love, eric - Cookbook Review

Delicious Vegan Macrobiotic Desserts

by Eric Lechasseur

(mugen LLC, 2005)

Chef Eric Lechasseur started dabbling with microbiotics when his wife Sanae was diagnosed with cancer in 1993. Today, Sanae is well, and Lechasseur has cured himself of debilitating allergies. The former head pastry chef at Los Angeles macrobiotic mecca M Café de Chaya has published love, eric, a vegan, macrobiotic desserts cookbook that is a true love letter to this life-affirming approach. Macrobiotic sweets may not sound like an indulgence, but wait till you try the lavender sable cookies, persimmon rice pudding and baked pear with walnut stuffing and crème Anglaise. Recipes are uncomplicated, and you won’t come across that white nemesis to good health, processed sugar. With innovative, twists on pies, tarts, cookies and cakes, all sumptuously photographed, Lechasseur proves that eating macro doesn’t mean sacrificing flavor and food presentation in favor of strict health dictums.

Reviewed by Sylvie Greil