Tucked away in the community center of Schnuck’s Grocery at the Metro Centre here in Peoria was a gathering of young and old, bodybuilders,
vegetarians and the “diet-curious”. Chef Corinne DiLorenzo Brekke (a native New
Yorker) and Brian Duda (a vegan bodybuilder) put on a raw food demonstration
on behalf of the Peoria Light Tribe group entitled: The Benefits of a Raw and
Gluten-free Diet. It’s a fairly simple idea: eat nothing but raw foods and
stay away from the various processed, gluten-based foods on the market. Of course, Corinne
and Brian make it look easy and are more than willing to share their knowledge
and experience with anyone who is interested.
Chef Corrine DiLorenzo and Chef Brian Duda pulled out all the
stops. DiLorenzo with her energetic demeanor, and Duda with his obviously painstakingly cultivated physique concocted beautifully colored, and most importantly, mouth-watering
dishes. Raw tacos, “rice” pilaf and raw pudding were on the menu for the
evening and the chefs entertained the crowd during preparation. After some
initial introductions and some quick group testimonials DiLorenzo began
chopping… and chopping… and chopping. Needless to say, as a professional chef Corinne is a chopping
machine and shows mastery with her knives. However, raw food recipes are all about
getting the ingredients into a workable, utilitarian state which could be a bit daunting for the average over-worked American because the prep work can be a bit time-consuming..
The tacos consisted of chopped walnuts (for texture) and baby portabello
mushrooms along with colorful chopped peppers, various other vegetables and a
homemade taco seasoning all perched upon a romaine lettuce wrap. The “rice”
pilaf was in fact a pilaf made of shredded zucchini, fresh corn, sundried
tomatoes and other delectable vegetables. There was no rice in the pilaf;
cooked rice goes against a raw diet (who wants to eat raw rice?). Duda (of
Canary Confectionery near Chicago) made an almost comically large batch of extravagant dark chocolate raw pudding
consisting of the simplest ingredients: avocado, cacao powder and amber agave. All of the food was
delicious, colorful and filling. I, for one, didn’t realize a raw food diet
could be so creative and full of flavor. I figured if I went raw I’d be gnawing
on carrots and grass like the bunnies who frolic carelessly in my backyard. I
was way wrong.
The demonstration was fun and educational, but what’s really
important here is that Chef Corinne and Chef Brian are collaborating on Peoria’s
first all vegan, fair trade, organic (and as locally produced food as possible) restaurant, bakery and coffee bar in Peoria Heights’ Heritage Square area entitled
Morning Sky Café. The opening date has yet to be determined, but you
can follow them on Facebook and show your support. Also, Corinne notified us
that she does catering in the meantime until her restaurant opens. All we can
say, here at Real Food Peoria, is you GO GIRL! (and please open your restaurant
sooner than later…)
