BRYANNA CLARK GROGAN, VEGAN CHEF AND COOK BOOK AUTHOR
Bryanna presenting at the McDougall Celebrity Weekend, June 08 (Photo by Scott Hurlbert)
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Bryanna has devoted 40 years to the study of cooking and nutrition, the last 20 to vegan cooking. Eighteen of her (pre-vegetarian) recipes appeared in The Harrowsmith Cookbook, Vol. I and some in The Harrowsmith Pasta Cookbook, as well.She wrote newspaper cooking columns for over 20 years, wrote and edited a newsletter on bread and sourdough, and was a frequent contributor and reviewer for Vegetarian Times magazine for about 5 years. In 2001 she became a “resident expert” and moderator of the Vegsource New Vegetarian discussion board.
She has conducted cooking workshops and classes in her local area and at numerous health and vegetarian conferences and gatherings in North America over the years (including several NAVS Summerfests) .In February 2002 she was a guest speaker at the International Scientific Conference on Chinese Plant Based Nutritionand Cuisine in Philadelphia, hosted by the American Vegan Societyand the Institute for Plant Based Nutrition. Over several years, Bryanna has demonstrated some of her recipes and signed books at the Vegetarians of Washington2-day "Vegfest"in Seattle, and has also appeared at the Portland, Oregon's VegFest. Some of her recipes appear in the Seattle VegFest cookbook, The Veg-Feasting Cookbook . In April of 2006 and 2007, Bryanna presented , along with many reknowned vegan chefs and restauranteurs, at the Vegetarian Awakening vegan chefs' conference in Grand Rapids, MI. Bryanna presented two workshops at the McDougall Celebrity Chef Weekend 2008 in Santa Rosa, CA.
Bryanna was born in California, but has resided in British Columbia, Canada for many years.She raised a family of four children, two foster sons, and also has two stepsons, and now has 9 grandchildren.She was a La Leche League leader (mother-to-mother breastfeeding support) for several years andtaught cooking and baking at LLL International conferences in Chicago, Kansas City, Washington, DC and Anaheim, as well as serving as an Associate Editor for the LLL official cookbook,Whole Foods for the Whole Family, still in print (NAL Books). She was also instrumental in opening the first vegetarian restaurant in Courtenay, BC.
Bryanna loves experimenting and learning.The main focus of her cooking is low-fat vegan cooking, particularly ethnic cooking.She is considered an expert at making tofu appealing to die-hard “soyaphobes”,but in her books 20 Minutes to Dinner, Nonna’s Italian Kitchen, she has addressed the needs of vegans allergic to soy by providing non-soy alternatives to most of the soy-based recipes.With each book she learns more about the processes of cooking—how and why things work.Her great joy is sharing what she’s learned with others.
Bryanna plans to write a mystery novel someday with a vegan detective, combining two of her life interests! She also loves dancing, particularly Middle Eastern and Latin, and danced with the Melissae Dance Company of Denman Island, BC for over 5 years.