What's Cooking? - rawist-based recipes from the Raw Experience restaurant in Paia on northern Maui, Hawaii

Vegetarian Times, May, 1999 by Lisa Turner

At Maui's Raw Experience restaurant, absolutely nothing

Located in the heart of Paia, an artsy, surfer-dude town along the north coast of Maul, the Raw Experience caters to a steady flow of laid-back Hawaiians and curious tourists who pack the restaurant from noon till night. "It's hard to tell when we'll be most busy," says co-owner Renee Underkoffler. "It just depends on how the surf is, what the water's like, where the moon is in its cycle. We operate on Maul time."

The cuisine of this progressive, raw-food restaurant is based on the theory that the cooking process destroys the enzymes, vitamins and minerals naturally found in food. Rawists believe that to digest cooked food, the body must deplete its own stores of enzymes and that this process leads to health problems and premature aging. So instead of cooking, rawists sprout it by soaking it in water and then dehydrating and fermenting it. At the Raw Experience, the chefs use locally grown ingredients--organic fruits, vegetables, nuts, seed and grains--whenever possible and turn to raw herbs and whole spices like hot peppers and fresh ginger to add layers of flavor. No animal products or processed oils are used and only the island's plentiful pineapple, dates, mangos and other tropical fruits are used as sweeteners.

The restaurant itself is an eclectic blend of craft-fair funk and city-art chic. Posters of fruits, vegetables and herbs decorate melon green walls. The tables are polished slabs of wood, cut from cross sections of mango trees, and the food is served on chunky, pottery-style plates. The background music ranges from fusion jazz to wind chimes.

Start your meal with the unbaked flaxseed and coconut chips that are served with a sweet guacamole and a papaya-macadamia salsa that's studded with nuts, cilantro and chipotle pepper. Or try a soup--the most popular is a creamy mix of carrot juice, ginger, avocado, cilantro and spices.

The raw pizza is an experience not to be missed. Its chewy crust of sprouted grains and herbs is slathered with a creamy white sauce made from ground macadamia nuts and cashews and a tangy red sauce of sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts, garlic and basil. Nori rolls stuffed with a carrot-almond pate, avocado and a pungent seed cheese have such a chewy texture that you won't miss the traditional filling of cooked rice.

To cap it all off, kick back and sip the thick and creamy tea-less chai, made from sprouted nut milk, sweetened with apples and spiked with fresh ground cardamom, ginger and nutmeg. And although you might not expect it here, the Raw Experience is known for its outrageous desserts. Try the now-famous "rawie"--an unbaked cookie, made from ground nuts and dried fruits pressed into rounds. Or go for the carrot cake, a blend of carrot pulp, raisins, dates and nuts, topped with a frosting made of sprouted and ground cashews, lemons and raisins. The coconut cream pie, served in a dense, nutty crust of ground coconut and hazelnuts, is a perfect balance of mango and papaya layered with coconut, dates and vanilla and topped with a strawberry and cashew frosting--totally awesome, dude.

Carrot-Ginger Soup

SERVES 2 DAIRY-FREE 30

1-inch piece of fresh ginger
2 1/2 cups fresh organic carrot juice
1 medium, ripe avocado, cubed
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Bragg's Amino Acids or sea salt

GRATE GINGER and squeeze through a fine-meshed sieve to extract juice. Discard pulp.

Combine carrot juice, avocado, cilantro and ginger juice in a blender and process until smooth. Add Bragg's or sea salt to taste. Pour into serving bowls and garnish with sprigs of fresh cilantro.

PER SERVING: 286 CAL.; 5G PROT.; 15G TOTAL FAT (3G SAT. FAT); 36G CARB.; 0MG CHOL.; 100MG SOD.; 7G FIBER

Vanilla-Nut Shake

SERVES 2 DAIRY-FREE 30

2 medium bananas
1/2 cup raw cashews
1/4 cup medjool dates, pitted
1 Tbs. vanilla extract
1 to 2 cups filtered water

PEEL BANANAS, wrap in plastic and freeze overnight. Soak cashews in water to cover for 1 hour. Drain and rinse. Soak dates in water to cover until soft (about 1 hour). Drain off soaking water and save. Combine cashews, dates, date soaking water, vanilla and 1/2 cup filtered water in blender and process until smooth. Cut frozen banana into 1-inch pieces and add to blender. Add water as needed to make a smooth, creamy mixture.

PER SHAKE: 377 CAL.; 7G PROT.; 16G TOTAL FAT (3G SAT. FAT); 55G CARB.; 0 CHOL.; 7MG SOD.; 5G FIBER

The Raw Experience

Address: 42 Baldwin Ave., Paia, HI 96779

Phone: 808 579-9729

Hours: Tuesday and Friday, 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.; Wednesday and Thursday, 8 to 10 a.m. and 6 to 9 p.m.; Sunday, 12 to 3 p.m.

Menu: Vegan raw organic

Prices: $3 to $10

Dress: Casual

Alcohol: No

Smoking: No

Seats: 20

Credit cards: All major

Reservations: No

Lisa Turner is a freelance writer based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.