Raw Chef Extraordinaires Bring ‘Uncooking’ Classes to Your Home

Picture a group of your best friends huddled around the stove in your kitchen while a private chef demonstrates how to cook a delicious dish. Sounds like a great party, right? Now imagine that the chef is not teaching you how to cook the food, but rather how to "uncook" it. In other words, how to make raw, vegan dishes.

That’s exactly what the Zuddha Girls do with their “Uncooking Classes.” Zuddha, from Sanscrit meaning "pure" and "cleansed," is a fitting name for the parntership between Sophie Jaffe, a certified raw foods chef, and Dani Larson, a classicaly trained natural foods chef.

Like many friendships, theirs was born out of a shared love for chocolate. "Dani was on a family vacation and was talking about these raw chocolate superfood truffles she makes," Jaffe said. A mutual friend who overheard the conversation insisted that the two meet. "The rest is history. We're pretty much soul mates."

At a Zuddha Girls "Uncooking Class," you might learn how to make a superfood smoothie, a raw gazpacho, raw pesto with kelp noodles, or a raw decadent dessert like raw chocolate mousse pie. Classes cost $100 plus $20 per additional guest after the first one.

"We use local, seasonal ingredients," Larson said. "We are always trying out and teaching new dishes according to what is available and sparking our interest and creativity at the moment."

According to Larson and Jaffe, cooking your food removes active enzymes and nutrients and can add harmful carcinogens. By preparing foods raw, you get all of the health benefits, while retaining a taste and texture similar to that of cooked food.

For more information on the Zuddha Girls' "Uncooking Class" and other services, visit their website or email zuddhagirls@gmail.com.