By David A. Sargent,Special to the Sun Journal

LEWISTON – Bates College students enjoyed a special dining experience Wednesday evening when they were served gourmet vegetarian dishes prepared by a world-class chef and cookbook author.

Ken Bergeron, author of the award-winning cookbook, “Professional Vegetarian Cooking,” visited Bates this week for two days of vegan food preparation with students and the college’s dining services staff.

This is the 10th year Bergeron has come to Bates to help the dining staff prepare high-quality vegetarian menu offerings. The visits have expanded to include student sessions in recent years.

Bates is one of the country’s strong schools for vegetarian support, Bergeron said. Part of the reason is a varied ethnic enrollment and students who come here with “sophisticated taste buds.”

Bergeron said he emphasizes aroma, appearance and taste, and does not necessarily try to approximate meat products. Nevertheless, there are vegetarians who like the “meat analog” of garden burgers, he said.

Christine Schwatz, director of dining services at Bates, said about 12 percent of the college’s students profess to be adherents of vegetarian diets, and probably about 75 students practice the complete vegan lifestyle.

Schwartz added that there’s also a political awareness among students who adhere to the vegan lifestyle, which is a stricter plant-based regimen that eliminates all meat, egg and dairy products from diets, as well as use of leather products. Vegans believe they should not be consumers of any food or product that is a result of death, harm or exploitation of any animal.

Bergeron worked Tuesday afternoon with students and members of the college’s PEP Club (People Eating Plants) in preparing a vegan meal from what he calls “super foods” – foods that are especially rich in particular nutrients.

“Berries – especially blueberries – are full of free-radical-fighting antioxidants plus vitamin C,” he said.

All day Wednesday, Bergeron prepared vegan specialties in Memorial Commons, the main dining hall at Bates. After the evening meal, he demonstrated more cooking techniques.

George Diamond, the new head chef at Bates, is enthusiastic about putting excellent vegetarian meals on the table for the students. He also praises Bates College’s longtime policy of buying local produce and organic products.

Diamond and Christopher Nolin, Bates dining services baker, worked under Bergeron’s direction Wednesday to produce a dinner menu that included white bean and kale pottage, mixed sea vegetables, fried mushrooms, fusion tartar sauce, tofu ravioli, cherry tomatoes with garlic, raisins and herbs, spinach, Guinness barley with tri-color confetti, chocolate almond tart and an apple cake.

With the students Tuesday, Bergeron prepared Persian pumpkin soup presto, spinach grits, stuffed mushrooms with soysage and veggie creme cheese, sweet potato pecan spread and blueberry silken parfait.

Bergeron became a vegetarian in 1982. He has owned restaurants, but since 1992 he has concentrated on writing cookbooks and promoting the vegan lifestyle.

His book has a five-star rating on Amazon.com and was awarded “Best Professional Book in English” at the 1999 World Cookbook Fair in Versailles, France. Bergeron’s other awards and honors include being named chef of the year by the Connecticut Chefs’ Association, receiving the 2002 gold medal for the category All Raw Foods Platter at that association’s Culinary Salon, and winning three gold medals at the International Culinary Olympics.

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