When the Cranks wholefood restaurant chain opened in London in the 1960s, its menu was bursting with mung beans, lentils and brown rice.
In the 1990s, along with much vegetarian cookery, it changed tack and embraced white flour, spices, and pasta dishes - much against the wishes of some of the old guard. But recently all but one of the Cranks chains has closed. Nadine Abensur is former food director of Cranks Restaurants and author of The Cranks Bible. To demonstrate that there's still a lot of life left in vegetarian cookery, she's making Moroccan Pumpkin Couscous with a prune and onion confit. Read the recipe The Cranks Bibleby Nadine Abensur, Cassell Illustrated; ISBN: 0304356492, £25
