healthy from a vegetarian restaurant. And the only time you may find yourself following the suggestion of the subtitle (Blow Health Out Your Ass!) is if you overdo it with one of the beany dishes, for example the Feijoada (Brazilian Black Beans and Rice) on page 52. Which it looks like it would be all too easy to do. If you want to check out other recipes, visit Eat Dangeously.Com.

Looks Good! I'd like to see the Order Form.

Publishing Info:
Trade Paperback
122 Pages
Hollander & Hechsher, Ithaca NY
ISBN: 0967002907