Meet Deborah durrant

In 2012, I combined my interests as a lifelong passionate foodie and a keen interest in a raw plant-based diet with 25 experience as a coach and trainer to start Deliciously Raw Academy. 

Here’s my story.

When I first discovered a plant-based way of life in 2005, I was challenged to eat salad and seeds for 10 days.

I was told it would be good for me and I would feel better.

Those 10 days confirmed so much to me. They confirmed that I wasn't at all into a raw food diet.

They confirmed to me that I was a complete and utter cooked foodie.

The experience of eating salad and seeds for ten days confirmed that I love Patisserie Valerie, a comforting bowl of warm soup on rainy days and slurping ramen with friends. It confirmed that I quite like the aroma of a casserole in the oven and sinking my spoon into an unctuous fruit custard. It confirmed to me that yes, I like my body, but.... I like food.

The struggle is real.

Over the years, I’ve drunk too much, eaten too much cake and then had no wine or cake and been to the gym for a few weeks to compensate.

I’ve taken up yoga, Pilates, boxing and swimming. I’ve eaten vegan, gluten-free, nightshade-free and coffee-free.

How many times have I bounced from one health kick to another?

Many times. Nothing lasted for very long.

Does this sound familiar?

Yet I knew that a high raw plant-based lifestyle was good for my health, but I couldn’t find anything that tasted that great. I wasn’t a massive fan of kale, I thought Quinoa was a place in South America and I wasn’t that keen on salad.

Hmmm. So how come I started Deliciously Raw?

It took ten years for me to learn to make raw plant-based food that tastes every bit as delicious as cooked food. It didn’t happen overnight. It was years of trial and error and if I’m honest, it became an obsession. 

I kept bouncing back to old favourites, but I knew that ultimately, if I didn't change, I would pay for it with my health.

So, this is what I did.

I learned to make raw soups as comforting and warming as any cooked soups. I developed a blueprint to make them work every time because let's face it, cold blended vegetables are disgusting no matter what people tell you.

I now make raw cakes that look and taste just like the ones you get in Patisserie Valerie, so I didn’t feel deprived... and if I'm honest with myself I feel pleased that they look every bit as amazing. We eat with our eyes too, don't we?

I regularly enjoy dairy-free lattes, ramens and all the cooked foods that I enjoyed as raw, completely vegan and out of plants - and importantly every bit as delicious as the cooked versions, if not more so.

I learned to create raw food that will completely transform any fine dining experience you may ever have. And nothing gives me more pleasure than to see people's faces when I tell them that they have just eaten a decadent chocolate dessert containing a courgette and black olives.

You can do this too.

I wasn’t going to be fobbed off with a salad and handful of seeds as I’m not that kind of eater. I never have been and never will be. If it’s not delicious enough to stand up against a bowl of tiramisu, it won’t make the grade.

So, if you’re a foodie just like me but you know that your body is telling you something, maybe try making small changes every day and eat more raw plants. 

But it doesn’t have to be a handful of salad and seeds.  Try the recipes on this website, they are 100% tested and delicious.

If you feel like delving deeper into the how’s and why’s, I have a look at the Deliciously Raw Academy. 

Because I think your body might be talking, are you going to listen?

I suspect it is going to have the final word.

Am I Qualified to help you? 

I hold a Diploma in Advanced Raw and Living Cuisine with Professional Applications (MK Cuisine), hold a Diploma in Advanced Vegan Cookery (Demuths) and a Certificate in Cooked Patisserie (Ashburton). I have also worked at one of Matthew Kenney’s raw food restaurants in Maine, US.  

I am a qualified coach and change practitioner holding a master’s degree with merit in Change Agents Skills and Strategies from the University of Surrey. This is a pretty useful skill and has taught me a thing or two about how to help people make effective changes in their lives. 

I am also a Certified Cultural Transformation Tools Consultant™, hold the Four Fields Foundation Qualification in Transactional Analysis and I have a Certificate in Writing Life Narratives from University of Oxford.