PHUKET'S first raw food workshop today has been a sellout, with the island's foodies extra-keen to learn more about this healthy lean cuisine.

We'll just have to stop using the words ''cook'' and ''cooking'' because they both imply the application of heat.

This cuisine is so lean that the only part of the stove you use is perhaps the top as extra bench space. If you don't need the stove top for bench space, you can get rid of it.

The concept of eating natural food has been around forever, but obesity, additives and preservatives, not to mention packaging and processing, have suddenly driven rumbling stomachs in quest of alternatives.

Enter Ani Phyo, who ran today's innovative raw food workshop on Phuket at Mom Tri's Villa Royale.

''My approach is really about whole food nutrition,'' she told Phuketwan, making the point that even fresh salsa in the US often mostly comes out of a can.

Eating raw means eating whole and fresh, with no coloring, flavoring, processing or preservatives added.

Ms Phyo, now 41, says she last visited McDonald's about middle school. Her father was a raw foodie, and although she has worked in kitchens as a pastry chef, she has no formal training.

The raw food cuisine, like every other cuisine, emphasises texture and taste but with an added emphasis on nutrition.

''Food is best right where you pick it, off the tree or the bush,'' she said. Once fruit is picked, it begins dying and losing nutrients.

The heat involved in cooking destroys more of its goodness.

When transporting, packaging, processing, storage and cooking are taken into account, the seemingly-efficient farmyard-to-supermarket process largely wastes nutrition and energy.

With raw, there are fewer food contamination issues, and far fewer concerns about allergies.

Phuket and Thailand are ideal environments for uncooked food because fresh markets are everywhere, although whether or not the food is organic is harder to determine.

In an ideal world, Ms Phyo says, everyone would grow their own food and eat it as soon as it was picked. And that sounds just like parts of Phuket.

With her permission, here are today's raw food Phuket recipe treats:



Vanilla Cashew Mylk
(makes 4 servings)

1/2 cup cashews
1/4 cup dates, pitted and packed
1 vanilla bean
pinch sea salt
4 cups water

Place ingredients into your blender with 2 cups of the water. Blend smooth.
Add remaining 2 cups of water. Blend to mix well, and serve.

Almond Mango Breakfast Cobbler
(makes 4 servings)

CRUST
1 1/4 cup almonds
1 vanilla bean, scraped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup pitted and packed medjool dates
2 Tablespoons coconut oil or butter

FILLING
4 cups Mango, pitted and cubed
1/4 cup honey
1 cup coconut cream

To make crust, place almonds, vanilla, and salt into food processor.
Lightly process into small pieces.
Add dates and coconut butter, process to mix well.
Sprinkle half of the crust onto bottom of a loaf pan.
Make filling by tossing together all filling ingredients in mixing bowl.
Scoop mixture onto crust. Top with remaining crust.
Gently press. Enjoy.



Garden Pate Filled Nori Rolls
(makes 4 servings)

FILLING
1 cup almonds
2 cups cashews
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 clove garlic
3 carrots, chopped
1/4 cup yellow onion, chopped
1/2 cup raisins
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice, from 1/2 lemon

WRAPPING
4 sheets nori, or 8 sheets if too thin
4 cups spinach leaves, washed and dried
To make filling, process almonds and cashews into a powder. Set aside.
Next, process ginger, garlic, carrots, onion, raisins, and salt into small pieces.
Add oil, lemon juice, powdered almonds and cashews, and process to mix well.
Wrap by placing nori sheets onto at surface.
Spread dry spinach leaves along half of nori sheet closest to you.
Spread about 1/4 cup lling evenly on top of spinach.
Roll up nori sheet.
Slice into 6 pieces using a sharp knife.
Serve with soy sauce and wasabi.

Tom Yum Inspired Soup
(makes 4 servings)

TOPPINGS
1/4 cup shallot, thinly sliced
1/2 cup straw mushrooms, sliced
3 tablespoons Thai chili peppers, chopped, to taste
1/4 cup lime juice
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

SOUP BASE
2 cups coconut meat
1 teaspoon garlic
5 medium Ka r lime leaves
1/3 cup coconut oil
2 tablespoons lemon grass, chopped, lower stalks only
1 teaspoon sea salt
3 to 4 cups filtered water, as desired

GARNISH
2 tablespoons cilantro leaves, chopped
First, marinate toppings by mixing together all topping ingredients in a bowl.
Set aside for 10 minutes or more to soften.
Into your blender, place soup base ingredients with 1 cup water. Blend smooth.
Add remaining water, as desired. Blend to mix well.
To serve, scoop soup base into 4 bowls.
Top with marinated vegetables.
Garnish with cilantro leaves, and enjoy.



Thai Spring Rolls with Almond Dipping Sauce
(makes 4 servings)

THAI DIPPING SAUCE FILLING
1/4 cup olive oil
1 zucchini, julienne
4 ka r lime leaves
1 cup mung bean sprouts
1 tablespoon Nama Shoyu
1/2 bunch basil, de-stem
2 Thai red chilies, to taste
1/2 bunch cilantro, de-stem
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoon almonds
1/4 bunch mint, de-stem
1 lemon's juice
1-2 Thai chili, finely chop
1 cup water, as needed

WRAPPER
3 large collard green leaves, de-stem and halve
To make dipping sauce, place sauce ingredients into your blender, adding water
as needed. Blend smooth.
To wrap, place leaves onto at surface. Layer with fillings, and roll.
Serve with dipping sauce.

Baja Fresh Taco Boats Filled with with Cilantro Cashew Cheeze, Fresh Corn and Tomato Salsa, and a Ground Almond Taco Meat
(4 servings)

TACO MEAT
1 cup almonds
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
1/8 teaspoon sea salt

CHEEZE
1 1/2 teaspoon garlic
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup cashews
2 tablespoons lemon juice, from about 1 lemon
1/4 cup packed cilantro leaves
1/4 cup water, as needed

BOATS & TOPPING
12 small romaine leaves
1 avocado, pitted, sliced
1 tomato, sliced
To make taco meat, process almonds into small pieces.
Add oil, cumin, coriander, and salt. Process to mix well. Set aside.
To make cheeze, process garlic and salt into small pieces. Add cashews, lemon juice,
cilantro, and just enough water to process into a thick cream texture. Set aside.
Make salsa my mixing together ingredients in a bowl. Set aside.
Assemble by lling romaine leaves with about 2 tablespoons cheeze.
Sprinkle 1 to 2 tablespoons Taco Meat and Salsa over Cheeze.
Top with avocado slices and serve.

Pineapple Ice Box Dessert
(makes 8 servings)

CRUST & FILLING
1 1/2 cups cashews
1 1/2 cups cashews
1 vanilla bean, scraped
1/3 cup honey
2 Tablespoons honey
1/4 cup coconut oil, liquid
2 1/2 cup cored and chopped pineapple
Make crust by processing cashews into small pieces with vanilla.
Add honey, and process to mix well.
Sprinkle half of the crust mixture into bottom of a loaf pan.
To make filling, in high-speed blender, blend cashews with honey and liquid coconut oil into a smooth cream. Into a mixing bowl, toss cream with pineapple to mix well.
Scoop filling mixture into loaf pan. Top with remaining crust, and gently press down.
Freeze dessert overnight or until frozen.

More at www.AniPhyo.com

Mom Tri is a Phuketwan sponsor.