The Raw Chef Blog

Hi, I’m Russell and I’m Raw Chef based in the UK.

My Story…

I first came across raw foods in Koh Samui, Thailand, when I was on a 7 day detox fast at Spa Samui. I was on day 5 of the fast and can remember sitting in the beach-side restaurant reading a raw recipe book from their library. Now, it may have been the fact that I hadn’t eaten for 5 days but I was amazed by the recipes in there. One that particularly grabbed my attention was simply mango and avocado mixed together. It’s strange but I was really blown away that you could do that with mangoes and avos! I read a description in that book of what raw food is and why it is beneficial, it made so much sense and I had one of those life-defining moments, an epiphany.

From that moment on I was hooked, when I got home I went straight for the organic section at my local supermarket. I was already into juicing and Jason Vale’s books before I went to Samui, and to be honest I still think juicing is one of the best entry points to a healthier lifestyle. That was 2 years ago and since then I’ve been back twice! Samui will always hold a special place in my heart since it was there that I not only decided to eat raw but also that I realised I wanted to bring this food to others as a raw chef.

I started reading books on raw food and getting all the information I could. I actually started to get a bit overwhelmed and had to chill out a bit. It was at that time I was taking some serious abuse from people about how much weight I was losing and how stupid I was for spending all my money on organic food. This was from people that would spend double my weekly food bill on beer on a Saturday night out! Have you ever noticed that when you try to make a change for the better in your life there’s an abundance of people ready to tell you why you shouldn’t do it? The people I worked with at the time actually thought I had an eating disorder, they said that I was losing too much weight and in between mouthfuls of pizza and chips would tell me how they thought I wasn’t getting all the nutrients my body needed! I found it incredible that they could be so concerned about me but not even think twice about what they were putting into their own mouths.

you should have seen the circus that formed when I brought in the raw burgers

Lunch times at work became ‘question time with Russell’, I would get asked on a daily basis, “what the hell have you got today?” That was when I was taking in a salad, you should have seen the circus that formed when I brought in the raw burgers. I knew I was onto something from the way I felt and looked so I just kept on doing it. I started eating my lunch outside, in the car by the harbour or anywhere that meant I could just eat in peace! That actually didn’t help much because no one ever saw me eat which made them think that I’d given up food completely! It’s so funny now I look back on it.

I’m not around those people regularly anymore but once they realised I wasn’t going through a phase and wasn’t going to ‘change back’ some of them actually started to accept it and even told me how they respected me for it, that was a great feeling.

It’s at that point that you’re expected to be perfect. I was nearly arrested by the Food Police several times for crimes against healthy eating (I think I was ‘caught’ in the staff restaurant eating a salad with mayo on one occasion and eating a sandwich on another) and regularly heard, “but you’re not allowed that are you?”

As I said, I just kept going and fuelled myself, not just on the food, but on fascinating stories I heard about people eating raw and finding that wonderful synchronistic events would happen that took them closer to the life they wanted to live. I’ve always been interested in success and improving myself to have all the things and experiences I dream about, so I decided it would be a great experiment to see what happens.

finding that wonderful synchronistic events would happen

Since then I have made clear my intention to be a raw chef and have trained as a kitchen Apprentice at the World’s leading raw food culinary arts school - Living Light International . It was on return from that trip that I had an email from The Fresh Network waiting for me, inviting me to work with them to create some ‘raw goings-on’. That offer lead to me moving to Cambridgeshire and being part of the hugely successful Raw Dinner Parties. I am now back on the South Coast of England and have taken many more opportunities to train at some of the most exciting places, in raw food terms, in the world. This included a 3 month trip to New York at the end of 2006.

My Motivation

After discovering raw food and the benefits it can have on my health and the way I look and feel, my immediate desire was to bring it to as many people as possible.

I was also shocked how strongly people reacted to my decision to eat this way

.My motivation to become a raw chef was born out of my experiences when ‘going raw’. I love eating out and I love socialising but there seemed to be very few options for doing either of these when living this lifestyle. I was also shocked how strongly people reacted to my decision to eat this way.

I also have a desire to provide food and recipes that really showcase raw food and all the amazing textures and flavours that can be created. It really is the ultimate way of eating dairy free, gluten free, no refined sugars or salts and list goes on…

Thanks for visiting and I hope you find something to inspire and help you.

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