From the Latin aqua (water) and faba (beans), aquafaba is the cooking liquid found in tinned beans and other legumes like chickpeas or the liquid left over from cooking your own. It can be used to replace egg whites in many sweet and savoury recipes. Its unique mix of starches, proteins, fibre and sugars, which are left in the water after cooking, gives aquafaba a wide range of emulsifying, foaming, binding and thickening properties, making it the perfect ingredient in vegan cooking or recipes for those who have egg allergies.

It's amazing to think that this precious liquid that we all threw down the sink could have such incredible properties? This is a real culinary revolution. The authors give all the secrets of aquafaba; how to make your own at home with just chickpeas and water and then how to use it in a dazzling array of recipes. Aquafaba beaten with a whisk produces a mountain of snowy white, giving volume to your muffins, and binding in your pasta.

At last for vegans, lemon meringue pie, mousses, mayonnaise, macaroons and meringues are on the menu. Sebastien and Laura have thought of everything. Having created your aquafaba there are even a collection of recipes at the end of the book which use those cooked chickpeas to make hummus, falafels and curries.