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Chef Charlise Rookwood released her debut cookbook, called “Vegan Soulicious: Plant-Based Island Cooking.” Source: Handout
Vegan Chef Charlise Rookwood, 51, began cooking at a very young age, learning traditional dishes rooted in her island heritage.
Born and raised in London, England, Rookwood credits her Mauritian mother, Danielle Etheve, and Jamaican father, Whylie Rookwood, for inspiring many of her vegan “soulicious” recipes. Other family members also played a key role in shaping her rich and flavorful palate.
In 2011, Rookwood embraced a plant-based lifestyle and began creating bold, vibrant Caribbean and African dishes—flavors that are often underrepresented in the vegan culinary world.
Over a decade in the industry, she has educated people about the versatility in vegan meals through her digital platforms, at food festivals and while hosting MadameNoire’s “The Black Vegan Cooking Show.”
In the book, she showcases how she makes Jamaican and Mauritian dishes vegan. Source: Clay Williams
The vegan Chef embarked on curating her Caribbean and African fusion dishes with the intention of showcasing to the world who she is, based on the meals she has grown to love throughout her life, from childhood to adulthood, marriage, motherhood, and moving across the Atlantic Ocean to New York City.
“I wanted people to understand that there’s a journey here and it goes right back to my ancestors. So it was really important for me to put every single recipe with a little history into it,” Rookwood told MadameNoire.
Although ecstatic to share her Jamaican and Creole Mauritian vegan dishes with readers, Rookwood admits she wasn’t enthused about curating a cookbook.
“I didn’t realize how much of a challenge it was gonna be for the simple fact that I don’t measure. I just kind of make things; some things are just second nature, some things are just wing it,” Rookwood confessed.
In her book “Vegan Soulicious: Plant-Based Island Cooking, she elaborates on how she was taught to cook based on feeling a dance, a rhythm, and a connection to past generations.
“We cook by feel, by taste, by whispers of our ancestors guiding our hands saying, ‘That’s enough, child,'” the book read. “I’ve tried to keep the spirit of ‘just a sprinkle of this and a dash of that’ alive in every recipe.”
She knew it would be an obstacle, but with time and patience, she was able to nail her measurements down, perfecting each vegan dish shared in the book to embody her cultural roots.
“One of the main things I really wanted to do was to get my story out there. I want everyone to have great recipes and create beautiful vegan comfort food, but I really wanted my mission to be really, really clear. I wanted everyone to see where it came from, Rookwood said.
RECIPES CRAFTED WITH LOVE
Rookwood incorporated her favorite dishes from her Mauritian and Jamaican roots, which she learned from her parents and grandparents. She reminisces about Jamaican meals she would enjoy as a child, such as the bread pudding and her grandma’s famous Fried Chicken, which she has learned to convert into a delicious ‘Vegan Fried Chicken.’
“I started to watch what she was doing with the coating, and that’s when I found out the secret; well, it’s no longer a secret now because it’s in the cookbook,” Rookwood laughed. She noted the chicken is substituted with mushrooms.
Rookwood encourages people who aren’t familiar with the kitchen and vegan dishes to try ‘Jamaican “No Saltfish” Fritters,’ ‘Green Banana Porridge,’ and ‘No Shrimp Curry’ if they want a taste of the Caribbean. And if they want something with a southern twist, the “Vegan Mac n Cheese” is the way to go, she gleefully shared.
The vegan Chef confessed she looks forward to readers learning about Mauritian dishes such as ‘Mine Frire,’ ‘Butter Bean Soup,’ and ‘Aloudas’ because it’s very uncommon to find this cuisine in America.
“Mauritian food is an area of food that is just not explored in the United States. There isn’t a Mauritian community of people that live here,” Rookwood revealed. “There’s not one single Mauritian restaurant in the United States. It’s just not on the radar.”
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