In this article, Cherie Soria shares how she went from winning a cooking contest to adopting a raw food lifestyle. Cherie Soria teaches raw food “cooking” classes and is the author of The Raw Food Revolution Diet.

Kevin: So let’s get started really quickly, there are some people who may not know who you are. So let’s start talking about who you are and how you got involved in this movement.

Affection: it’s okay. Well, I am Cherie Soria and how I got involved in this movement is a very long story, but I will try to keep it short. I have been a vegetarian chef for about 36 years.

Kevin: it’s okay.

Affection: I won my first cooking contest when I was 12 years old. I learned a long time ago that people love you if you cook good food. I like that. I liked being popular I guess. I love sharing food with people. Because I had a family history of illness, I learned quite early in life, in my 20s, that there was a connection between health and diet. So I became a vegetarian in my early 20s and since it was quite strange to be a vegetarian at the time, I started sharing vegetarian food with people to get them closer to my side. And people liked my food, so I started teaching. This is how I was able to make friends with people who were interested in eating like me.

I gave up dairy and eggs and very soon I was teaching vegan cooking, always learning more and more as I read to different people about health and how to make my food even healthier and tastier. Then I started reading Dr. Ann Wigmore’s books. I had read “Survival in the 21st Century” by Victoras Kulvinskas many, many years before, but it was so radical for me at the time that the only thing I really believed in was sprouting, which I became part of my life and of my teaching. . I made sauerkraut and a few other things like that, but I certainly didn’t eat a completely raw diet. In fact, when I started reading Dr. Ann Wigmore’s teachings, I realized that I eat very little raw food and wanted to learn more about raw food.

In those days there were no gourmet raw foods. So I went to the clinic in Puerto Rico to meet this amazing woman and learn how she was curing people from incurable diseases using only raw food and wheatgrass juice, that was a big part of that. So I went there with no intention of changing the way I really was, the way I taught, or didn’t cook anymore. That was not part of my plan. I just wanted to learn more. But while I was there I saw so many miracles that I couldn’t ignore them and decided that I would never teach another cooking class again.

Kevin: Wow.

Affection: I had a cookbook ready and on the wings to be published was all cooked vegan food, but I had to put it on the shelf because I couldn’t conscientiously teach cooking after that. She told me while I was there that I would be a beacon of light for her teaching and it just took off like wildfire. People came from all over the world to learn how to do this with me. It was delicious. They felt great and after Victoras found out and started making me prepare food for the events for him.

Kevin: OK, so you worked with him.

Affection: Yes, he actually invited me to attend an event. He was organizing events for Essene meetings. He was an Essene bishop. I threw a women’s festival for him at his retirement in Arkansas and he sat me down and said, “You really have to teach chefs what you’re doing. All four-star restaurant chefs should know how to do what you’re doing. . “

I started teaching and the first class I taught had 45 people in my class and they have been full the entire time. Every time I add new classes, they fill up. It would take three days for seventeen people to set up a culinary school in a convention center. We did that many, many times a year at both Brighten Bush Hot Springs and Harbin Hot Springs because I really thought I had to attract people to come to classes. I thought if I had them in great places, people would come.

Over the years, I’ve always surveyed people about how to improve these classes, what people want the most, and where they would be drawn to go if I taught elsewhere. We built a permanent facility in a city that I love, which is Fort Bragg, California. It is so beautiful there and our students, although it takes a bit to get there, our students love being there. Many of them fall in love with her so much that they move there.

So every morning we start our day with appreciation and it’s wonderful to be able to start the day that way. It really sets the tone for the whole day. Everyone has something to appreciate. They just connect with it. It helps them to really feel that the day is beautiful and special. It doesn’t really matter what happens, even if there is a challenge, they can overcome it. And when you really feel like you have some control over your day, you have control over your life. Even if a challenge arises, you are not a victim.

Kevin: You mentioned raw food cooking. What do you think are the basics someone should have for raw food preparation? And then I want to get into some of the tips and tricks you have for food preparation.

Affection: it’s okay. We always teach our students how to set up your kitchen because it is really important not only the equipment they need, but even how you set it up and how you manage it, how you rotate your fruits and vegetables and store them. There are so many tips that you can learn. It’s like you’re going to start playing tennis, you can connect your way or you can get the best teacher and get to the point. It is very important to have the right tools because obviously you don’t need a microwave and you don’t need an oven. Those things take up a lot of space. There are some things that you really need and some things that are nice to have but don’t have to have for a while.

So I’m going to start with what you have to have. You have to have a good knife and a good cutting board. That is the basics. You have to have that. And you really should have a blender. If you can afford to have the best of everything, then you should buy a high speed blender. My favorite is the Vitamix, but some people like a Blend-tec, but a high speed blender, a good knife, and I suggest at least a good chef’s knife anywhere from a 6-10 inch chef’s knife , depending on what feels good in your hand, and a good cutting board.

Kevin: it’s okay.

Affection: I like bamboo. Bamboo is great because it won’t grow mold. It seals only when you wash it. It’s really nice. It lasts a long time and I never had one. I suggest people have a food processor because you can make patés and you can make cake and cookie crusts and things like that in the food processor. Again, you don’t have to have an expensive one. If you can afford the best, get a 12-cup Cuisinart.

Using a dehydrator is tricky and you need to know how to use a dehydrator correctly because many people think that the lower the temperature they use in a dehydrator the better and that is really not true. A dehydrator can turn into a Petri dish and grow mold and bacteria very, very easily. So if you have something thick and high in water content, you need to turn it up so that the temperature of the food gets hot enough to start evaporating the moisture. And then if you’re going to use a dehydrator, you have to have the right kind of spatula to use. I like to use the offset spatula. That means the putty knife itself is flat and then it has a corner sticking out and then the handle is flat again. To make it ergonomically comfortable and easy to work with. I see people trying to spread things with rubber spatulas. It only takes three to four times as long because you’re struggling to get a smooth, even finish that you can’t get without the right tools. There are many tools that we teach students to use that make their work much easier and more efficient and the product looks more professional as well.