The Migraine Cookbook: More Than 100 Healthy and Delicious Recipes for Migraine Sufferers

Mima Vulovic is a sessional lecturer at York University who also works
at the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General.

The Migraine Cookbook, compiled by Michele Sharp, director of
development and communications for the Migraine Association of Canada,
is a useful all-in-one resource of strategies for coping with this often
debilitating disorder.

The introductory section covers basics of diagnosis and management of
migraine, with a particular focus on dietary triggers, one of the most
modifiable factors in controlling the frequency and intensity of
attacks. The recipe section includes appetizers and snacks; soups and
salads; vegetarian, meat, fish, and seafood main courses; side dishes
and vegetables; breads, beverages, and desserts. Each recipe contains a
sidebar that indicates its trigger-free quality—namely, the absence of
common migraine stimulants (caffeine, chocolate, citrus fruits, red
wine, aged cheese, MSG and nitrates, nuts, onion and garlic, and
yeast—and provides nutritional information as well as preparation
pointers.

The food concept ranges from simple comfort foods, а la Big Loonie
Pancakes, to more esoteric and adventurous fare such as Wild Cherry
Tabbouleh and Pumpkin Bisque. Unlike most special-diet cookbooks, this
one actually makes use of true chef’s indispensables—that is,
butter, heavy cream and eggs—and so attains a certain culinary merit
of its own, despite the absence of chocolate, lemon, and wine. In other
words, save for a few speedy solutions such as ready-made sauces and
dried herbs, the vast majority of recipes are honest creations of four
to five good-quality ingredients managed in a pure and unaffected way.
Even the headache-free should find them well worth a try.

The next edition—which will hopefully see the light of day for more
reasons than the fact that there are 30 million migraine sufferers in
North America alone—could nonetheless benefit from some more ambitious
cooking techniques. (For example, all stock is better first broiled and
a pinch of salt is a must in expert dessert making.) That said, this
book achieves its chief purpose, which is to “foster a greater
understanding of [migraine] through education, support and
empowerment,” And what better empowerment is there than a natural,
drug-free appetite for noble foods?