for her recipe book, she revisits North African cuisine in a vegetarian version

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The best of colorful and delicious dishes from Maghreb countries in one book, for the vegetarians. This is the wish of Laura Soret, originally from Meaux, and Sarah Hanoun, two friends who have just released, in November 2024, their book “Maghreb Veggie” from La Plage editions. A true collection which demonstrates that Maghreb dishes can also to be enjoyed without meat.

100 recipes with multiple inspirations

From the cover, this work brings soleil in the gray of winter. A book that is intentional coloredlike the dishes offered there. Through the pages, we discover a multitude of recipes, 100 in totalfrom aperitif to dessert, including drinks. All are vegetarianor even vegan, when possible.

“We only wanted to do revisited dishes, but we said to ourselves that it would be interesting to include dishes that are originally vegetarian” says Laura Soret, who grew up in Meaux and returned to the town for a signing session Saturday December 21, 2024 at Arthur’s World.

For their dishes, the two friends, vegetarians with origins and influences from Morocco and Algeria for Sarah Hanoun and from Tunisia and Libya for Laura Soret, brought together the recipes they the habit of cooking at homeadapted according to their taste. The meat but also the spices are at the heart of Maghreb dishes.

With the importance of spices, it doesn’t take much to replace meat. However, in the Maghreb, even more than in France, we have a lot of prejudices about vegetarian cuisine. In mentalities, eating meat is always synonymous with good health. And then it shows that we have the means when we welcome people.

The two women, who are journalists and entrepreneurs, also made call their family to know their little secrets and go to the source for authentic recipes accessible to all. “It wasn’t easy!” In the Maghreb, we cook a lot by eye or in a pot of harissa! We had to know what dose it corresponded to” remembers Laura Soret, with a smile on her lips.

Open to global thinking

They also increased research to immerse yourself in North African gastronomy and did appeal to several personalities who agreed to share their favorite recipes. For example, we find an interview with Chama Tahiri Ivorra, who created Niya, the first vegan restaurant and cultural café in Casablanca, Morocco.

She also shares her recipe for Vegan KBMa Kefta tagine with eggs. “We can read life stories and it’s interesting because it takes away our guilt. Some have not been vegetarians for a long time, have gone back and forth,” explains Laura Soret, particularly pointing out the portrait of Tarek Idrissi who worked at Nike before becoming aware of overconsumption and overproduction and creating his catering business La Cuisine de Souad.

The young woman took some time before becoming definitively vegetarian, first at the age of 18, without sticking to it strictly, before returning to it at the age of 27. “I realized that the meat I loved was lamb, but that I could never kill it if it was in front of me. I had a flash,” Laura Soret continues before concluding: “This book is aimed at people who want reduce their meat consumption or those who want discover new flavors. It’s a proposal to change a little. »

Maghreb Veggie, published by La Plage, by Laura Soret and Sarah Hanoun, €35. Available in independent bookstores, on Fnac, Cultura, Amazon… Laura Soret will come and sign “Maghreb Veggie” at the Le Monde d’Arthur bookstore, Saturday December 21, 2024, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

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