The Vegetarian Epicure
Anna Thomas wrote her first cookbook The Vegetarian Epicure (1972) while still a film student at UCLA.[1][2] As noted in The Roanoke Times, "for many of the young people turning to vegetarianism in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Anna Thomas was the guru in their kitchens."[3] Thomas later said that while she was a student at UCLA, she "wasn't eating much meat," and thus was focusing on vegetarian cooking.So I was just making things up in 1968 and '69, and somebody said, `Gee, Anna, you're such a good cook, you should write a cookbook.'"[4] The success of the book was due to the fact that it turned away from the ascetic approach found in American vegetarian cookbooks,[4] and its ability to introduce pleasure to American vegetarian meals.