ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, September 11, 1996 TAG: 9609130176
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 10 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: MARY MacVEAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
For many of the young people turning to vegetarianism in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Anna Thomas was the guru in their kitchens.
``The Vegetarian Epicure,'' published in 1972, and its sequel offered food for every night of the week and for parties. The recipes were full of cheese and oil and sour cream - the ingredients commonly used to ``make up for'' the lack of meat.
``The New Vegetarian Epicure,'' published this year, shows how much things have changed - how many new ingredients are available, how low-fat food can taste good, how vegetarianism has become a sophisticated option.
The new book, Thomas says, is not a revised version of the old.
``Gradually, over the years, my cooking had evolved and changed,'' and even she was rarely using the recipes in her old books, she said. The new book is based on menus, to help people who like to eat vegetarian but have trouble coming up with meatless meals.
Not only her cooking had changed. She wrote the first book while she was a film student. She has since become a screenwriter, and she has two sons.
She even eats seafood or poultry occasionally. Thomas admits she's more tolerant than she was in those days, when she began her first book this way: ``Good food is a celebration of life, and it seems absurd to me that in celebrating life we should take life. That is why I don't eat flesh. I see no need for killing.''
It's hard to imagine a big successful book these days that talks that way, or that casually says: ``If you have passed a joint around before dinner to sharpen gustatory perceptions, you most likely will pass another one after dinner, and everyone knows what that will do - the blind munchies can strike at any time.''
``I like those books. They're from a certain moment in time,'' Thomas says today, adding that no matter the era, all her books are about having fun and eating good food.
``The New Vegetarian Epicure'' (Knopf, $30) certainly is that, with 66 menus for a variety of occasions, appealing recipes such as pan bagnia, a Provencal-style sandwich; cassis sorbet; pan-roasted nopalitos, a cactus; wild mushroom cobbler; chard and parsley frittata; or bread stuffing with apples and walnuts.
The following cookbooks also provide helpful information on vegetarian cooking, from an explanation of ingredients and kitchen equipment to suggested menus and hundreds of recipes.
* ``Vegetarian Food for All'' by Annabel Perkins (HarperCollinsWorld Trade Paperback, $13.50). More than 250 recipes, with an explanation of kitchen equipment, ingredients and herbs and spices. Recipes include Red Bean Goulash, Olive Vegetable Pate and Granary Bread.
* ``Complete Vegetarian Cookbook'' by Charmaine Solomon (Angus & Robertson, $25). Solomon has filled this book with more than 600 recipes from around the world, with suggested menus and an explanation of ingredients. Ravioli with Nut Filling, Fresh Cheese in Tomato Sauce and Pear and Chocolate Loaf are among the recipes.
* ``Vegetarian's A to Z Guide to Fruits & Vegetables'' by Kathleen Robinson, with Pete Luckett (Fisher Books, $12.95). Provides cooking and serving instructions for 100 types of produce, with tips on selecting, storing and ripening the freshest and best. With more than 200 recipes - from Italian Broccoli and Stuffed Mushrooms to Sweet-Potato Quiche and Pear Tart.
recipe for:
PAN BAGNIA
LENGTH: Medium: 68 linesby CNB