So what exactly is paleo cooking? Created in 1975 by Walter Voegtlin, the Paleolithic diet (aka “caveman ” or “stone-age” diet) utilizes foods that post-Neolithic Revolution humans are presumed to have consumed: fruits, vegetables, roots, nuts, and meat. That excludes grains, gluten, sugar, dairy products, legumes, processed oils, salt, and (sorry, hipsters!) coffee and alcohol.
Like a culinary Tim Burton, Walker doesn’t merely replicate a traditional dish; she “re-imagines” it. Omitting dairy and sugar doesn't have to mean obliterating taste, according to Walker, who has done wonders with this otherwise atonal cuisine, conjuring up everything from beef stroganoff to Asian fare. People attending Walker’s Bacara’s demonstration will learn to prepare lamb gyro pasta, with spiralized noodles made from zucchini.
A sensei of sensible cooking, Walker has a backstory as dramatic as a Grey’s Anatomy episode. For months, she had suffered drastic weight loss, joint pain, malnutrition, and countless doctor visits before being diagnosed with severe ulcerative colitis, which begot multiple hospitalizations and blood transfusions due to low hemoglobin levels.