According to the Trade for Development Centre, only 3% of cashews sold on the world markets are Fair trade certified.
The process of cashews:
Women collect yellow cashew fruits in the southern countries, especially India, Ivory Coast and Vietnam.*
Once harvesting, the nuts have to be cut in half with special equipment. From that point, all of the work is done entirely by hand.
Women have to separate the actual nut from the skin, which contains toxic oils that burn skin and damage the eyesight. Unfortunately they are usually not provided with safety equipment such as gloves due to cost-cutting measures, which expose them to these toxins and influence their health.
In India meanwhile, the Daily Mail reported last year how,
“Burns are a fact of life for up to 500,000 workers in India’s cashew industry, nearly all women. They are employed without contracts, with no guarantee of steady income, no pension or holiday pay. Many don’t even get gloves, and if they did, they probably couldn’t afford to wear them. Gloves would slow their shelling down, and they are paid by the kilo.”
If we want to eat cashews and avoid value chains built on the back of human misery, we have only one option: pay more and get the fair trade one. Another option is to choose other nuts which are local or traveled shorter distances with less exploitation.
We love using oat milk as it is the least environmentally- and socially-problematic of the plant based milk alternatives.
*According to FAOSTAT figures reported by factfish, in 2017 world total production stood at 3,971,046 tons, of which Vietnam (863,060 tons), India (745,000 tons) and Ivory Coast (711,000) account for 58.3%.
Photograph: Maja Vujic
A delicious orange-flavored raw condiment. This can be used as a planting element, topping or dessert sauce for various desserts, such as ice cream, or blended with plant milk and ice cream to make a chocolate milkshake. So easy to make and delicious! Flavour it with whatever you want. Ensure you will use a food grade essential oil.
Ingredients
30 g coconut oil melted
1/4 raw cacao powder
1/4 cup coconut sugar powdered (grind in the coffee grinder beforehand)
3 drops wild orange essential oil
3 tbsp filtered water
A pinch of salt
Instructions
1. Melt the coconut oil using bain marie method. Transfer to the Blendtec Twister Jar or a high speed blender.
2. Add the rest of ingredients over the coconut oil.
3. Blend well. Ensure coconut sugar is blended enough to remove any grainy texture.
4. Process until emulsified and has thickened.
5. Pour into a squeeze bottle to use immediately. Otherwise keep in the refrigerator. Let it sit at room temperature before using.
Ingredients
1 batch raw gianduia (recipe from our Gourmet Raw Cakebook)
1 batch raw chocolate sauce
1 batch raw chocolate cookies
Fresh black mulberries
Edible gold powder
Instructions
1. After full dehydration process, allow to cool the raw chocolate cookies at least 30 minutes, then place in a high speed blender or food processor. Blend until powder or slightly sandy. Place 2-3 tbsp chocolate cookie soil on the plate.
2. Place the gianduia quenelle on the top of soil.
3. Pour some raw chocolate sauce next to the quenelle. Dust some gold powder, sprinkle black mulberries. Serve immediately.
Sukkari Dates which means ‘the sweet one’ has distinctive yellowish skin of acorn-shape and because of the crystallised sugars they contain can be slightly crunchy also soft. These golden dates are larger than Deglet Nour dates, with all the softness and caramel-like flavour of Medjools! They are characteristically very sweet, and more succulent than standard dates. So we can say that sukkari dates are perfect to make date caramel.
Make sure you will use fresh dates for this. If your dates are dry, they won’t blend as well and will require soaking in warm water first in order to soften them. Otherwise, you won’t achieve that creamy, raw caramel-like consistency.
If you want a thicker consistency, reduce the water content in the recipe.
You don’t need to peel off their skins, do not waste them, their vitamins are right there! If you have a good blender and use slightly warm water, you will get a very nice consistency.
Ingredients
120 g fresh sukkari dates (weight after seeds removed)
75 ml filtered water
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp coconut sugar
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp tamari or miso
1 tbsp tahini
1/8 tsp licorice salt from Saltverk (or use pink himalayan salt)
Instructions
1. Place the dates and water in the Blendtec Twister Jar or a high speed blender. Blend until paste.
2. Then add the rest of ingredients. Continue to blend until silky smooth.
3. Transfer mixture in a glass jar. Store in the refrigerator until use. You can use as a chocolate filling or in your desserts.
Serves: This recipe makes 6 cm 4 pieces cookie
Time: 10 minutes preparation + 9-24 hrs dehydration
INGREDIENTS
1 tsp chia seeds + 2 tbsp water
1/2 cup sprouted oat flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1/4 cup desiccated coconut
2 tbsp raw coconut sugar
1/4 cup dried raisins
1 tsp orange zest
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp unroasted almond butter
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp licorice salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
INSTRUCTIONS
1. In a mixing bowl, mix chia seeds and water. Keep stirring for the first minute or so to prevent the chia seeds from clumping together. Then set asid for 5 minutes.
3. Then add the rest of ingredients in the chia seed mixture. Stir well to combine.
4. Fold in the raisins.
5. Transfer the dough onto a baking tray lined parchment paper. Lightly wet your hands with a little bit olive oil and shape the dough as you want. (6 cm X 4 pieces ) The cookie won’t spread, so shape it the way you want the end result to look like.
6. Dehydrate for 9 hours for a soft cookie to eat immediately, or dehydrate at least 20-24 until fully dried for storage. Flip the cookies every 3 hours during the dehydration process.
7. It can be stored in the airtight container or jar up to 2 months. Once opened the jar, consume immediately for the best taste.
One of our pantry staples in our raw kitchen we’ve invented last year – raw chocolate soils are great way to give your deconstructed desserts a wow and accompany sweets! You can pair it with any of quenelles, domes, cubes or much more.
For sandy granulated texture, process the cookies once at a time.
Storage: This have a long shelf life. Keep in mason jars in the refrigerator up to 2-3 months.
Ingredients
1 batch of raw chocolate cookies
Instructions
Place the cookies in the food processor, process until you get desired texture of crumbles.
Place in the mason jars. Keep in cool place to use in your dessert recipes later.
If you loved this recipe, you might be also interested in our cookbook “Mad About Raw: Exclusively Designed Raw Food Recipes.”
Ingredients
10 bell peppers
2-3 tomatoes
300 g gluten-free rolled oats
1 large onion
2 garlic cloves minced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp sumac
1 tbsp freshly chopped rosemary
2-3 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup water
Salt to taste
Chopped fresh parsley to serve
Garlic flavored cashew yogurt
140 g fair trade raw cashews
Juice of whole lemon
1 tsp pink himalayan salt
1 garlic clove minced
1/2 cup water + more as needed
1 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
1. Heat the pan, add the olive oil, onion and garlic. Sauté until gets color.
2. Then add the water, tomato paste and chopped rosemary. Stir well, until everything combines together, oats absorbs the water and you get a sticky thick mixture.
3. Season with salt and sumac. Mix well. Set aside.
4. Cut the lid of bell peppers, remove the core, clean, wash and dry.
5. Cut the skins of tomatoes to make lid for the bell peppers. (Use the rest of tomatoes for your salad later, you can also finely chop and add them into your oat filling if desired)
6. Fill the bell peppers with oat mixture. Top the peppers with tomato lid.
7. Place in a large pot. Cover half of the peppers with water. Put the pot lid on.
8. Cook over medium heat for 20-25 minutes.
9. Serve with cashew yogurt, extra pinch of sumac and chopped parsley.
10. To make cashew yogurt, place all ingredients in a blender, blend until silky smooth. Keep in the refrigerator at least 40 minutes before serving.
Kartoffelmad, or literally “potato food.” While variations abound, in Denmark it’s usually the layers of rye bread, mayonnaise + boiled potato (sometimes fried) + both raw or pickled and crispy fried onions + herbs and micro greens for a symphony of flavors of textures.
Here we used avocado mayo which is oil-free, boiled potatoes, foraged chickweed, Jerusalem artichoke crumble, pickled red onions, jalapeño, mustard caviar, broccoli micro greens and blistered Padrón peppers, topped on the sourdough rye bread.
Ingredients
For the herbed remoulade:
1/2 cup vegan avocado mayonaisse (see below)
1 tbsp chopped capers
1 tsp dijon (or whole grain mustard)
1 tbsp finely chopped dill
1 tbsp chopped chives
1 tsp finely chopped parsley
1 dash hot sauce, to taste
1 dash a good quality of balsamic
1 dash freshly cracked pepper, to taste
Avocado mayonaisse
2 mashed ripe avocado
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup water
Salt to taste
For the smørrebrød:
500 g new potatoes
4 slices rugbrød (danish style rye bread or use gluten-free one)
1 pickled red onion, thinly sliced
4 tablespoons crispy Jerusalem artichoke or celeriac crumb ( recipe from our Food We Love Cookbook)
2 tbsp chopped jalapeno
4-5 padron peppers blistered
Chopped chives, for garnish
Microgreens for garnish
Pickled mustard seeds (aka mustard caviar)
Instructions
1.Place the potatoes with salted water and bring to a boil.
2. Meanwhile, make the remoulade: Combine the avocado mayonnaise ( to make avocado mayonnaise mix all ingredients in the blender until smooth) , mustard, chopped herbs, capers, and cracked pepper in a medium bowl. Stir until well combined. Taste and adjust seasoning.
3. When the potatoes are fork-tender, drain and set aside until cool enough to handle. Slice into1/4 inch thick rounds or desired shape.
4. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Place potato rounds on your rye bread, using a piping bag, squeeze remoulade, sprinkle some crumble, add the pickles, microgreens, peppers and onions or whatever you want.
Note: Don’t even think about trying to eat this like a normal sandwich! Eat with a knife and fork so all your toppings don’t fall off.
See raw vegan version of danish style open face sandwich here.
INGREDIENTS
Cake crust
40 g gluten-free rolled oats
40 g buckini
10 g desiccated coconut
10 g raw cacao powder
A pinch salt
50 g fresh sukkari dates (weight after seeds removed)
30 g hazelnut butter
3 tbsp cold press coffee
Nutella cream:
170 grams of fresh avocado (weight after seed and skin removed)
40 grams of coconut cream
50 g maple syrup
85 g unsweetened raw hazelnut butter
15 g coconut oil melted
80 g dark chocolate melted (min. cacao mass 56%)
A pinch of salt
Coconut Whipped Cream
1 can full-fat coconut cream (only fatty part)
2 tbsp maple syrup
Garnish
Edible gold powder
Raw hazelnuts
INSTRUCTIONS
Cake Crust
1. Place the oats, buckini and desiccated coconut in a high speed food processor, blitz until you get slightly crumb.
2. Then add the cacao powder and salt, process to mix together.
3. Add the dates, hazelnut butter and cold press coffee. Run the food processor again until everything holds together and you get a shiny nice dough.
4. Transfer dough in a 15x15cm square cake mould lined parchment paper.
5. Flatten the dough with the back of a spoon or spatula. Set aside while you are making the Nutella cream.
Nutella Cream
1. Place the avocados, coconut cream and maple in the food processor, blend together.
2. Then add the melted coconut oil, chocolate, salt and hazelnut butter.
3. Mix well until everything combined well and you get a shiny smooth cream.
4.Pour nuttela cream over crust and pat on counter to remove air bubbles.
5. Set in freezer for minimum 2 hours or overnight. Once done, cut and serve with coconut whipped cream.
Coconut Whipped Cream
1.Place the coconut cream can in fridge overnight.
2.Drain water from can if you have, place the cream in a bowl. Add the maple syrup.
3.Mix with a hand blender until smooth and fluffy.
4.Using your favorite nozzle, place the cream in the piping bag.
5.Decorate the cake with coconut whipped cream, add gold powder coated hazelnuts on the top if desired. Serve!