There’s also the fact that when give the choice between the pub and blogging I think the former will almost always win, so that was my Wednesday. Yeah.

As usual the potluck was full of fabu people, excellent food, and lots of silliness. The new venue, near Holborn tube, is also much more central and has the potential to hold loads more people (and food). I’m going to miss the event being held at Ms Cupcake, however, just because they’re all so lovely and I’m a bit in love with Brixton.

Drooling from the other side of the camera

Stuffed Shells - a big hit

Quiche Broccoli from Vegan Brunch

Awesome, cool, beautiful people

I don’t think people realise  I spend most of my time by myself, indoors, working (I’m self-employed and work from home), so I don’t see a great deal of social contact outside of these events. My theory (excuse?) for my excitability when I’m out is I’m just getting it all out in one go. Anyway if you’ve noticed a short blondish girl with the dress sense of a toddler stealing food from your plate and/or randomly feeding you with fingers, my apologies.

This is a complete rehash of the same recipe sheets from last year, but I love to keep my favourite MoFo recipes together (just kidding but I do like to pretend to be organised). They’re in PDF format, so you can either type stuff in (hello copy/paste) or print them blank (you’ll have to delete the text) and hand write stuff on.

There are two sizes: A4 for those of us in countries that don’t use letter size, and and letter size for those of you who don’t use A4 size. If you’re in the states, it’s letter. Please let me know if you have any problems (I recall a couple of folks did last year, but I can’t remember exactly what).

Vegan Month of Food 2011 Recipe Sheets

• MoFo Recipe Organiser (A4 Size) (42)
• MoFo Recipe Organiser (US Letter Size) (45)

I’ve been quiet. Super quiet, uninspired even, but here’s to this year’s Vegan Month of Food (MoFo) getting me back in gear!

Many of you know what Vegan MoFo is all about and how it came to be, but for those that don’t it was created around the concept of NaNoWriMo. The basic concept is to write as much as possible during the month about, you guessed it, vegan food.

Last year my focus was on Southeast Asian cuisine, while this year I’m concentrating on whatever comes to mind.* For week one I have planned** a series of posts on soy foods, mostly based on making your own. Think fresh soy milk, yuba, tofu, okara, and things to do with them.

And that’s about all this gal’s got. Aside from a stick on tattoo that says  ”hello my name is Mrs Bieber.” Hey, it was a birthday gift.

* Don’t be surprised if I just post all about ponies one day.
** Consider just how loosely I am using this word.

What strikes me most about Blissful Bites is how accessible it is by folks who just want a good selection of simple dishes to throw together without hours of effort. It’s a good book to open when looking for week night meals – just select two or 3 dishes and you’ve got a complete dinner (Christy provides some sample menu ideas at the back of the book).

Coconut Polenta and Dijon Dill Green Beans

The book is picture heavy and is laid out in an orderly fashion, first by meal and food groups and then by seasonal ingredients. Helpful icons indicating allergens, timings, and favourites are also a nice addition to the already easy to read recipe listings. Basically the inside pages are really, really pretty.

Most of the ingredients are easily accessible here in the UK, so I’m assuming the same would apply for much of Europe.

I’ve tried a small selection of recipes from the book and believe it to be best suited to people who lead busy lifestyles and want to consume more natural whole foods and grains in their diet. There are also quite a few macrobiotic and raw food recipes if that’s your thing. Quantities of salt and sugar are kept minimal as well (but you can always be cheeky like me and add more), the latter often replaced by increasingly popular sweet subs like brown rice syrup.

Thyme for Miso Soup from Blissful Bites

Unfortunately I haven’t been able to capture many decent pictures, but I’ll be adding more  Blissful Bites recipe images as I cook my way through the book! That is, of course, provided I ever make anything but the miso thyme soup ever again (so, so good).

If you like the look and sound of this new book, please support Christy and purchase Blissful Bites.

SAF Kensington

http://www.safrestaurant.co.uk/

Lunch to Share

I met with a new friend (who I met via the amazing Ms Cupcake potlucks) and due to near starvation on his part we nearly left to go in search of one of London’s many vegan buffets. Alas, my ninny failing phone and its inability to tell me anything (don’t get a smartphone; they make you a stupidperson) and lack of decision-making skills naturally meant one thing: someone else had to be in charge of everything. So we stayed- mostly, I think, because my lunch companion wanted food pronto.

We decided to order a few different things to share, always a win-win when there are lots of drool worthy menu items. From the starters we chose the Mushroom Gyoza and the Saf Cheese Trio. Both were winners but the latter absolutely rocked the meal. I make a lot of cashew cheeses at home so my expectations were fairly high, but I wasn’t disappointed in the slightest. The plate came with three varieties, a herb, tomato, and olive cheese (if I remember correctly). All were equally good in my mind. I’m always doubtful of anything containing flax (I love what it does for baked goods, but if I can taste it then you can keep it all), but for some reason their raw flax crackers don’t have the same grassy flavour. Orange and yellow pepper coulis garnished the plate, along with a jam and fresh herbs. It’s pricey at £14.80, but a treat worth the splurge.

The gyoza was also tasty, but a little misleading. The menu describes it as “wrapped in bean curd,” but it was steamed in ordinary flour dumpling pastry. Our server informed us the change was due to the curd not holding up as well, which I can understand having worked with yuba myself (assuming that’s what they were using). The shiitake mushroom filling still stood out (how could anything with shiitakes not?) but I’d have loved to, purely out of curiosity, see how they made the soy based version.

I was a big fan of the Pad Thai on Manna‘s old menu, so the same stood out immediately on SAF’s menu. Plus our server  recommended it as his favourite, so that’s what we opted to try. Dressed in a creamy chipotle sauce (not very spicy unless you choose to consume the chilies alongside), the dish came stacked with courgette noodles, thinly sliced carrot, fresh coriander and tomatoes, sprouts, peanuts, and what I’m assuming was mangetout. A cool addition to the plate was a few sheets of nori; my buddy had the smart idea of making little sushi rolls, which were ace. Totally worth ordering.

Dessert

For pudding we split a slice of the berry cheesecake, a creamy cashew based treat in a coconut crust with berry coulis. Some vegan cheesecakes are naff, but thankfully this was completely the opposite. I pretty much licked the plate (surprise from classy ol’ me).

Final Thoughts

Don’t discount raw food just because it sounds, well, like raw food. I’ve been happy with every raw meal out that I’ve tried, and SAF was no exception. I can’t wait to go back to try their Pho (And eff me, the Havana Daydreaming cocktail looks… dreamy!)

Two months ago I posted a review of October Café, expressing my excitement over London having another awesome vegan business. There are plenty of vegans with small businesses out there, whether as full time caterers or part time bakers, but actually opening and running a shop is beyond their means.

Sound familiar? If you’ve got a vegan mini-business or sideline money-bringer-inner and want to expand further for practically no layout, read on! This is a fantastic opportunity for vegans looking to sell their cruelty free goodies in a fabulous location, alongside equally fabulous people. Contact Peter at info@octobercafe.co.uk if you have any questions or want more details.

Redwood Foods sponsored the event, and the awesome Ms Cupcake crew (*ahem* Jayson‘s savoury cooking skills are on par with his baking abilities) threw together two fabulous trays using the new meatballs. One included a tomato based sauce with fresh basil and the other a rich onion gravy. A great big thanks to Redwood for the donation; they went down a treat.

One of my favourite food concepts was Fat Gay Vegan‘s chipotle popcorn with brown sugar. It’s totally going to hit my movie night snack list one night soon. Other grub on offer included the pita pockets above (yum), chai tea (double yum), dessert strawberry gazpacho, mini quiches, chocolate bonbons, an ace chickpea stew (bring on the chili!), pakoras with raita, sesame seitan, and loads more.

A massive thanks to the Ms Cupcake staff for opening up their space for the potluck. I can’t wait for the next one (and if you’re in London, vegan or not, you should be excited too. Come along!)

Brighton PPK Picnic

On Saturday we celebrated veganism some more with our third Post Punk Kitchen summer vegan picnic. Despite having met plenty of great folk (and made some BFFS) from these gatherings, I still get excited about the prospect of meeting other cool potential friends. This year’s picnic wasn’t disappointing in that respect.

Even if you’re shy and anxious, I encourage you to pluck up the courage and attend events like this. It’s such an overwhelming feeling to know you can eat everything there and the people surrounding you hold the same underlying views. Even when you don’t know everyone (or anyone), there’s a lot of comfort to be found at these gatherings.

Mestizo

http://london.mestizomx.com/

Starters

Panuchos at Mestizo

Panuchos: Two corn pastries topped with refried beans and marinated onion (£6.80).

I’m sorry, but corn tortillas beat their flour-based cousin’s arse in almost every way (save the godsend comfort food that is the burrito). Stuffed and smothered with refried black beans and sauce, topped with pickled red onions, they take tostadas up about a million levels. I can’t wait to try making my own version!

Taco Nopales at Mestizo

Taco Nopales: Two corn tortillas topped with tender cactus leaf and tomato, cilantro, onion, and japaneño chiles (£4.80).

Again with the tortillas. Admittedly this was my first taste of cactus, and I’ve got to say I’m a fan. I can only imagine if I ever tried it fresh from the source I’d praise it yet higher. Not at all spicy, not a chile in sight, these colorful little wraps come with a side of basic black bean sauce. I tried my best to be as British as possible, so ate them with a knife and fork (for real, this is the only country in the world where you might see people consume even burgers with cutlery).

Main

Molcajete Mestizo with Chipotle

Vegan Molcajete: …mixed grilled vegetables, spring onions, cilantro and avocado and your choice of salsa roja, tomatillo, mole or chipotle (£19.40 for two).

The molcajete is Mexico’s answer to the pestle and mortar, a stone recepticle for grinding foods and preparing condiments. Additionally, as in Mestizo, the container can be used as cookware for stews.

At £9.80 per person for a minimum of two servings (including a stack of warm flour tortillas- they offered us more when we ran out), this bubbling pot could easily feed a third starving dining companion.

Molcajete Mestizo

We ordered the chipotle version and while it was spicy, it wasn’t over the top (in fact it was about the perfect level of spice for me). You might need a glass or ten of something cold to wash away the heat, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Inside the pot was a selection of cactus leaf, avocado, and a variety of other vegetables (including a gigantic submerged and uncuttable spring onion), topped with a stack of fresh coriander. I think I probably say this every time I enjoy a meal, with good reason because it’s true, but I’ve been craving this every day since I had it.

Final Thoughts

All American expats in London should already be on the phone booking a table, but if not then I implore you to consider Mestizo sometime soon. If you like Latin flavours you’ll love this London gem. My only complaints involve a sometimes over-eager table service, a bit too speedy on the dish takeaway without first checking if you’re finished (though this did improve with the main course). I’d also like to see jugs of water on the table as opposed to tiny water glasses (it would save staff time and effort running around to give refills all the time).

Finally I hope Mestizo will both add the vegan menu to its website and remove honey from one of its listed vegan salads (maybe they have- I didn’t enquire). It’s not a restaurant vegans are talking about and it should be, but without making the menu public the so-called London vegan Mexican menu remains to many more of a rumour than an absolute fact. If you agree then please consider contacting them to request they add the vegan menu to their website.

The food itself was absolutely flawless. I can’t wait to go back.

Sticky Toffee Donuts from Vegan Desserts

Some of the recipes are elaborate and demand some skill, time, and attention while others are straightforward and come together quickly and easily, but one thing is guaranteed: they’ll all taste great. The book is divided into seasons, making use of fresh ingredients you’re more likely to source locally at a given time of year. The spring section welcomes in the start of the strawberry season with strawberry-kiwi pie and summer brings those berries home with blueberry biscotti and an apricot frangipani tart. Winter’s blood orange upside down cake has me drooling just at the thought.

Rum Raisin Brownies from Vegan Desserts

It’s not all fruit, however. You’ll see plenty of chocolate on these pages, plus inventive cakes and desserts for nut lovers as well. Autumn welcomes in rich bold rum raisin brownies and absolutely to die for sticky toffee doughnuts. Jump back to summer for the cherry berry peanut butter cobbler or push forward to enjoy winter’s chocolate chestnut torte.

Carrot Cake Ice Cream from Vegan Desserts

Ice cream lovers should also rejoice over the numerous recipes in the package, from creamy carrot cake ice cream to mean, green pistachio and toasted coconut key lime ice cream (plus more). Honestly there’s something in this book for everyone, to suit every taste. There’s even an index to sort by food allergy!

A variation of Hannah's Macarons

Alas, the truth is I bought this book for one reason and one reason alone: I knew there would be a recipe for vegan macarons inside. Macarons are the one thing I miss most from my pregan days, and every single other veganised version I’ve seen hasn’t even come close. I wanted that texture that can only be imparted from whipped egg white, and while I was already close with my own trials it was Hannah’s method that pulled everything into place. Light and crispy on the outside with a soft meringue-like texture in the centre, it melts in your mouth.

Vegan Desserts is a book well worth owning. Its presentation is stunning and the recipes are, well, if you got this far then you know what I think. You should definitely check it out. Thanks to Hannah Kaminsky for her hard work and dedication putting this project together.

Jayson's Spanish "chicken," Lentil and Buckwheat cakes, Macaroni Cheese, and Chips

At any rate Paul is off work this week so we decided to head up to the city for the day, and I’m beyond glad we did. The spread was good enough to eat (and eat it I did) and it was nice to see some familiar faces (a shout out to the To Happy Vegans girls, who are adorable) and meet some new people (who it turns out aren’t always as scary I play them out in my head to be).

I know every vegan says it at every vegan event and every vegan restaurant, but there’s nothing like being able to look at a selection of food and know you can eat every single thing in front of you. Vegan Bear‘s Spanish “chicken” was one of my savoury favourites, with Peter’s (owner of October Cafe, another must in London) frangipane tart a front-runner in the desserts category. Other favourites from other contributors: the fruit and chocolate pie in a coconut crust, cinnamon doughnut muffins, home made ciabatta, space invader chocolates (by ChocoAGoGo), and a tempeh dish (a soy product I could just eat raw I love it so much). I didn’t get around to trying everything, unfortunately, as my stomach was approaching explosion by the time I rolled out the door.

Space Invader Chocolates by ChocoAGoGo

A massive thank you to Sweetbird for providing enough free smoothies for attendees to sample multiple flavours; I think I’m a little bit in love. I’ve been a fan of their coffee syrups for years and the smoothies are equally fabulous.

Browse below for more pictures!

From left to right: Jojo (veganinbrighton.blogspot.com), Me, Holley

First of all, a huge thanks to both everyone who came by and supported the cause and to the generous bakers who donated their time and efforts. It was a great day, a huge success, and we sold out completely by 4:30 in the afternoon. The total amount raised was £480, which will be split between Sea Shepherd and the East Sussex Wildlife Rescue and Ambulance Service.

A great big thank you and shout out to Wai Kika Mu Kau Cafe in Kensington Gardens for generously providing the space for this charity fundraising event. They do a mean vegan breakfast, so if you’re ever in town and in need for a good meat free brekkie then I highly recommend you to check them out!

Goods on offer

We were selling by 10am, and immediately at a good rate. Goods for sale included a variety of cupcakes, including donations by the lovely Ms Cupcake and the Operation Icing not-for-profit business- raspberry, Earl Grey, Crunchie, peanut butter chocolate, and peppermint were just some of the flavours on offer. Along with cupcakes, Operation Icing also contributed agave banana breads, courgette (zucchini) muffins, brownies and more.

My donations included giant peanut butter cookies (also popular), gingerbread biscotti, baked bean and cheezly pasties, gluten free chocolate chip cookies, and pressed Scottish shortbread. Donations from other local vegan bakers included chocolate cake, awesome cookies, a gluten free vanilla coffee cake, peanut butter chocolate banana bread, mini filo quiches, and chocolate oat balls (yes, I said balls).

Daily highlights

The day started out with a laugh when, quite early on, a charming youth paraded through the street in that pompous chav march (you know, the one that makes someone look like they’re packing blow up their bum and are walking on needles whilst trying to keep their 5-sizes-too-big tracksuit bottoms up). “I can bake better cakes than that,” she boasted as she walked by. “Why don’t you go home and do that then?” was our friend Holley’s response, to which the girl assured us she would.

I hope I have the privilege of seeing her again in a few years’ time.

Another bright spot in the day was a North Laines worker’s request for one of the “magical sticks.” In hindsight I should have just ditched the gingerbread biscotti tags and hand printed new ones.

While there were still cupcakes available, a father stopped with his two girls. The younger daughter’s eyes grew huge as she stared up at the table of goodies, looking longingly as her father asked her whether she would rather have cake or sweeties. Naturally, being a smart kid, she was set on the former. He asked again to be sure, and she continued to insist on a cupcake. Behind the table we already knew the choice she’d made: surely she wasn’t the only one who could see the best of both worlds in the sweetie cupcake, an Operation Icing  cupcake topped with sweets! Children are smarter than we give them credit for sometimes.

A lot of people slowed down as they walked past, smiling and making a motion to their stomachs as they attempted to move on. “I’m on a diet” or “I’m stuffed from lunch” were frequent comments, but as soon as we implored them to have a closer look as it’s for charity nearly all of them came back. One woman’s response was a bright and cheerful “alright! Get fat for charity!” Personally I’m down with that slogan.

Sell Out

By 4pm the customer numbers were dwindling. There were no longer parents with youngsters in hand to drag them to the table, and dinnertime was approaching so most people were moving quickly home. At that point we bagged everything up and knocked all items down to a quid, which saw a big surge in customers once more. Alas, they cleared after five minutes, which left us no choice but to verbally accost passersby to buy the remaining goods. Our sound logic and exhaustion showed through by this hour, with classic lines such as Jojo’s shouting of “everything’s a quid! Buy cakes and save animals! Spend one pound and get free cake!”

It went from there to “Charity bake sale, everything’s a pound! End of the day sale!” and finally to “we’re cold and want to go to the pub so please just spend a quid so we can sell these last nine things!”

“I like ponies!” was my contribution, at which point Jojo very encouragingly patted me on the shoulder and said I almost had the right idea.

It was a brilliant day. Thanks again to all involved.

Get Involved

If you live locally and are interested in donating some baked goods for the cause, then please get in touch. Regardless, we want to see your faces! Yours truly will be there from 10am and I love meeting my readers, so come say hello! The location is in the North Laines part of town, outside of the vegetarian restaurant WaiKikaMooKau. I’ll be the clumsy one dressed like a toddler who raided someone’s nan’s wardrobe.

Even if you aren’t able to come spend your cash on cookies and cake (c’mon, you know you want to- it is for charity after all!), you can help get the word out by slapping one of the banners below on your own web site or blog. Just pick the size banner you want and copy and paste the code in the boxes below. Additionally there’s a pdf flyer designed by Jojo which you can download and send to all your buddies.

336 x 280 Large Rectangle

<img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2550/5703714316_8dc19f086c_o.gif" width="336" height="280" alt="Brighton Bake Sale Ad 336 x 280">

234 x 60 Half Banner

<img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5225/5703714382_7d794e4372_o.gif" width="234" height="60" alt="Brighton Bake Sale Ad 234 x 60">

160 x 600 Wide Skyscraper

<img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5067/5703714450_f143b9e35a_o.gif" width="160" height="600" alt="Brighton Bake Sale Ad 160 x 600">

468 x 60 Full Banner

<img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2573/5703146579_055c9423d2_o.gif" width="468" height="60" alt="Brighton Bake Sale Ad 468 x 60">

180 x 150 Rectangle (Two Styles)

<img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2679/5703714684_137d2a7066_o.gif" width="180" height="150" alt="Brighton Bake Sale Ad 180 x 150" alt="Brighton Bake Sale Ad 180 x 150">

<img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2436/5703727274_7a3d411020_o.gif" width="180" height="150" alt="Brighton Bake Sale Ad 180 x 150-02">

300 x 250 Medium Rectangle

<img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2484/5703714596_41f2e61d8b_o.gif" alt="Brighton Bake Sale Ad 300 x 250" width="300" height="250" /><br /> <img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2484/5703714596_41f2e61d8b_o.gif" alt="Brighton Bake Sale Ad 300 x 250" width="300" height="250" />

Download the Flyer

October Cafe Vegan Patisserie

http://www.octobercafe.co.uk/

After cycling from near London Bridge to Old Street, using London’s cycle hire scheme, we were all fired up for some coffee and something sweet (any excuse for caffeine and sugar, really). I decided on the crostata di frutta (from £2.50) and Paul opted for the Dublin gur cake (£2.50), both excellent choices. The latter was a firm packed fruit cake, not overly sweet, a filling treat that would be perfect for a hiking or biking snack (hint: they do take-away). The fruit tart was divine. Topped with strawberries, blueberries, and kiwi fruit, it featured a creamy (but also not too sweet) base in a crispy tart crust. I’ve had this baby on my mind ever since.

Stop, Coffee Time!

A bit of a coffee nerd myself, I was also immeasurably impressed by Peter’s interest in serving the good stuff. We discussed a couple of roasters around town, agreed on the best of the best (Monmouth, naturally), and touched on the importance of espresso to milk ratio. Served in proportionally accurate cup sizes, I’m impressed by the dude’s budding barista skills and general knowledge (all too often it seems cafes think owning a branded espresso machine means they can make good coffee). There’s a choice of rice or soy milk for your drinks, with the added bonus of Bonsoy for a little extra (for those who haven’t heard of Bonsoy, it’s the absolute best soy milk for espresso based coffee drinks).

Final Thoughts

October Cafe left a very good taste in my mouth, both literally and figuratively. The owner is knowledgable and committed, and it’s always nice to see someone follow their dreams even when it might be difficult (anyone who thinks opening and running a business is easy needs a lesson in the real world). This is the sort of place where you can leave your politics behind and enjoy what must be London’s cheapest cream tea (and it’s a vegan cream tea to boot) in a beautifully decorated and enthusiastically run new London vegan hotspot.

Sweet Garlicky Ribs with Cheezy Mac and Greens

I grew up in the United States and much as the idea of homestyle diner food conjures mental images of rendered fat and heart attacks, this book has stunning alternatives that will satisfy without clogging the arteries. Not an ounce of animal fat in sight, this volume still contains the usual classics that bring to mind nostalgic Americana: apple pie, “meat” loaf, burgers and fries, plus more stunning flavours. Deep fry aficionados shouldn’t however panic as you haven’t been forgotten (marry me, Fried Avocado Wedges), and there’s a full page of frying tips (contrary to popular belief it’s possible to deep fry without the food soaking in loads of oil).

Fork-and-Knife Reuben Sandwich

From waffles to veggie sausages, your diner style vegan breakfast will be covered. Lunch is sorted too- consider the Fork-and-Knife Reubens or the Almost-Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches. Your Saturday picnic will come together a treat with some Deli Potato Salad or Homestyle Macaroni Salad, along with one of the many dairy-free coleslaw recipes. For dinner hit up the two page spread of suggested blue plate special menus! Hello Seitan and Herb Dumplings with Rosemary Carrots! Finally, if you’ve got a sweet tooth I promise you’ll look forward to a slice of Apple Butterscotch Pie or a big chunk of Spiced Chocolate Pudding Cake.

Apple Butterscotch Pie

Those from North America can take a trip down memory lane to re-discover veggie versions of their favourite childhood comfort foods, while others will meet new recipes guaranteed to join the usual dinner rota favourites. Tami’s recipes are easy to follow and she’s one of the few authors whose recipes I trust to come together well and taste exactly how they sound like they should taste.

And that’s why you should buy American Vegan Kitchen. You won’t be disappointed.

On page five of the November 9, 1976 edition of The Crofton Courier (Crofton is a small-ish town in the American state of Maryland, about 30 miles from Washington D.C.), a full page feature about metric conversion was printed.

A brief history of conversion in the U.S.

This slightly-larger-than-a-clipping piece was saved by my grandmother, packed amongst the pages of a food topic binder I saved from her things after she passed away last March. Alongside it is The Metric Book, a small Q&A guide about the supposed impending American conversion from imperial to metric. Its reasons for the change were based on predominantly on financial loss and modernisation.

In 1971, as a result of a three-year study undertaken because of growing concern over America’s declining position in world trade, the Secretary of Commerce recommended to Congress that the United States adopt a coordinated national program to change to primary use of the metric system.

In 1975 the Metric Conversion Act was passed by President Ford and the United States Metric Board (USMB) was established to oversee the details. The public weren’t keen and in 1982 the USMB was disbanded by Reagan, but in 1988 Congress passed the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act and decreed metric as “the preferred system of weights and measures for United States trade and commerce.”

The American public still doesn’t appear to be interested. I think metric has definitely advantages in the kitchen, but I’m not posting this to make a judgement on whether one way is right over the other. I’m writing this to share my own fascination with this sudden realisation that the US tried to convert (and has converted in the case of many governmental organisations), and the implications of such a change.

A brief failure of metrication in Britain

Those ramifications faintly surfaced here over the last few decades, so I’ll get off my high horse now because despite measuring my flour by grams here in England, there’s still a common understanding of the pound as a measure of mass. We drive miles and drink a pint at the pub. Those over 30 still talk in feet and inches, measure their weight in stone (14 pounds = 1 stone), and you still hear folks calculate distance in yards. I’ve no doubt metric measures will take a stronger hold in generations to come, but for now it’s a bit of a hodgepodge with some units stated in imperial and others in metric.

All of this was meant to end under EU agreements to switch wholly to metric in the UK, with an allowance of dual labeling until a given date. That specified date continued to be pushed forward and absolute bullshit ensued. The final date for elimination of supplemented imperial units alongside metric measures was set for 2009, but eventually I think someone must have realised we’d rather focus on packing food in our faces than whether our beer is half a pint or a litre. Incidentally, for those who take issue with your lager being sold in anything other than pint measures, have a look at a bottle or can- yup, all metric volumes. Confusing.

Legally, at least for now, it’s going to stand that imperial measures have to be supplemented with metric conversions. That’s fine, and logical too in my opinion. After all, whether Brits want to accept it or not, we are part of Europe. I still can’t imagine a forced conversion though, although I believe any country who can convert from shillings to pounds could manage the difference between an inch and a centimetre.

A happy medium?

I go back and forth between imperial and metric in the kitchen because I follow a lot of American authors’ recipes as well as those elsewhere around the globe. I have a mental chart of how many millilitres are in a cup, a tablespoon, so I can logically grasp the relationship between weights and how a recipe turns out. I’m now of the opinion that a kitchen is incomplete without an accurate scale, an appliance I’d have never considered necessary when I lived in the states, but I still have two sets of cups and mentally I still think of temperatures in Fahrenheit.

I couldn’t ever operate exclusively under either system, and I don’t think it would be rational to try. That’s where The Metric Book comes in handy. It might be a little off the mark in terms of what history had in store for America’s system of weights and measures, but it’ll help me be able to work out the actual temperature when the weather lady says it’ll be a warm and sunny day with temperatures up to 17 (because that is not, I repeat, not, warm).

Other pocket books by this publisher at the time included award winning titles like Everything with Ground Meat and Cellulite.

The Prince George Pub

I’m not a fan of all-out negative restaurant reviews; if a restaurant doesn’t impress then I’d simply rather focus my energy recommending one that does. But then I remembered something that stood out to me in Diane Jacob’s Will Write For Food: “The bottom line is your loyalty to the consumer, not the restaurant.”

I think this is something the general consumer would be interested in hearing, and should hear. I’m vegan and so are a lot of my readers. Some have gluten or dairy intolerances, others have nut allergies, and I’m sure there’s a whole realm of no-go food areas I’m missing that would send some of you into hospital. My point, of course, is you understand how big a deal it is when you’re told something is suitable when it’s quite blatantly not.

The George has switched hands a couple of times over the last year or two, or so the rumour mill has it anyway, and its reputation took a dive as a result. From popular vegetarian pub to non-vegan-friendly gastro pub, it’s now got a much more vegan friendly menu under its latest management. This place used to be one of Brighton’s best, so we wanted to give it another chance, with the genuine hope it would be restored to even half its former glory.

I can’t fault the presentation, and for pub grub it was average. I’d almost go as far as saying it was palatable.

Almost. Palatable is an adjective which hardly describes a lunch that lands one of its consumers in hospital.*

As someone who eschews animal products, I’d be incredibly upset should someone feed me one. The thing is, it wouldn’t kill me. It would be morally reprehensible, sure, but I’d get over it. Feeding nuts to someone with a nut allergy doesn’t work quite the same, however. That’s messing with someone’s life.

If this pub doesn’t place food allergies at the top of its priority list then I don’t trust much else they have to say either. For this reason I’d recommend people avoid The Prince George in Brighton. I can’t comfortably eat a meal at an establishment that can’t get something as basic as food allergies down because, on top of being flat out wrong, it makes me wonder what else they’re not telling me.

After being sick 3 times in the pub toilets, we left so my friend could go rest. An hour later they had to go to A&E. She was very ill, all over an elementary error that could have and should have been avoided.

* who gave me permission to blog about this only if I mentioned that she’s really, really pretty. I might add her dance moves are also sweet.

Ms Cupcake: The Naughitest Vegan Cakes in Town

http://www.mscupcake.co.uk/

Finally, it’s here! After many months of hard work and planning, London’s first vegan bakery has opened in Brixton. My friend Jojo, the blogger behind Vegan in Brighton, and I journeyed to the city yesterday to support Ms C’s opening day and to sample some of the wares (throwing the former in there to make it sound like the trip wasn’t really all about the latter).

We felt right at home (and not just because the shop was decked out with pretty much the same Ikea furniture in our homes). Ms C’s warm welcome and the friendly smiles of the entire staff, who are all extraordinarily marvelous by the way (I want to take them all home), will make anyone keen to settle in for some serious cake consumption.

There’s limited seating outside, shared with the cafe next door (where you can grab a coffee to enjoy with your cake), but it’s all under cover. Go sit with some strangers and make new friends. Do it.

In addition to cupcakes, there are cookies, cookie sandwiches, and cupcakes in a cup (for the serious sugar seekers). Flavours change frequently, so you’re pretty much going to have to show up every day to get a chance to sample them all. Vegan bakery stalking is a practice I highly recommend.

One of my favourite things about Ms C, aside from her confectionery prowess, is her support of other vegan bakers. Competition is stiff and she’s on top, but her friendship with, awareness, and support of her baking counterparts never ceases to give me the warm fuzzies.

There are also plans in the works to offer classes at the retail location, so be ready to get your icing mitts on and create! Kids can enjoy decorating classes, and once the shop is up and running the fun will be extended to grown-ups too.

Drool away, and be sure to remember Ms Cupcake does private orders too! If you’ve got a birthday, wedding or cake fetishist awareness party in London, then she’s the lady to talk to.

Brixton is quick 7 minutes hop one stop down the line from London Victoria on mainline rail services, also accessible by tube in 10. From London Bridge grab the Northern line South to Stockwell and change to the Victoria line for Brixton. The shop is just a few minutes’ walk from both the mainline and underground stations.

Cambodian Hot and Sour "Beef" Salad"

The hot and sour salad is one of my favourite recipes thus far out of everything I’ve tested for this book. Despite a few hours’ tofu prep time, the balance of flavours and ease of preparation make this salad a fab Southeast Asian meal enhancement.

Tofu Stay Wraps

My partner’s favourite, the tofu satay wraps, led to a proclamation that they were the best burrito he’d ever had.

Sunny Orange Fruit Salad

The fruit salad went down alongside steaming bowls of spicy tom yum soup, and as I heard no complaints I’m going to go ahead and wager it too was a welcome addition to the table.

My copy of American Vegan Kitchen arrived a week or two ago and at the same time I’m drooling over recipes by Tami you might see one day out in the wild.

The seitan dish is made with a rich porcini mushroom sauce. Save mushroom soaking time (which is an effortless task anyway), the preparation time clocks in at a lengthy 15-20 minutes. You could easily fool your date into thinking you spent the afternoon slaving away for the romantic dinner for two you just served up on your shirt and the floor on the table (it dawns on me not everyone functions like me in the kitchen).

Not what I was expecting out of a mac and cheese recipe at all, this concoction features a rather moreish Southeast Asian inspired sauce that utilises fresh vegetables (hint: not even a smidge of turmeric enters to get that bold colour). I’ll admit I was somewhat doubtful initially but experience has taught me to try recipes before jumping to conclusions, and in the case of this moderately spicy mac and cheese I was glad I gave it that chance.

Double Ginger White Miso Dressing by The Urban Vegan

This quick and zingy dressing, a recipe from the upcoming Urban Vegan cookbook, showcases one of nature’s greatest inventions: my rhizome buddy ginger. The word “dressing” is certainly an understatement because this multi purpose seasoning sauce stands in well in a number of different acts. Whether spooning it straight from jar to mouth (A+ for me, the classy lady), using it as a marinade or dip, or drizzling over crispy green leaves as a summery salad dressing, I see this condiment going a long way in my kitchen.

After downing a few tablespoons neat, I chose to toss it simply with cold noodles, making a refreshing lunchtime snack topped with sliced spring onions and pickled ginger.

Coconut Muffins

I think I lost my gluten-free baking virginity.

Not unlike a coconut scone (think cream tea, people), these muffins pack a coconutty sweetness with a substantial but light texture. Perfect with a cup of coffee, slathered with a glob of vegan margarine, or on their own, I’ll definitely be whipping up another batch of these muffins in future.

Christy shared the recipe at Blissful Bites, so head on over to check it out!

Malaysian Mango Loaf

In late summer, during the seasonal glut of courgette growth, my oven churns out loaf after loaf of zucchini bread.  Okay so I intend for it to anyway, only much of the grated veg ends up frozen for later non-use. Good intentions.

Nevertheless the point is this is a great alternative for when you hit that annual had-enough-of-the-ol’-courgette threshold. Its soft texture and mild spice would be a afternoon tea break hit with most folks, and it’s easy peasy to throw together. The best bits are the mango chunks on the outer edges of the bread, the tiny pieces of fruit that get lightly caramelised whilst in the oven.

I think I’ll go grab a slice now.

Marinated Mixed Mushrooms

It’s only in recent years that I’ve come to enjoy mushrooms, this of course thanks to Mister MessyVC (who is not at all messy). While they’re still not an absolute favourite, a go-to comfort food as they are for him, I’m always happy to try a new mushroom recipe.

In this tester recipe for The Urban Vegan, I used a mix of white button mushrooms and meaty shiitakes (my absolute favourite) and per recipe instructions prepared them in a super easy and tasty wine-based marinade. Along with some fat juicy green olives and a good baguette, these are going to be a great summer picnic staple.

Char Kway Teow

I’ve recently started testing for the upcoming cookbook by Christy Morgan of The Blissful Chef, a project I’m excited about due mainly to my healthy (I tell myself it is anyway) obsession with all food Southeast Asian.

My first dish from the testing pool, a veganised version of a classic Malaysian dish (Char Kway Teow), features flat rice noodles, green beans and tofu in a spicy sauce. It’s a speedy 20 minutes from cupboard to plate sort of meal that’s both straight forward and a hit with my partner- a shocker considering he generally turns to ash when any semblance of rice noodle comes within a metre of his royal self.

This recipe from the upcoming cookbook by the Urban Vegan is a tangy and hearty lentil stew with a North African flavour profile- warm cumin, tart lemon, fresh herbs, and a bit of chili spice. A big fan of citrus in cooking, I tucked right into this earthy medley, eating it alongside a simple lemony coriander rice. The rest will stand in for today’s lunch.

Like the look of it? Stay tuned for details of Dynise’s cookbook, and pick up a copy when it’s available!

I wasn’t convinced about this recipe from the Dynise Balcavage’s upcoming cookbook until I made it. There’s something about slow cooked bell peppers that makes a dish special, and as soon as these hit my mouthhole here my initial doubt faded. Zesty and smooth, this is a pasta dish for capsicum fans. Doused with some extra virgin olive oil and with a few pinches of nutritional yeast on top, this made for an easy and filling lunch.

The Pho Tweet Up was publicised on the popular micro-blogging site Twitter (by the way, I’d love for you to follow me if you aren’t already), an event to celebrate Tết and give gluttons foodies like my pal Jojo and me a chance to sample some previously unknown dishes and get our networking on.

Worth noting is my complete social clumsiness- no, my bumbling klutzy nature isn’t reserved solely for the kitchen. I want to meet you in real life, really I do. I’ll be the one unwittingly flinging scraps across the table whilst attempting to piece together comprehensible speech. The one failing at these efforts.

The food

The night started with a free drink followed by some classic starters from the menu served buffet style: goi cuon (delicate fresh summer rolls), goi ngo sen (tangy crunchy lotus root salad), and cha gio chay (fried rice paper spring rolls). Cleared away, out came the main course fayre which included pho xao chay (wok-fried rice noodles with lemongrass, chili and onion served with veggies, mushrooms and tofu) and com chay cari (coconut based Vietnamese curry with tofu, veggies and mushrooms, served with jasmine rice).

There were other dishes as well, but the meat based stuff was off my radar. Incidentally the staff are amazing when it comes to serving vegetarians. More than once we were consulted regarding what we could eat, and on top of that all the food was appropriately labeled.

I don’t intend this post to be a restaurant review (look here if that’s what you’re after), but I will say this: the concept of balance in all food preparation is important but I think the margin for error is greater in much Southeast Asian cooking. Pho does a pretty good job of getting it right, balancing not just the flavours but also the idea of  traditional Vietnamese cuisine with what’s judged good by typical Western tastes.

The networking

It dawned on us the event was more than just free food, but also an opportunity to meet other faces from behind the veil of the internet. I’m all for attempts, and I’ve been making a concerted effort to accept opportunities which challenge my social ineptitude, so I had a crack at engaging with some of our dining neighbours. Did I learn anything? Mainly that socialising without a hitch is for other people.

The lovely chap to my left, the omnivore sandwiched between vegetarians at the table, I’m sure he enjoyed me telling him my friend’s cat just weed on her bed (by the way, if you’re reading this accept my apologies for that and for not saying goodbye). One other botched attempt at socialising involved drawing attention to my presence beyond the usual introduction by dispensing food onto the table rather than my plate (sorry, Pho for being the one who made the mess). At least she laughed at me tucking the spillage under the rim of the dish.

We left and went for a drink. I donned my name tag the entire time.

Need I mention my revelation this morning that I accidentally gave everyone my incorrect twitter identity? (“you’re the best at networking!” was my friend’s response).

A great big thank you to Pho Brighton for your brilliant efforts. You make a mean lemonade.

I know it sounds crazy but when it comes to mealtimes I rarely look to rice. My partner always says he’d like more rice dishes, so I know it would be a welcome addition to the dinner rota, but for some unknown reason it never crosses my mind. It’s not that I dislike rice, but that for some reason it’s off my radar. Silly, I know. Beyond silly; ridiculous.

So after I finished my breakfast of spanikopita and a few spoonfuls of palm sugar (the crack of the sugar family I tell you), I decided I could spare a few minutes to put together this easy recipe from the upcoming Urban Vegan book (for lunch I mean- I’m a pig but even I need at least an hour between meals). The prep time is maybe ten minutes and the rest is just a slow simmer, so it fit in perfectly with my pretend-to-be-working day. Red pepper, celery, mushroom, and onion form the veggie base, rendering a delicious rice recipe suitable as a side for any Southern American main.

Amico Bio

http://www.amicobio.co.uk/

Starter

Carpaccio di Cavblo Rapa e Scarola

This salad of scarola leaves and parsley came well presented, served on wafer thin slices of raw kohlrabi. The dish was lightly seasoned and drizzled with rich olive oil, a light starter which initially drew me in because of my love for raw kohlrabi. Treble this sucker up, serve it as a main, and I’d be a happy Kip.

Main

Piadini Integrale di Seitan

I was immediately happy with this tortilla wrapped assemblage of in-house seitan and vegetables, but I think one of my dining mates best described its appeal; it was good because the vegetables weren’t overcooked. Fresh and well seasoned, this is what I meant when I mentioned talent in drawing out a great taste from your base ingredients rather than over-seasoning to achieve palatability. In other words good job cheffy!

Dessert

Apple Fritters with Chocolate Sauce

After a vegetable-fueled luncheon it was decided that a bit of the old deep fry was in order. Kitchens often underachieve in the batter-frying department, even at posh restaurants, so I’m always weary of ordering what’s likely to arrive as a pile of soggy mush. Alas, Pasquale proved me wrong. The fritters were perfect– still hot, crispy, and in reasonable portion. The chocolate “sauce” was more of a sorbet, a real winner in my book due to its anise-y undertone.

Final Thoughts

All in all I was very happy with my experience at Amico Bio, and I’m enamoured by any dining establishment where the chef will come to the table (really, it’s so rare here). The one suggestion I’d make would be to include a more up to date menu on the website, a tricky task when it changes frequently and is seasonally based, but even a list of what’s likely to be in store might encourage more diners to venture into this London gem.

Yeah, that’s right: banana and curry in the same sentence, the same recipe. Why so many people afraid of this combination I’ll never know, but before you scrunch up that pretty little face I urge you to try it.  My first introduction was at Hiltl in Zurich, where a friend ordered the Madras Banana and allowed me nibble. Match. Made. In. Heaven.

Don’t be afraid to try it, ’cause it’s good, but you’ll have to wait until the new Urban Vegan cookbook is out before you can see the recipe!

Another recipe from Dynise‘s upcoming cookbook, the texture of this luscious lemon tart is just as I remember my grandma’s lemon meringue pie filling. I’m not at all sorry that there’s only two of us around here to eat the whole pie, not sorry in the least.

It’s not a tricky pie to master, either, so those with a pastry phobia can rest assured that you’ll be able to pull this off without a hitch.

Another tester recipe from the Dynise Balcavage‘s upcoming book, I’m always down with any excuse to use my Vitamix. If you can imagine banofee pie in drinkable form then you’ve got the taste of this smoothie nailed. I downed mine in about 5 minutes (really), and I only dribbled a little bit down my top.

Irish potatoes, the most un-potato potato in all potato-dom (save their outer appearance perhaps), feature heavenly coconut as the centrepiece ingredient. A must for anyone with a serious sweet tooth!

Another delicious tester from the upcoming Urban Vegan book, this aromatic stew has claimed a firm place on the make again list. Aubergine and chickpea are two of my favourites, and in combination they wow me to kingdom come, so I knew straight away this would be a winner.

Pho Vietnamese Restaurant

http://www.phocafe.co.uk/locations/brighton

Pho Noodle Soup

Pho Chay: tofu (beancurd) and mushrooms with veggie or chicken stock

I’ve been to Vietnam twice, and both times my dining experiences were amazing, but somehow Pho stayed off my radar both times. I’ll wager my ignorance was due to the fact that I disregarded the packed on-street eateries- my days of trying to explain fish isn’t vegetarian in SE Asia are numbered.

Much of the reason I was so desperate to try Pho when it opened it Brighton is because I love everything Southeast Asia, and I knew I’d fall immediately in love with this Vietnamese food starlet. Disappointed I was not. The broth was light and fragrant, a mildly spiced and intoxicating aroma of cinnamon and anise. Most of the fresh herbs went into my bowl, along with a light drizzle of chili oil, and I spent the next 15 minutes in heaven.

I’ve had daily cravings since.

Served here with mash and marrowfat peas, I promise this polenta is worth the effort (and will taste a darn sight better than this photo looks). I enjoyed a portion of this fried with pasta, the aioli as the sauce, the following day after this meal. My non-cornmeal-loving husband also proclaimed this polenta a winner.

A fan of Dynise Balcavage‘s Urban Vegan cookbook, I’m lucky enough to be testing recipes for her upcoming book. This broccoli soup is my first tester, and as a big broccoli fan I knew I’d like it before I even set foot in my kitchen. Luckily my partner is a lesser fan of this star brassica veg, meaning more for me. It’s creamy and filling, a great soup to greet the start of winter.

What better way to end the Vegan Month of Food than with a giveaway? Some of you know that in addition to being a blogger I’m also a bit of a self employed stuff maker/designer. Below are some of my vegan related works, and here’s your chance to win one of them!

So here’s how it works: simply pick your one favourite product from the four listed below, and leave a comment containing the following three details:

1. The product you like best.
2. Why you like it.
3. Your favourite post on this blog (and why, if you care to share).

There will be one winner. Entries close at 6am GMT on December 1st. That’s November 30th at 10pm Pacific or 1am December 1st Eastern standard time. This draw is open to everyone. The winner will be chosen on December 1st (GMT) randomly and will be announced here, so if you enter please be sure to bookmark this post and check back. You’ll have one week to send your contact details/address before a new winner will be chosen.

Please share this post on facebook, your own blog, twitter, and all those social networky things. If you do share further, you’ll receive an extra entry into the draw if you provide me with a link in your comment below.

1. Kiss the Vegan Chef Apron

2. Eat Your Greens Tote Bag

3. Love the Planet Go Veg Fridge Magnet

4. Grains Vegan Zombie Mug

K’nyay Restaurant

www.knyay.com

Tea!

Lemongrass Tea at K'nyay, Phnom Penh

Literally (a word I generally avoid since people don’t seem to know what it means) chopped up lemongrass in a mug of hot water, this simple tea was wonderfully refreshing.

Main

Vegan Amok at K'nyay, Phnom Penh

Huge chunks of soft tofu and vegetables in a creamy smooth, only moderately spicy coconut cream sauce, steamed in a banana leaf vessel. Adorned with fresh coriander and chili, this dinner was worth a trek through violent rain to consume. Sticky black rice is served alongside.

Dessert

Pumpkin and Coconut Parcels at K'nyay, Phnom Penh

Not too sweet, these custard like pumpkin puddings are gummy, chewy, and delicious. Pumpkin and coconut cream are steamed in banana leaf with sticky rice flour (or so I was told).

Cherry Almond Ice Cream at K'nyay, Phnom Penh

The reason I came to K’nyay in the first place was because another vegan raved about the ice cream. The recommendation was spot on, and I thoroughly enjoyed both the coconut ginger and the cherry almond scoops. The former had a prominent ginger taste that somehow remained quite mellow, with a smooth texture. The latter ice cream, the almond and cherry, contained big chunks of cherry and toasted almond slivers. Absolute heaven.

Final Thoughts

I wish I’d have had more time in Phnom Penh because I really would have liked to return to K’nyay for a second meal (I went twice for dessert)! Unfortunately one of the few days I was in PP was a public holiday, which took away from my only intention to be in the city in the first place: to eat. Next time I’ll plan a few days more in the capital so I can fit the rest of the menu in (which, by the way, you can check out online).

The Vegetarian, Phnom Penh

Starter

Crispy Bean Curd Skin at The Vegetarian, Phnom Penh

Thick, folder layers of deep fried yuba for the win! Served with a semi-sweet mild vinegar based chili sauce, the soy skins were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Quite oily but delicious and simple with a tiny bit of salt, this is one heck of a plate of protein. Arrive with an appetite if you want to order more (which I always do).

Main

Rice Noodle Soup at The Vegetarian, Phnom Penh

A lovely, light broth filled with crispy wontons, green leafy veg, mushrooms, and rice noodles, this lightly peppered soup hit the spot on the rainy day I chose to visit The Vegetarian. The dumplings were stuffed with seasoned carrot and onion pepper filling, and had an almost Italian taste. Not the combination I’d have picked for this type of soup, but it worked well!

Final Thoughts

For a dollar a menu item, this place really can’t be beat. If you’re a backpacker on a budget in what’s definitely not Southeast Asia’s cheapest city, hit this place up for a filling and satisfying meal.

Tofu Bar Restaurant

www.tofubar.net

Snacks and Soups

Mushroom Dumpling Dough at Tofu Bar in Kanchanaburi, Thailand

A mushroom lover’s dream, these little parcels were filled with diced mushroom and deep fried. A definite hit with my partner.

Tom Kha Soup at Tofu Bar in Kanchanaburi, Thailand

You won’t find a much bigger fan of tom kha than me, and this recipe didn’t disappoint. Absolutely packed with delicious ginger, I also loved the heaping portions of both tofu and mushrooms.

Plenty of Tofu and Stir Fries

Teriyaki Tofu at Tofu Bar in Kanchanaburi, Thailand

I saw this recommended elsewhere and that recommendation is to be passed on here: if you go to Tofu Bar, try the teriyaki tofu. The tofu is perfectly cooked, the texture wonderful, and the sauce is pretty yumtastic (how’s that for descriptive).

King of Tofu at Tofu Bar in Kanchanaburi, Thailand

Sweet and tangy with a black pepper undertone, not completely unlike a good sweet and sour sauce, the king of tofu is a dish I’d happily order again and again.

Sweet Chili Fried Mushroom at Tofu Bar in Kanchanaburi, Thailand

Not at all spicy, the chili fried mushroom is another great choice for a mushroom lover.

Vegetarian Festival Buffet

Buffet Food at Tofu Bar in Kanchanaburi, Thailand

Comprising, at least when we dined there, of eight dishes, two or three curries, plus rice and noodles, the buffet was Tofu Bar’s contribution to Thailand’s vegetarian festival. Street food is a way of life for Thais, so it was nice to see this set out front of the restaurant for passersby to grab for a meal or snack. Dishes included (among other things) chewy and slightly spicy shiitake mushrooms, spicy sausages, spicy fried tofu in sweet sauce with basil, a filet of some sort with seaweed, and Chinese noodles.

Final Thoughts

Whether you’ve been relaxing with a peaceful afternoon’s exploration along the River Kwai,* or have just enjoyed a full day out along the death railway, Tofu Bar is a welcome stop once back in town. Next time I’m in Kanchanaburi, I’ll be sitting down once more to enjoy that gigantic pot of tea and some seriously swell tofu.

*Incidentally the river’s name doesn’t sound like a pouty toddler pronoucing the word “cry,” a pronunciation which translates in Thai to “buffalo river.” The movie perpetuates the myth of the river’s name.

Taste for Heaven, Chiang Mai

www.taste4heaven.com

Starters

Mushroom in Screwpine Leaf at Taste from Heaven, Chiang Mai

Thai style deep fried shiitake mushroom mix with soy sauce and white sesame, wrapped with screw pine, served with sweet chili sauce.

Fried Cashew Nuts at Taste from Heaven, Chiang Mai

Fried cashew nuts mixed with salt, chopped spring onion, and chopped chili.

'Tofu' at Taste from Heaven, Chiang Mai

Deep fried tofu with sweet chili sauce topped with ground peanuts.

Mains

Choo Chee Curry at Taste from Heaven, Chiang Mai

Slightly sweet red curry sauce, garnished with sliced kaffir lime leaves, coconut milk, sliced fresh chili, capsicum, and textured soy protein.

Mushroom Larb at Taste from Heaven, Chiang Mai

Chopped mushroom with special sauce, mint, onion, chili, chop tofu, roasted rice, dry chili, and lime juice.

Cashew Nut Stir Fry at Taste from Heaven, Chiang Mai

Stir fried with deep fried tofu, roasted dried chili, onion, capsicum, and spring onion.

Desserts

Bananas in Coconut Milk at Taste from Heaven, Chiang Mai

Deep Fried Banana at Taste from Heaven, Chiang Mai

Vegan Cinnamon and Caramel Cake at Taste from Heaven, Chiang Mai

Final Thoughts

With something for everyone (a seriously massive menu), Taste from Heaven is a must in anyone’s food stop list for Chiang Mai. They also offer cooking classes, where the group gets a choice in what menu items they prepare.

Pun Pun Vegetarian Restaurant

http://www.punpunthailand.org/

A hidden gem

…and I do mean hidden. We spent a good hour looking for it (not such a bad thing as we’d just had a buffet lunch at Khun Churn not 3 hours prior- hey, it was my birthday and all I wanted to do was eat), but it seemed obvious once we worked it out. Don’t make the mistake of trying to follow a map to find the restaurant, and don’t get confused by the non vegetarian Pun Pun van outside the temple. Instead just get yourself to Wat Suan Dok and find the monk chat building on the grounds. A pathway leads up the side and along that path is the restaurant.

When we found the restaurant, a lovely man took our orders and brought our meals. As our last dishes were brought out, he smiled and said they would be closing but we were welcome to stay and finish our meal. We paid him and the staff left, leaving us alone in a lovely, quiet, peaceful spot to enjoy one of my best birthday meals ever.

Hed Sa-Tay

Hed Sa-Tay at Pun Pun Vegetarian, Chiang Mai

Deep fried shiitake mushrooms served with peanut, tamarind, and coconut sauce (40 baht).

I’m a firm believer that batter frying is a serious skill, and if you manage to fry something that’s still crispy 20 minutes after it left the oil and has got cold, then you’ve got the knack. Fabulous.

Pad Khing Dtow Hoo

Pad Khing Dtow Hoo at Pun Pun, Chiang Mai

Stir fried ginger, tofu, mushrooms, and greens (40 baht).

Paul’s choice off the menu, ginger based stir fries are always a winner. Fresh veggies and pungent ginger with cashew nuts can’t really fail.

Dtow Hoo Steak

Dtow Hoo Steak at Pun Pun, Chiang Mai

Tofu steak topped with coconut milk and black pepper sauce (50 baht).

Tofu for the win! This protein-rich dish would have been enough for my whole meal were I less of a pig. Perfectly creamy smooth fresh coconut sauce and the best textured tofu you’ll ever find, this was the star of the whole meal.

Dessert

Dtow Hoo Namman Ngah at Pun Pun, Chiang Mai

Deep fried home-made sesame tofu and vegetable cooked in onion and sesame oil dressing (40 baht).

Clearly the fact that I’d eaten not long before this meal didn’t get through my thick skull the fact that tofu isn’t exactly a light foodstuff, so I went ahead and ordered another tofu dish. One day soon I’ll be attempting to make this on my own, because it too was deeeeeelicious.

Final Thoughts

If you find yourself in Chiang Mai and are looking for an inexpensive, nutritious, and sustainable dining choice, then look no further than Pun Pun vegetarian restaurant. Open from 9am – 6pm all days but Wednesday, I’m pretty sure you won’t be disappointed. Plus you might learn a thing or two!

Chamkar Vegetarian Restaurant

Dishes

Wedding Day Dip at Chamkar

Creamy coconut and mushroom dip with toasted peanuts served with Cambodian baguette.

I ordered this as a starter for lunch one day, and it was big enough for a whole meal. It’s served with an entire baguette, sliced chilies, and chunky coconut mushroom dip.

Soya Pearl Salad at Chamkar

Discover the sweetness of an original soy bean dressing mixed with green salad and Khmer crudités and topped with roasted cashew nuts and silken tofu.

Mango and papaya slivers adorn the plate alongside a bed of fresh greens and sesame dotted silken tofu rounds. The name of the dish is what caught my eye on the menu, and as I’m a lover of salads this went down a treat after a long day on a bus.

Cambodian Curry Secrets at Chamkar

Sweet potato and cherry tomato red curry with coconut milk and the unique taste of Khmer cardamom.

I was in the region for a total of about 3.5 weeks and out of everything this dish ranks in my top five. The flavours are delicate, perfectly balanced, with Khmer pepper playing a starring role.

Final Thoughts

I also enjoyed a cassava fritter dish with yellow curry paste as well as a banana and coconut milk pudding with toasted yellow beans, both of which were amazing. Cambodia is, without a doubt, one of my favourite countries in the world, and when I return Chamkar will be one of my first stops. After all I need to try everything else on the menu.

It’s nine days of bliss, I tell you. Food coma vegan bliss. Unfortunately I was only in-country for three or 4 days of the festival, so had to eat twice as many meals to make up for lost time.

I ate a lot of great things in those four days, but I’ve got to share one of the most amazing experiences in my mental catalogue of cool shiitake: the vegetarian festival tent at Chatukchak weekend market in Bangkok.

The Chutuchak Market Vegetarian Tent

I had just returned to Bangkok a day or two prior to meet a friend and then fly home. A bit sad (home? already?), tired, and meh (constant rain), I force myself to get up early and head to the weekend market (one of the largest in the world). I figure I’ll find some cool kitchen implements and snap some interesting photos at the very least. Around 11am I’m pretty much going to die from starvation and thirst, so I find a booth with the festival yellow flags and grab a bowl of water chestnuts in coconut milk.

Dodging puddles and ambling around the food, tie dye tee, and pottery stalls, I spot a tent surrounded by yellow flags. Still a bit peckish, I figure I’ll take a peek and grab a few [tonnes of] further snacks. I finish my rubies fast for fear of rain drops diluting the coconut milk and stripping it of its richness and flavour.

Under cover of the tent everyone smiles big gracious smiles at me, the only tourist around. Heaving, people are everywhere, back to back, I’m overwhelmed and move to the side. This isn’t within my comfort zone but the atmosphere is surely a sign the food is good?!

I’m standing by a long table and a group of older people start talking to me while a photographer snaps some pictures. Everyone is thrilled, and I somehow feel like I’m the guest of honour at a party I don’t really understand. They encourage me to eat, ask questions about where I’m from, smile, smile, smile, take more pictures of us together like we’re old friends. There are styrofoam bowls full of food everywhere. Hundreds.

Eventually I move away, curious to see all that’s on offer and make some choices. Noodles, buns, and deep fried tofu call to me from one corner; soups and deserts from the adjacent tables, more of everything and then some from the other end. Popcorn, rice, curry, beans.

I’m already overwhelmed by all of the options but decide to suss out the Pad Thai, to start with something I know, but I can’t for the life of me figure out how this system works! What’s the custom, how do I pay, how are these people like perfectly balanced ballerinas with 4 bowls of soup, a stack of noodle trays, and 19 bags of popcorn stacked in their arms?

Then a woman offers a tray of Pad Thai. Smiling, she says “take it.” I smile back, a little unsure, and she reads my confusion. “free,” she says, “it’s all free.”

My eyes begin to water. I’m overwhelmed and can’t answer, so she places the tray in my hands. The photographer is still taking pictures of me and everyone is still smiling. For those seconds it’s as if time has stopped, one of those moments where the present hits hard and I realise how incredibly lucky I am.

Suddenly I see the vegetarian tent in a whole new light. Outside a woman is filling a wagon with bowlfuls of food, to the other side is a huge offering table, and everyone appears to be so grateful for it all.

I spend the next hour sampling what my stomach can take, the photographer still snapping pictures of me with most vendors I visit, the vendors eager for me to try this and that. Some young men educate me about ingredients, telling me which dishes to choose (“that’s my favourite, but you should try them all anyway”). People clear seats for me to sit while others bring me water. A man sitting next to me says “It’s the culmination of the festival and this is the only day where it’s like this.” An official stops beside my chair and chats to me about England while someone else brings me more water.

Complete strangers are enjoying both something nice being done for them and doing something nice for someone else. I’m so emotional over the experience that I feel like I’m in a dream and I can hardly fight back tears.

I don’t want to leave because I feel naively safe and protected here, but I’m going to be sick if I take another bite so I wander away to dispose of the remaining piles of food.

Starters

Miang Ta Krai Bai Cha Plu at Khun Churn, Chiang Mai

A tangy bite of heaven wrapped in wild beetle leaves, these Thai treats made the dinner worthwhile on their own. They’re packed with citrusy lemongrass, aromatic mint and an array of other saporous ingredients that will leave you craving them long after you’ve packed up and gone home.

Kaow Tang at Khun Churn, Chiang Mai

These crispy (and absolutely adorable) little rice patties are served with a coconut milk and peanut sauce. I’m certainly a fan and would love to try making rice based mini dip receptacles one day at home.

Mains

Hed Kra Ta (Sizzling Plate) at Khun Churn, Chiang Mai

An assortment of some of the most delicious mushrooms you’ll ever try, the creaminess of this dish came not from the sauce but from the mushrooms themselves. At a guess I’d wager the major players were shiitake, wood ear, straw, and oyster mushrooms, alongside a delectable (do people still use this adjective?) mix of ginger and herbs. Sometimes I can’t believe I didn’t used to like mushrooms, and for those who still say that I bet this dish would change your minds.

Pad Prik Khing Krob at Khun Churn, Chiang Mai

Crispy stir fried TVP chunks, a simple but generally atypical method of preparation, are the way forward. I’m convinced. These babies were done in a delightfully spicy red curry paste with kaffir lime leaves and long beans, but it’s the texture I loved above all else. A bit of the chewy, a bit of the crispy, a lot of the fried. What’s not to love?

Lunchtime Buffet

At the time of writing, the buffet cost 98 baht, or £2, and it’s not a shabby place either. I mean I’d don a dress and bring a first date here (alternatively, slip into some manky khakis and convince my partner we would die of deaththings if we didn’t go). Not everything is vegan, so you might have to ask about a few things (mainly egg based) if you don’t consume any animal products, but it’s still a definite goldmine for vegans, omnivores, and vegetarians alike.

The buffet space accomodates many tens of dishes, from simple condiments, salads, and soups to hearty curries, noodles, rices, and fried creations. Desserts and drinks are included, a super plus, and the selection contains a good lineup of foods to suit all tastes in terms of chili tolerability.

Jackfruit Soup from the Khun Churn Buffet

Sp-sp-spicy! Good stuff, nevertheless. Must try this at some sometime!

Noodles, red chili and tofu, coconut rice, and salad at the Khun Churn Buffet

Khun Churn Buffet

Khun Churn Buffet

Tapioca and Taro Topped with Salty Coconut Milk at Khun Churn, Chiang Mai

If you’re a fan of rice pudding, tapioca, and other such slimy milky puddings then this coconut milk based dessert, despite it’s resemblence to frogspawn, would knock your socks off. I ate two huge bowls full and had to practically be rolled out the door.

Final Thoughts

If you’re in Chiang Mai, you’re a fool to skip this place. Just be prepared to want to return again and again, and to extend your stay in the city so you can try as many menu items as possible. I covet nearly everything I tried on a pretty much constant basis.

I recently had the pleasure of attending a vegan cooking class at May Kaidee vegetarian restaurant in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Not the first, nor the last, time I’ve been to this veggie haven, I’ve wanted to subscribe to their half day cooking class for years; I just never find the time when I’m around. This time, however, I bit the bullet and signed my name along the dotted line.

The class itself (which ended up being private tuition as no one else signed up) is taught by May’s sister Diana and, at least in the case of my class, results in about 16 dishes. Many are simple alterations of a previous recipe, hence how it’s possible to fit so many dishes into a four or 5 hour class.

Shopping sucks, except for food

The day started with a trip to local Sompet Market to purchase ingredients and get schooled in the basics of these recipe constituents. It’s fairly rudimentary stuff but if you’re new to Thai cooking then it’s a good summary for certain.

What follows after returning to the restaurant is a brief session in cutting and preparing vegetables, followed by an immediate relocation to the upstairs kitchen. Fires are lit, woks go on the heat, and you begin with the basics of toasting sesame seeds and peanuts, deep frying cashew nuts, TVP and tofu, plus a quick how to on and discussion of chili pastes. These are condiments you’ll use throughout the morning.

Some archetypal Thai dishes and variations on the theme

The actual recipes started with tom yam soup and tom kha soup, followed by quite urgent queries of which I prefered (“Both! How can I choose?!”). Quickly we moved on to pumpkin soup (and a second curried variation). The next dishes off the hob were stir fries: mixed vegetables with ginger and the same again but with the aforementioned fried cashews. Pad thai, fresh peanut sauce, spring rolls in fresh rice paper, and the restaurant’s famous pumpkin hummus were thrown in the mix, along with the preparation of the quintessential green Thai curry and massuman curry dishes. The course was finished off with the preparation of a spicy green papaya salad and mango with sticky rice.

The class cost 1200 baht in total and that price included everything. All dishes prepared are single serving, but it doesn’t take much imagination to realise that one person cooking so many solo portions still equals a bumtonne of food. Even after sharing with some interested Australian diners, Paul (who, might I add, only appeared once all of the food was finished) and I couldn’t finish it off.

Would I do it again, in hindsight? Yes, definitely. Despite being aimed at culinary beginners, Diana is a passionate and information woman who can tell you just about anything you want or need to know about Thai cuisine. That alone is worth the price tag so far as I’m concerned.

My solution is MoFo themed recipe pages. Open them in your favourite PDF reader and copy and paste your favourites (or if you’re old fashioned and prefer handwriting then just delete all the nonsense I’ve typed in and print them blank).

Vegan Month of Food Recipe Sheets

They’re available in two sizes, A4 for folks outside the US as well as US letter sized sheets. Just download them below and go crazy. If you like the idea, let me know and I’ll make some more.

• Vegan MoFo Recipe Page (A4) (155)
• Vegan MoFo Recipe Page (US Letter) (143)

November is the Vegan Month of Food, a project started by Isa Chandra Moskowitz four years ago. Inspired by (NaNoWriMo) National Novel Writing Month, Vegan MoFo is a blogging event whereby all of its participants try to write as much as they can about vegan food and veganism for the whole month.

Don’t take me, nor the gist of the event, wrong; this isn’t a vegan preaching fest. It’s about food, and food is what we’re here for. For the Messy Vegetarian Cook, here’s what MoFo 2010 will be (at least partially) about:

• South-east Asian Cuisine and beyond. I’m on a roll after a recent holiday, so there’s going to be a lot of regionally inspired and fusion recipes.
• Vegetarian friendly printable kitchen paper goodies.
• Ingredient specific how-to posts and tutorials.
• Other ideas you might have that you want to see come to fruition (Have an idea? Tell me).

I generally aim to update Messy Vegetarian Cook at least once per week, with the odd week off, but this month there will be an increase in the frequency and number of posts. So there you go. Bring it on, November!

Be sure to subscribe to the RSS feed to keep up.

Pogo Café

http://www.pogocafe.co.uk/

A great big vegan fry up

Sunday Brunch at Pogo

I’ve been to Pogo a few times now, one of the most recent visits on an invitation by a friend to try the Sunday Brunch. Given the choice between the healthy option and a huge (and I mean absolutely stacked) plate of fried breakfastness, well, it was an obviously choice. ‘Sides, It took me more than two hours to get there! I earned it! The plate included vegan sausages and facon, mushrooms, tofu scramble (one of the best I’ve had), fried potatoes as well as a hash brown, beans, and tomato.

All in all, it was a trip well worth my time. I just wish we had somewhere in Crawley where I could roll out of bed and pop to a local café for a fry up.

Dessert

Knickerbocker Glory Sundae at Pogo Café

From another visit to Pogo, but worth a mention anyway, this Sundae is a heavenly (and dairy free) interpretation of the British classic. Swedish Glace ice cream packed into a tall ice cream glass, layered with fruits sauces and nuts, this alone makes Pogo worth a visit.

Final Thoughts

Okay, so Hackey may be a pain in a typical Londoner’s arse (those not in the East of the city, at least) to get to, but make the effort. The café has all sorts of evening events too, so keep an eye out for something that interests you and enjoy an evening at one of East London’s best vegan eateries.

Terre a Terre (Great Growers Menu)

http://www.terreaterre.co.uk/

Starter

Pulborough’s Asparagus Army at Terre a Terre

I was excited for this because after trying samphire for the first time ever this year, I was looking forward to some more. Unfortunately my plate came with only a mere sprinkling of this marshy vegetable, but my friend had plenty so graciously shared. I should have complained, really, but I was so taken aback by the soup that I sort of forgot about the rest of the dish. Creamy, perfectly salted, and delicious, this soup makes broad beans even more heavenly than they already are.

Broad bean lemon thyme espresso with samphire, linseed flowery leaf relish and fried asparagus soldiers.

Main

Lettuce and Lovage at Terre a Terre

This was so good I licked the plate. Well, almost, but my lunch buddy did say something along the lines of “I wondered how long it’d be before you did something ridiculous.” Okay, so table etiquette may not be my forté, but I know a good meal when I have one, and this was sublime.

British pea and parsley pikelets with St Germain sauce, a warm salad of seared lettuce, shallots and baby potatoes, finished with lovage salt and mint oil.

Dessert

Raspberry Rumble at Terre a Terre

I’d heard good reviews of this pudding, and they were certainly accurate at the very least. This. Dessert. Was. Outstanding. I don’t care who you are and where you live, get your arse on a plane/in a car/on a train/in the hold of a boat, and come eat this. Now.

Raspberry frangipane tartine served with raspberry sorbet.

Final Thoughts

If you’ve never had a meal at Terre a Terre, for whatever reason, set aside a few quid from your next pay day and treat yourself. It remains one of my favourite restaurants for a number of reasons. While their vegan options may be limited, the menu changes often enough and there’s always something to entice my appetite.

Manna Vegetarian

http://www.mannav.com/

Starters

Crispy marinated tofu (top right) and Manna mezze platter, including, from left to right: spring rolls, smoky tofu & potato roulade, and living pad thai.

For starters we ordered the Manna Mezze platter, which offered a choice of 3 appetisers on one plate. The Living Pad Thai was one of my favourites, and not just because it was everyone else’s least favourite (hence I pretty much got to eat it all). It’s a tangy raw salad with mild chili undertone with a great balance of flavours. I’d order it again.

raw carrots, courgettes, red cabbage, chinese leaves, mung bean sprouts, basil, mint and cashews in a white almond chilli sauce.

A good complement to the pad thai, the similar ingredients are well suited to these Vietnamese style spring rolls. Plus I got all the sweet chili sauce all to myself. Bring it on!

rice paper wrap, julienned carrots, red pepper, mange tout, shitake mushrooms, chinese leaves, thai basil & mint with a peanut sesame dip & chilli sauce.

I think it’s safe to say the smoky tofu & potato roulade was everyone’s favourite. Smooth, smoky, and delicious, if you’ve got to chose only one starter then this should be it.

a light potato roll with an oyster mushroom & herbed tofu filling.

“It smells like deep fry!” was one friend’s comment as soon as the crispy tofu hit the table. Naturally that’s probably in the top 5 of her compliment repetoire, so I’m pretty sure it was a hit. I tried a small piece and what can I say? You can’t knock the effects of hot oil.

Mains

Organic Spaghetti & Meatfree Balls at Manna

Two friends ordered the Organic Spaghetti & Meatfree Balls, a dish which Manna’s evidently fairly well known for in the veg community. I stole a taste of the sauce when no one was looking (okay she was looking, but I think she was finished) and it was pretty tasty. No complaints from their end, anyway!

Basil & Cashew Pesto Tortiglioni from Manna

A plate of the organic pasta of the day also landed on our table, and as it was next to me the sampling was less tricky. When I go out to eat, I generally avoid pasta dishes as I want to order something that wouldn’t be so easy to make at home. That doesn’t mean I don’t drool over them because, let’s face it, pasta is pretty much one of the most gnarly (goal of the night: use gnarly more often) things ever, and the pesto sauce here was pretty damned good.

green bean, cherry tomato, courgette tortiglioni with a basil & cashew pesto.

Pea & potato smokey bean curd chimichanga at Manna

And my main, the chef’s special, which just happened to tickle my fancy (I’d just picked up a load of  goodies from the Taqueria, so Latin American food was on the brain). The avocado was a bit less than ripe, but it’s also ridiculously hard to find a good one in this country. Otherwise the dish was delicious, and the black bean and mango salsa was perfect. I’m also always happy when I eat out and the rice I’m served is minimal (far too often restaurants go the cheap route and serve more rice than anything, presumably as a filler). The chimichanga filling was thick and smooth, a creamy smokey portion of vegetables and tofu that would fill anyone’s belly substantially. If you like Latin food but no spice, this is perfect.

pea potato smokey bean curd chimichanga with lime basmati rice, red pepper chipotle sauce, mango black bean salsa, and guacamole.

Desserts

manna fruit crumble

Manna banoffe trifle

Clearly we went all out with the puddings, and the petit fours were a “trweat,” a complimentary extra from following Manna on Twitter. The banofee trifle and the chocolate mousse were the winners of the day in my opinion, so when you’re next there and staring that desert menu down, here’s a tip: just go ahead and order them both. The mousse is the best I’ve had; vegan chocolate mousse is both easy to make and make taste good, but this was simply divine. And the trifle, it was massive, and amazing, and gone before I could reach my spoon back into my friend’s quickly empty dish.

chocolate & green tea mousse

chocolate brownie and ice cream

manna petits fours

The other puddings were good as well (though I wasn’t expecting biscuits when the petit fours were announced). So sweetly, the kitchen added a happy birthday message to the plate of my friend’s crumble, a really nice touch. One thing I do wish, however, is that vegan restaurants would consider something more than Swedish Glace for ice cream. I know the commercial options are limited, but there must be an ice cream shop or gelateria out there who’d be up for the job?

Final Thoughts

Manna is a lovely restaurant in a choice location, complete with good food and more than amiable staff (something with which more British establishments could do). It’s not cheap, but then again I don’t think food should be. I’m of the opinion that a meal out should be a treat, and that’s precisely what you’ll get when (not if) you visit Manna. We’ll definitely be returning.

Darbster

http://darbster.com

So we, the “we” being the dude I married and I, just returned from a holiday to Florida. “Florida?!” you say? Yes, Florida. Not my ideal destination as my idea of fun isn’t spending $80 to wait in epic queues with pushy folk and their greedy offspring, but here’s the thing: Florida has some cool stuff. Science stuff. Space stuff.

I got to go to India for my 30th and this was Paul’s birthday trip. See, he got to see the first moon landings on telly; this made it just a little bit of a big deal to actually visit Kennedy. Plus we got to see a shuttle launch, to boot!

But all that’s just me gushing and being all “woo science” and all. What you want is to hear about a cool vegan restaurant, yes? Allow me to introduce Darbster.

Starter

Trees Wings

There’s no denying these are nothing more than Gardein buffalo wings, but I’m thankful we ordered them because it introduced us to yet another gorgeous Gardein product.

Buffalo style wings with ranch and celery.

Mains

Darbster Enchiladas

Paul’s dinner choice, the enchilada dish rated high in his books. Not spicy and with an authentic Southwest flavour, this is the sort of food Britain is missing from its menus. Served with rice and beans, this was an excellent and wholly acceptable meal!

Authentic cheez & onion with beans and rice.

Chille Relleno at Darbster

While I enjoyed my choice of entrée, despite it being served on the cool side, I must admit it wasn’t at all what I was expecting. Before ordering I’d been advised it wasn’t very spicy, but the correct answer would have been “not at all,” since it was in fact a bell pepper rather than the traditional poblano. This didn’t stop me from stuffing the whole thing into my face though, and boy would I like Darbster’s batter recipe. I ordered the chille releno with a side of mac and cheese and coleslaw, both of which were very nice.

Fried, stuffed with veggies and cheeze served with sauce.

Final Thoughts

By the time we found Darbster we hadn’t really consumed a proper meal in a few days, so believe me when I say this restaurant put the greatest smile on this vegan’s face. Should I find myself in the area ever again, I will most certainly return. The mac and cheese side absolutely made my day.

222 Veggie Vegan

http://www.222veggievegan.com

This restaurant works extremely well with its allocated space, a small dining area and kitchen, but don’t be surprised with some repeats on the menu as a result. My partner once had a mushroom soup which was gorgeous, but was effectively the same sauce that came with his main (the stroganoff). Luckily, lover of mushrooms that he is, this wasn’t a problem.

Anyhow there are greater issues at stake, bigger soyfish to fry, like the fact that their avocado pomodoro starter is to die for and if you don’t try it immediately you will likely die.

Starter

Avocado Pomodoro at 222 Veggie Vegan

If for nothing else, this appetiser makes the trip worth it. Baked avocado is a real treat, and this creamy lovefest of joy on my plate definitely got my droolers going.

Sliced avocado with tomato sauce and vegan cream, straight from the oven. An ideal way to sharpen your taste buds before the main course.

Main

Broccolini Di Parma at 222 Veggie Vegan

Nothing extraordinary, but still highly palatable and definitely delicious, I’ve ordered this twice. It’s cute, fun, and very filling, and I’d definitely recommend anyone try it.

Fresh pancakes stuffed with tofu cottage cheese, broccoli, and pimento sauce, re-baked drawing out the fine flavour. Served with sautéed baby potatoes.

Dessert

222 Pancake at 222 Veggie Vegan

Remember what I said about the avocado starter? Scratch that because this is where it’s really at. The sauces are like a creamy pudding both in flavour and texture, something I’ve missed for years as a veggie. Go and get it. Now.

Vanilla ice cream wrapped in a wholemeal pancake, topped with warm vanilla and chocolate sauce.

Final Thoughts

I’d definitely return to 222 and would recommend anyone try it. While it’s not my favourite vegan restaurant, nor the best at which I’ve eaten, it’s a lovely spot with nice staff and good food.

A blessing in disguise or a fierce curse?

Just where does such a severe disruption in air travel leave us with regard to our imported goodies, and could it be a good thing to encourage us to eat local? It’s been nearly a week since flights were cancelled in much of Northern Europe’s air space, and it’s easy to see how our food imports are ready to be hard hit, but how does it affect the actual chain?

Farmers in producing countries are left with epic quantities of waste, food which can’t make money sitting still. Hence events such as this threaten the livelihoods of both farmers and their employed staff. They are directly impacted by our economy, which, combined with the many other puzzle pieces of these events, bring home a valid and terrifying point: food security as we understand it today rides a very fine line.

Before over-reacting, try something new

And, to think, our worry is whether or not we can ensure we’re able to consume our packaged pineapple chunks. So what if you’re left facing an empty shelf when you seek your weekly asparagus purchase? No one starved when snow kept deliveries away for a week and no one is going to starve as a result of Eyjafjallajökull. Think of it as a chance to try something new off the shelves, enjoy a new recipe!

I think I’ll wait another few weeks before I begin to worry too much.

Let’s just be grateful the British asparagus season is right around the corner. And Jersey Royals. And strawberries. I’m drooling.

Anyhow, below is a quick run down of my main uses for the prolific soya bean, complete with numbered pictures (hey, I love pictures).

1. Firm tofu coagulated with nigari and gypsum

Nigari coagulated tofu has by far the best flavour, but gypsum bulks it up a bit, so I tend to use a combination of the two in the process. I use a homemade tofu press crafted by my father, draining and lightly pressing the curd for up to an hour before removing the block, wrapping it in a tea towel, and popping it in the fridge.

If I want a more firm tofu, I press it further using the usual techniques. I use fresh tofu fairly quickly, so I tend to skip the step of storing it in water in a closed container (but I will store it this way if it’s going to be around for a few days).

2. Silken tofu coagulated with nigari

This is tofu which hasn’t been pressed, and the nigari imparts a lovely sweet taste which makes it ideal for simple pudding dishes and in light soups.

3. Soy milk

I make my soy milk with approximately 1.5 litres (6 cups) of water per 190g (1 cup) of soy beans (dried weight), or a water to bean ratio of 6:1. This makes a very thick and creamy soy milk which yields more tofu with less liquid (for those who use a soyquick machine, that’s two lots of bean per one lot of water).

4. Dried soy beans

This is the base product, dried and waiting to be transformed into soy milk. Pre-soaked they’re quite small, but increase in size by about a third or half when soaked overnight. Once soaked, they are ground with water and strained. What comes out of the stainer is soy milk.

5. Fresh okara

What’s left behind in the straining process is okara, or soy pulp, a highly nutritious source of fibre which can be used in a whole range of dishes. If you look closely, you’ll see some whole soy beans in there, to give an idea of what they look like once soaked.

6. Dried okara

And finally I’m often left with heaping quantities of okara, hence I dry it in the oven so it keeps. It can be reconstituted later and/or added to baked goods.

Please note Defensive Omnivore Bingo is originally by Brian VanderVeen, and he should be given credit where credit’s due!

1. The classic: “but where do you get your protein?”

A classic joke to start (is my sense of humour bad or is my sense of humour bad?): How many vegetarians does it take to screw in a lightbulb? I don’t know, but where do you get your protein?

Seriously? This one always amazes me, not because people are curious, but because they don’t seem to gear the grey matter up before the question departs their mouthbits.  Who taught you meat is the only source of protein? Some of the best sources of protein in the world are vegan, and they don’t contain the nasty saturated fat quantities associated with what people tend to consider one of the best sources of protein: red meat.

In fact many people actually get too much protein. I’m gobsmacked that someone who eats a fry up for breakfast (eggs + bacon + sausage), a burger for lunch, and a steak for dinner, has the nerve to say anything to me about my protein intake (a frequently encountered vision I witness on family visits to the states). Slow down, buddy, because Atkins generally forgot to mention all that fat in fact leads to heart disease. So, in short, meat is not your only protein source, period.

2. But cows need to be milked…

You’re right. An engorged breast isn’t a nice thing, so it’s a good thing those little baby cows are there to ease the mother’s burden.

Oh, wait.

Have you ever seen a cow nursing her young in a natural environment? The udders are nowhere near as bloated. The fact is, we force pregnancy upon the females and then take her young so we can drink her breast milk (what happens to the calves is a whole different story of course).  Cows do need to be milked, and it’s the process of breast feeding her young which is the answer.

3. Some sort of passive aggressive statement implying how vegans are such a nuissance and do nothing but argue their cause.

I do recall my 14 year old vegetarian self so I know this can be the case, but here’s the thing: most veg*ns don’t bring it up unless they have to.

In fact I’d go as far as saying most such conversations arise from a passing statement by the veggie which is then blown into a big bang style issue by the resident omnivore. I make a real effort to not boast about my ethical choices outside of my own home, but I can’t tell you the number of snarky comments and accusations I’ve encountered from people the second they find what what I don’t eat.

Who’s being the passive aggressive nuissance?

4. But what do you eat?!

I’ll admit that when I became vegetarian at the age of 12, my diet was ridiculous. But let’s think about this a step deeper: was my diet really any healthier before that change? If you want to argue this question in health terms, I think it’s fair to say if you don’t eat healthy as an omnivore it’s not surprising if you follow poor eating habits as a veggie too.

If you want to argue this question on flavour and variety, that’s a different story. It goes without saying that when you remove an item from an array of others then you have fewer options. Technically.

If you do question what we eat, however, please consider how often do you evaluate your own food choices. A lot of people don’t believe me when I say I can go a couple of months without repeating a meal. The reason I do this is because I choose to see doors opening in the face of change; most vegans I know eat a greater variety of foods and are more open to trying new dishes than anyone I’ve met who genuinely can’t fathom what I eat.

So if you’re really asking this question then I’d like to set you a challenge to cook a new meal once a week, and a vegan one to boot. It doesn’t have to be fancy, nor does it have to be epic in preparation. Broaden your horizons. I promise it won’t hurt much.

5. So that’s why you’re so skinny

Dude, don’t say this out loud. Think it and look up the possibilities because they’re there, but don’t say it out loud. Just think about it.

If you do, be prepared for, well, stuff. Real insert foot in mouth moments are a possibility. Right at that moment an overweight vegan partner will step out from behind the wall you hadn’t noticed was there until now. Or you will die a death of too much vegan cake because said vegan will need to prove to you that vegan junk food is beyond possible (I can’t tell you how many vegans I know who gained weight after ditching dairy, and they put it all down to learning to bake).

To the thin veggies this sort of statement can often come across as a cloaked “huh, no wonder you’re so waifish and pale” and to those who are dealing with weight issues it’s downright insulting. Don’t get me started on that PETA ad, either (and yes, I’m one of those vegans who doesn’t like PETA much).

Each Christmas Eve we partake in a family gathering at Mr MessyCook’s parents’ house, a meat-saturated event. To be honest my mother-in-law is very good about making sure I have absolutely tonnes to eat, and one year she even used soya mince in the main chili pot. Everyone ate it without complaint; the whining came only afterward when she announced it was veggie. Get your eyes rolling.

At any rate this is my first vegan Christmas and the MiL who’s spent the past eight years learning how to cater to a vegetarian is now left with most of those recipes unavailable to me, her daughter-in-law.  Consequently I’ve volunteered to bring my own food (plus I’m bringing a vegan friend along for the ride) and my partner’s kindly requested lasagna. My cashew-based smoky spinach lasagne has gone down well in the past and, besides, who doesn’t like lasagna?

If you’ve never tried a vegan lasagna, give it a try. It’s a much healthier alternative and, despite it sounding like a difficult task to achieve if you’re used to a dairy-filled diet, it’s well worth giving it a go. And I don’t care what anyone says about lasagna being hard to make. It’s not. Here’s a selection of vegan lasagne recipes from around the interwebs, some which I’ve made and others over which I’m still drooling prior to trying.

Spinach is king (plus other greens and veggies)

• Mushroom, Sausage and Spinach Lasagna
• Lasagne Love Potion
• Fat Free Vegan’s favourite lasagna recipe (spinach and mushroom)
• Presto Manifesto Pesto Lasagna
• Method’s Vegan Lasagna

Bean based lasagna recipes

• Lentil Lasagne (lots of yummy veggies in here)
• Dairy Free Chickpea Lasagne (uses chickpeas/garbanzo beans as a ricotta substitute)
• Lasagna Deliciousa

Mexican inspired alternative lasagnas

• Mexican Lasagna (or Enchilada Casserole)
• Fiesta Lasagna

Tips on veganising lasagna

• Creamy vegan sauces abound, and many of them make a great replacement for traditional cheese in lasagna.
• Try replacing mince (ground beef) with vegan mince or TVP, mushrooms, and/or other chopped vegetables.
• Some crumbled tofu adds to a good consistency, too!
• Instead of using butter to pre-cook any ingredients, use olive oil or a good vegan margarine spread.

Sesame Port Cookies

Isa and Terry have done it again. Made my life complete, I mean. If you’ve never bought one of their vegan cookbooks, it’s never too late to try, and I promise you won’t be disappointed. For anyone new to veganism, considering the lifestyle, or who simply wants junk food with less of the saturated junk inside, look no further than Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar (shelf sister to Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World).

The only problem I have with this book is that I’m so busy in the kitchen that I’m not getting any actual work done.

Luckily, the company answered my request in a way to give me hope.

We’re glad to hear you’ve discovered Daiya and are enjoying it while in the U.S.  We are in talks with several groups who are interested in supplying the European market so please keep an eye on our website over the coming year for updates.

Great, right?

In other news, my childhood home was the land of crazier. The kitchen was gutted and being refitted and all available cooking facilities had been relocated to the garage (read: mostly ineffective electric hob, microwave, and toaster oven). The bathtub became the kitchen sink and any available surface the counter space.

It’s nice to be home (but I can’t wait to see and use their finished kitchen).

Averaging about $15 for a main, $9-10 for a starter, and $6-7 for a dessert, the cost to me is not astronomical (even without converting it back to pounds). I’m quite happy to pay for skill and quality in both ingredients and kitchen hand.

And the food? Very, very good.

Grilled Vegetable Terrine

Truffled Polenta

Bacon Cheddar Burger

At any rate, my mother paid for dinner. Thanks, Mom!

The veggie offender here generally comes in the form of the fining agent, but can sometimes be directly related to the ingredient list (e.g campari is made with cochineal. See above).  It’s also possible that anti foaming agents used in alcohols may be un-veggie.

Non vegan fining agents include things like isinglass (from the swim bladders of fish), gelatin (extracted from the collagin of animal skin and bones… mmm cow hoof!),  casein (from milk), egg (whites or albumen), ox blood (rarely used these days), bone charcoal, or chitin (from lobster and/or crab shells). Alcohols, in order from least to most likely to be vegan friendly, are as follows: beer and fortified wines, cider, wine and sherry, and spirits. Beers and ales which have been cask conditioned are incredibly rarely vegan, let alone vegetarian, and the same goes for fortified port wines.

The question that follows is why these agents are used in the first place. The description that follows is vague and not at all detailed, provided as nothing more than a basic explanation. Essentially, when you produce alcohol (especially yeasty dark ales) you are left with of sediment which floats suspended in the brew. The fining agent helps to capture the sediment and pull it to the bottom, therefore improving the clarity. The sediment will settle naturally, but fining agents simply speed up the process.

A few tips:

• Legal purity law requirements mean alcohol produced in Germany and Belgium are vegan.
• Most US produced beers are vegan too.
• Actually, there are loads and loads of veg-friendly alcohols and an excellent resource for this information is available from Barnivore.
• If you’re in the UK, stores like Co op are very good about marking vegan products, including alcohol. Sainsbury’s too.

Cochineal (E120 or red #4), also labeled as carmine, carminic acid, is a red dye derived from the cochineal beetle. I’ve seen it in everything from candy sprinkles (hundreds and thousands) to savoury pre-packaged meal options. It’s a common ingredient, but other options are available. Products which use this may include, but aren’t limited to:

• Candies and sweets
• Commercial juices (e.g. Tropicana) and fruit bases (e.g. strawberry yoghurt, McDonalds’ strawberry shakes)
• Makeup (how do you think they got those lips so red)
• Lots of junk food (and I don’t just mean sweet stuff)

As a side, another vegan offender is shellac, which comes from the secretion of the lac insect (a relative of  the cochineal beetle). This is generally considered to be a vegetarian product as the secretion is a by-product. Common uses include, but are not limited to:

• Coating fruit in your local supermarket
• Varnish and polishes
• Lip salves
• Glazing agents for confectionary goods

Is Sugar vegan?

Sugar itself comes from a plant source, but the refining process for cane sugar may involve the use of animal bone char as whitening and purification filters.

There are two type of sugar, beet and cane, the former always being vegan and the latter about half of the time. Thus the ever-popular and common US based shelf brand, Domino, is not vegan.

Beet sugar = vegan

Cane sugar = sometimes vegan, sometimes not

This is always a tricky one because so many foods off the shelf contains sugar, and most vegans I know will go out of their way to purchase vegan sugar but realise the futility of double checking the source of all products containing this ingredient. Still, it’s nice to support a company which doesn’t use bone char if you can.

Soup’s On (and a salad too)

Who doesn’t love a winter warmer on a cool day, even if it’s technically autumn (“autumn warmer” just doesn’t have the same ring, sorry)? Soup is a year-round favourite of mine, a meal in itself which encourages any amateur cook to improvise with what’s currently in season. And in case you didn’t know, pumpkins are all the rage right now.

Speaking of warmth, a bit of chili is always welcome in that department and Eat.Run.Do Yoga combines that with our beloved pumpkin in this recipe for Thai pumpkin soup. Pumpkin milk and pumpkin and/or squash are complementary, so I can only imagine this being a delicious fall treat! And shallots are in season, to boot!

Add an extra ‘l’ to chili and we’re left with a recipe offered by Method, where Ashley’s provided an easy guideline for pumpkin chilli. So now I face a dilemma: do I make chilli with pumpkin or this Rustic Tomato Pumpkin Bisque first? I’m a real sucker for a good tomato soup… but then again chilli’s an old school favourite. Life is hard.

If soup isn’t your cup of tea (people have insisted on calling stranger things ‘tea’) but you still crave smooth and liquidy goodness, then try this pumpkin pie smoothie on for size. I say that literally because I often chose, being the fashion expert that I am, to share that which is going into my mouth with any clothing I might be wearing at the time.

Oh, pssst, you should always eat salad with soup. Why? Because then you have an excuse to try this scrumptious autumn salad which uses pumpkin seeds and butternut squash. If you don’t have any butternut squash on hand, sub with pumpkin and you’ll be all set to go!

Spooktacular Sugar Coma

These Pumpkiningeradamia cupcakes are not only fun to pronounce (or try to pronounce); they sound good too! At any rate, how could anything involving candied ginger be bad? I’m also quite drawn to this tofu ricotta pumpkin cheesecake, a veganised version of a ricotta based dish. I love the idea of using light miso in a dessert! Q: why didn’t I think of that? A: because someone’s who’s a little more clever beat you to the punch. BOOYAH.

Janet, a 40-year vegetarian turned long term vegan, provides a recipe for delicious looking pumpkin spice cinnamon rolls. Cinnamon and pumpkin marry so well, and who doesn’t love the gooey sweetness that’s a cinnamon bun?

Halloween Treats

Zombie Eyeball Crispies (photo by Janet Hudson)

Zombie Eyeball Crispies. I haven’t had a rice krispy styled treat in many, many years, but as soon as I get my hands on some vegan marshmallows I’m going to have a go!

Rolled Sugar Cookie Eyeballs. Allyson, of Manifest Vegan, never ceases to impress with her high contrast photographs. The thing is, I suspect everything’s just as good as the photos imply, these totally cute cookies included.

Homemade Candy Corn: an old favourite, only veganised!

Pumpkin Pie Infused Vodka. The verdict is still out on this one, but what a concept! I’m excited to hear about how the end result tastes.

So there.

It’s all fair and good to check the air miles on your organic roma tomatoes, but the animal industry is probably the worst food-related offender of the environment and the standards we all claim to want upheld. If you’re veggie for the environment, these shirts are for you!

Love the Planet Go Veg Shirts

Love the Planet Go Vegan T-Shirt

Healthy and Kind T-Shirt

Please keep in mind I haven’t personally tried all of these recipes, but they’re on my immediate to-do list (meaning ingredients will be purchase on my next shopping trip).

Singled Out

Ah.Mah.Gahd! Are these cupcakes fer realz?! These cardamom chocolate cupcakes with chocolate dipped pear have totally caught my eye, and I would like them to insert themselves into my belly right this instant. Seriously, lady, you’re my hero. These are gorgeous and they look like an explosion of delicious. If you are ever in South East England, I beg of you to come bake cupcakes for me.

Cardamom Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Dipped Pear (photo by Janet Hudson)

Vegan Pasta Roundup

Who doesn’t love pasta? The whole world’s a fan, or so far as I can tell anyway, and there’s just no need to use dairy when there are hip and hot dishes like these.

• Vegan Manicotti: not too tricky but very impressive. I’ve been craving this since I first saw it, and I can’t wait to get some of that vegan goodness in me tum!
• Broccoli Miso Pasta Sauce: perfect if you’re craving some greens with your carbohydrates.
• Daiya Macaroni Cheese: one of many delicious looking vegan macaroni cheese variations on a theme available on the ol’ interwebs (gah, I am dying to try Daiya cheese. Just dying).

Snacks and Sweets

• Lavender Chocolate Chip Ice Cream: not new, but seriously yumtastic. I’m secretly (as secret as public blog posts go) happy my husband doesn’t like lavender because it means the whole tub (what’s left of it) in the freezer is mine.
• Peach-Strawberry Dessert Soup with Vanilla Tapioca Sauce: does this not look like heaven? My husband also hates tapioca, so I’m sensing another selfish dessert endeavour.
• Maple Glazed Cranberry Walnut Cookie Bars: if the stunning picture is anything to go by then these cookies, once made, aren’t going to last long around here!

Soy Delights!

• Besan Tofu: while not in fact bean curd (and not in fact a new post, but recently brought up again on the ppk forums), who’d have thought of making a mock tofu out of chickpea flour?
• Crispy Tofu with Citrus Soy: also not a new recipe, but new to me, this delicious looking fried tofu can be veganised by omitting the egg (try corn flour and water instead).
• Vegan Okonomiyaki: this sounds so good it almost makes me want to cry.  These are savoury Japanese pancakes generally made with egg, but Ian’s managed to veganise the concept. I’m totally going to combine this with my current obsession with saurkraut.

Cuuuuuutttteeee, right? These vegan recipe cards feature a series of flowers in the corner, with each blossom represented by letters which spell “vegan.” Made especially for Vegan MoFo (vegan month of food), these cards are perfect for vegan kitchens (and for vegan recipes to include with those yummy cupcakes you bring to the office to make Mondays a little less hateable)!

The cards are available in pdf format below, in 3 different colour schemes. You can either type on the cards in your pdf reader or print and handwrite recipes (in which case be sure to delete the text already there). The text size in the pdf looks huge, but will adjust itself accordingly depending on how much you slap on the card.

Download Vegan Fleur 4×6 Recipe Cards

Download Vegan Fleur 3×5 Recipe Cards

Do you have an idea for an awesome vegan shirt or sticker slogan? Leave a comment and let me know!

The Vegan Shirts

Vegan Rocker Brown and Red by Veganista
Design custom tee shirts at Zazzle

Rocker Pink Vegan by Veganista
Make customized tee shirts at Zazzle

Buttons, Keychains, and More!

Red and Blue 1980s Rocker Vegan by Veganista
Design custom buttons on zazzle

Pink and Green Vegan by Veganista
See other Vegan Keychains

Rocker Blue Vegan by Veganista
Browse more Vegan Bags

Vegan Rocker Blue by Veganista
Browse more Vegan Mugs

Okay, okay, so my main point of this post is to encourage everyone (omnivores, vegetarians, and vegans alike) to purchase Isa Chandra Moscowicz’s latest book, Vegan Brunch. It just happens this very simple but also delicious recipe for a fruity chocolate smoothie goes great with brunch.

See the muffin in the smoothie picture? That’s a blueberry ginger spelt muffin from the book, and it’s good too. They aren’t too sweet like muffins often are, and the texture is both gooey and nutty with a sweet grainy mouthfeel (what a word, what a word…). Key ingredients include blueberries and crystalised ginger (though I’ll admit I added a bunch of powdered as an alternative). It’s a good one for anyone who likes some sugar in the morning but not in epic proportions.

More Vegan Brunch Recipe Photos

…but if you do want some seriously sweet heaven in the A.M. hours then the banana flapjacks (a form of pancake in the US as opposed to the rolled oat bar in the UK) are the treat for you. Served here with some non dairy butter and fresh blueberries, these babies are pretty fab.

And here we have the Vegan Vidalia (sweet) Onion Quiche, a tofu dish for even the most devout of quiche fans.

I’m pretty sure if this was thrown in with a random pool of food pictures, “this looks vegan” isn’t the first thing a random browser would think. Probably two of the greatest recipes in the collection (based on the fact that I’ve cooked maybe ten), the vegan omelette and the vegan sausages are pure genius.

Does the omelette pretend to be an egg? No, not really. It’s heavier and smoother, but the general taste isn’t that far off. Methinks this will be the foundation for some amazing vegan “egg” dishes in future. I’ve already got my imagination cells set on a few, so watch this space.

Do the “sausages” pretend to be sausages? Well, this one can be argued. Sausages come in a variety of shapes and textures, with a gazillion recipes for herb and spice mixes to flavour. In fact, it seems most of the flavour of sausage tends to come from what’s included with the meat as opposed to the meat itself. With that thought in mind it’s really the texture you’re after, and gluten is the vegetarian/vegan answer. Shown above are the cherry sage sausages from Vegan Brunch, in which a main ingredient is gluten flour (and almond okara- my own addition). I’m already planning a Cumberland version!

Oh, and the smoothie recipe.

“Could I please have a grande, sugar-free, soy, extra hot, caramel mocha with whipped cream and an extra shot?”

It’s understandable how and why an espresso virgin might feel confused upon his or her first encounter with a modern coffee shop. Just when you think you’ve got the local chain’s menu down, you hear what sounds like a foreign language from the bloke in front of you.

I’m not going to reinvent the wheel here; there are plenty of coffee resources out there which document just what every espresso drink is and what they contain. My intention is merely to simplify those lists a little, breaking them down into the basic drink components: straight espresso, milk based, and drinks which often straddle the two (enhanced). This is by no means an extensive list.

Espresso drinks, simplified: a classification guide

I like it strong! Straight espresso drinks with no milk.

Often claimed to be “too much” or bitter to taste, these drinks are for the true espresso lover. These are the drinks which involve ground espresso beans and water, with no other ingredient aside from the loving care and expertise of the barista who serves your drink.

• Single Shot: equal to about 30ml (1 ounce) of espresso
  
• Double Shot: equal to about 60ml (2 ounces) of espresso
  
• Ristretto (short): espresso equal to about 75% of a normal shot (above), using the same amount of coffee but brewed in the same amount of time as a regular shot. The water flow is restricted in order to achieve this.
• Lungo (long): the opposite of a ristretto, if you will, with around a minimum of 50% more volume in the espresso (using the same amount of coffee). More water is let through in order to achieve this.
• Americano: Perfect for the filter coffee enthusiast who wants to give espresso a shot (ha, ha pun intended), an americano is simply espresso with hot water added.

I like it milky smooth! Milk based espresso drinks.

These are the drinks about which everyone outside of Italy and parts of Europe talk. In fact, many in North America and the UK often seem to think of espresso as being synonymous with these drinks.

• Cappuccino: A beverage of thirds made with 1/3 espresso, 1/3 steamed milk, and 1/3 milk foam.
• Café Latte: made outside of Italy with approximately (this can be argued) 1/3 espresso and 2/3 steamed milk (with a fraction of the steamed milk a creamy foam on top). The extra milk makes this drink milder in taste than the cappuccino. In Italy a latte is generally a drink which is far more mild and perhaps not even made with espresso.
• Flat White: Very similar to the above latte, but with little or no foamed milk on top.
• Mocha: Also very similar to a latte, but with added chocolate syrup or powder.
• Breve: Essentially a latte made with half and half (light cream) rather than milk. Very rich and quite American.

Enhanced espresso.

Think of these as espresso with something a little extra. It’s still a straight shot, with dairy or other ingredients to tone and/or complement the coffee.

• Espresso con Panna: espresso with a dollop of whipped cream on top.
• Macchiato: translates as “stained,” so is simply espresso lightly topped with very little milk foam or milk.
• Corretto: espresso “corrected” (spiked!) with a shot of liquor.

Clearing up Confused Terms and a primer on extras

Macchiato vs Macchiato: In Starbucks and many chains the machiato is a giant milky drink crafted for people who desire diabetes. Order a macchiato in a more specialised coffee house, however, and you’ll be most likely served a completely different beverage. What starbucks serves is a version of the Latte Macchiato, which is essentially a latte with a twist: instead of pouring the milk into a cup with espresso, the espresso is poured into a cup with milk (version emphasised because I don’t know if Starbucks actually makes their drink this way). The Café Macchiato, on the other hand, is simply neat espresso with a dollop of milk or milk foam.

Flavours: hazelnut, caramel, peppermint, and a thousand others. Good or bad? This is a choice down to the mind of the individual consuming the coffee, but in my opinion flavourings often exist to mask bad espresso. Why would you need all the flavours, super-sizes, and extras if you simply had a barista who could make a sublime cup of coffee? Find good coffee and suddenly those extras become unnecessary.

Milk variety: the less fat the easier it is to foam the milk, but full fat milk is completely doable and honestly better. Soy milk is also an option, but can be tricky to foam. Bonsoy brand, however, can be worked in a manner very similar to whole milk (if you’ve ever had a soy latte and hated it, try Bonsoy next time).

Variety doesn’t have to be difficult

I believe a lot of people don’t try espresso simply because it’s easier to drink a cup of “normal coffee” than battle with a new language. If/when you decide to give espresso a go, think of the drinks in terms of their ingredients. Don’t like milk? Ignore lattes and cappuccinos. Can’t handle it black? Then you’ll want to try those milky drinks. Want to try espresso but afraid it might be too much on its own? Try con panna!

Whatever you do, just find a good barista. Try some good espresso. Please?

All posts in this series

1. There’s No “X” in “Espresso” and Other Tales of Coffee Woe
2. What Espresso Isn’t: A Primer on Ghettopresso and more
3. Ingredients For Successful Espresso
4. The Coffee Shop Menu, Simplified

5 Factors contributing to successful espresso

In Italy there is a set of four basic elements which comprise the path to perfect espresso, commonly referred to as the “4 m’s”. Others tack on a fifth m, this one referring to maintenance. While I believe maintenance to be important I propose my own fifth element for the purpose of this post (related to the 4th, but in my opinion important enough to merit standing on its own). So the 4 m’s and a p.

1. Miscela: the espresso blend, the beans.
2. Macinadosatore: the dosing grinder and the grind.
3. Macchina: the machine.
4. Mano dell’operatore: the hand of the operator, including the tamp and that which is under the control of the barista.
5. Patience

1. The Beans / Miscela

Coffee beans are grown around the world and fans will argue their preferences until blue in the face. Origin can play an important role and it’s worth tasting a variety of coffees from around the world. The most accepted view is that Arabica beans are best, but most espresso is extracted from a blend of different coffees. Often these blends will include a small amount of the less favoured Robusta in order to ensure a good crema.

There are four different coffee roasts: light, medium, dark, and very dark, the latter two being what we generally conceive as best for espresso. It could be argued that the flavours of origin and bean are easier distinguished in a medium roast, the preferred espresso beans used by many Italians.

2. The Grind / Macinadosatore

It’s funny to me how most people would agree fresh is always better but many let this concept slide when it comes to coffee. Fresh is important if you want a good shot and, coupled with an even grind, you’ll really spot the difference between a shot made with pre-packaged or badly ground coffee versus a shot from a fresh and even grind.

There are two primary types of coffee grinders: the burr grinder and the more common blade grinder. The latter are what you’ll mainly see at the local shops and are not in any way suitable for grinding espresso. A burr grinder costs more, but if you are serious about coffee then this should arguably be your greatest investment. A good burr grinder can be adjusted to produce a variety of consistent grain sizes, an important factor when you consider your end goal, which is to produce a shot of good espresso.

To better explain that point, it’s important to note just what espresso is. It’s a drink made from 5-10 grams of finely ground coffee which, under 9 bar of brewing pressure and with water between 194-204 degrees Fahrenheit, produces a 30ml (approx) shot when extracted between 20-30 seconds.

This drink cannot be easily achieved with an uneven or too large grind no matter how hard you pack it down, and that’s the sort of grind you will get with a cheap blade grinder.

Buy a classy £1,000 home espresso machine without a good burr grinder and you’ll still only pull mediocre shots at best.

3. The Equipment / Macchina

I’ve already discussed the espresso machine to some extent (see point 3 in that post), but want to explain further why it’s important to buy a pump machine and also why the machine won’t ever be the solo star in your dream shot.

The definition of espresso I provided above is actually quite a basic one. You’re probably thinking “how is that basic?”

That’s my point. It’s not. While many espresso machines will come with just 3 basic switches: power, pump, and steam, espresso is a beverage which demands some seriously precise conditions. You need a machine capable of producing 9 bar of pressure, but that’s not enough on its own because the machine also needs to be able to maintain accurate temperatures on multiple levels (the boiler will reach different temperatures for espresso brewing and milk frothing, for instance).

And now, after demanding you find and pay for quality, I tell you the machine isn’t the most important aspect of the process. Consider a chef who is attempting the creation of a stunning meal using only mediocre kitchen tools. Sure, the style may be lost and it may be a more cumbersome task, but the end result still streams from two more important factors: quality ingredients and an experienced chef. The same applies for coffee, only the ingredients are the freshly burr-ground coffee and the barista becomes the chef.

4. Barista Skills / Mano dell’operatore

This element, combined with the grinder, are in my opinion the most important factors to consider in the espresso process. You don’t need to have a rack of barista championship trophies in order to make a good shot, but you do need some know-how.

The tamp (packing the coffee into a tight puck in the basket) is crucial in the espresso brewing process. People underestimate the importance of this step, one which ensures the water flow to extract your espresso shot under ideal conditions. Properly tamped coffee ensures the water is forced evenly through all of the coffee rather than through some of it, which is what happens when the tamp is uneven.

Think of it this way: you’ve got a powerful machine producing a whole lot of pressure and the water is trying to find its way down the path of lesser pressure (which in this case is out through the coffee). An even and solid tamp creates a resistance of sorts to the initial pressure, so instead of the water finding the path of least resistance (that is, the path of less densely packed coffee) it has to push evenly through the grind. The end result? You get a quality shot rather than just a measure of strong coffee.

The tamp really can make or break that shot.

5. Patience

There are always several parts to one whole, and this is perhaps one of the most overlooked. Unless you have a super automatic machine which does it all, you’re going to spend some serious time getting the hang of this. And after you get the hang of it you’ll spend yet more time making your shot better. That still won’t be good enough, so after that you’ll spend the rest of your days seeking absolute espresso perfection.

Don’t be afraid to mess up, because that’s how we best learn to do it better the next time. In fact I’d even recommend purposely going against all the recommended methods just to see how coffee shouldn’t be. Consume shots from the chains, local establishments, and other wannabe home baristas. Try everything you can and learn to tell right from wrong when you taste a shot so can apply better techniques to your own efforts.

Oh, and don’t do this for no reason other than to impress your partner’s boss or your upper middle class neighbours. Do it because you want to learn how, a must if you want to pull a better shot (see above about time dedication). A machine which sits on the counter to be used as a declaration of your bank balance when the mom of your kid’s friend collects them simply won’t do; you have to learn how to use the sucker regularly to get anywhere.

Stay Tuned: What’s behind the names: an espresso beverage guide

Espresso is complicated business, one which merits a constant education and never-ending practice. To further the confusion are the plethora of espresso based and other coffee drinks on the market, many of which are misrepresented by coffee shops. Stay tuned for the next post on coffee drinks and why Starbucks’ ballsup of a macchiato is actually just a bad latte.

All posts in this series

1. There’s No “X” in “Espresso” and Other Tales of Coffee Woe
2. What Espresso Isn’t: A Primer on Ghettopresso and more
3. Ingredients For Successful Espresso
4. The Coffee Shop Menu, Simplified

In my previous post about Espresso myths and tales of coffee woe I discussed a few myths about espresso and its process. Here are a few more morsels of information about what espresso isn’t and how to spot a cup of what I call “ghettopresso”.

1. Nescafe is not a Barista

Much like a cup of strong coffee cannot be equated to an espresso, those sugary packets of instant cappuccino mix you keep at the office also don’t fit the bill. That’s like comparing spray cheese with vintage cheddar or bringing Manischewitz to a wine tasting party.

Also consider the coffee you buy. You’ll notice on many pre-ground coffee packs an image or statement that the blend is appropriate for everything from a cafetiere (French press) to an espresso machine. This simply isn’t true; you use a different grind of coffee for an espresso machine than for a drip machine, another grind again for a cafetiere, and still another for Turkish coffee. And so forth.

Yes, this means the espresso blend you used in your French press isn’t in fact espresso. It’s just as it sounds: finely ground coffee beans in hot water. It’s a cup of coffee, a cup of inefficiently brewed coffee.

2. Some things were never made to be super-sized

…and good coffee is one of them. Sure we all like to indulge from time to time, but with most things in life I find I will both remember and savour something more if the portion is sufficient and the product is divine.

My personal thought is that you lose out by super-sizing espresso drinks because the proper ratios are thrown out the door. A cappuccino, for instance, should be 1/3 espresso, 1/3 steamed milk, and 1/3 milk froth. Using double espresso shots, that’s 2 ounces (60 ml) each of espresso, milk, and froth. With those proportions in mind, Starbucks should use 6.6 shots/ounces of espresso in their 20 ounce drink. They use two.

And I don’t think I would want to drink nearly 200ml of espresso in one sitting anyway.

Do yourself a favour and find something more authentic, just to give it a try. With good coffee, less genuinely is more.

3. When an espresso machine is not an espresso machine

There are several types of espresso machine, but for the purpose of this post I’m breaking them into two basic categories: those which make real espresso and those which don’t, my focus being on the latter.

My first gripe is with the stove top moka pot. Sure they may have roots in the original process behind the drink, but don’t expect its end product to mimic the shot your local [skilled] barista pulls. It’s another producer of strong coffee and nothing more. I have a feeling most people realise this.

Then there’s the steam powered espresso machines. These operate on the basic principle of boiling water (and espresso is not in fact made with boiling water) and using the steam to push out the coffee. Keeping that process in mind, the drink produced by steam powered machines will be closer to one from a stovetop espresso maker than to a modern day shot. True espresso is crafted using a pump process, one which doesn’t boil the water first and one which uses a minimum of 9 bar pressure.

While it’s maybe a bit snobbish to say the steam powered machines cannot produce espresso, it’s certainly reasonable to say you simply cannot obtain professional results using one.

But don’t despair. If you love your venti caramel latte and what comes out of your Delonghi ghettopresso machine then that’s what really matters, right?.

I am by no means a professional, so I’ve only touched on the very outskirts of machines. If you’re interested in reading more, the topic of machines is explained in detail elsewhere by people who really know what they’re talking about and with good espresso machine advice to offer.

Stay Tuned: Ingredients for successful espresso

It’s clear to most people that espresso involves the use of a coffee bean (no, there is not an espresso plant) coupled with equipment of some sort. Stay tuned for the next part in the series to learn why the espresso machine is arguably one of the least important tools in the process.

All posts in this series

1. There’s No “X” in “Espresso” and Other Tales of Coffee Woe
2. What Espresso Isn’t: A Primer on Ghettopresso and more
3. Ingredients For Successful Espresso
4. The Coffee Shop Menu, Simplified

Three Espresso Myths

1. Espresso has more caffeine than “regular” coffee.

Many people are surprised to learn espresso generally has a much lower caffeine content than a cup of filter coffee. One possible (read this Roast Magazine article for a differing point of view) reason is most espresso consumed is brewed from dark-roasted beans. Very generally speaking it’s thought the darker the roast the less the caffeine.

A more plausible reason surfaces when you note the water content and time in preparing a cup of filter coffee. Filter coffee uses more water and this combined with a longer brewing time often means more caffeine in your cup. In the end you’re looking at about half or two-thirds the content of caffeine in a latte versus a cup of drip coffee of the same size.

2. Where’d they get that “x” from, anyway?

That letter has never been, nor ever will be, a feature in espresso. There’s nothing “express” about the process of espresso; it’s an incredibly refined and skilled technique. Good baristas spend years of their lives acquiring and furthering this complicated skill.

On a side note I can think of a few coffee chains who’d do well to hire less 17 year olds and more dedicated career baristas. In Italy this is a respected profession with an average age seemingly double that of Starbucks’ equivalent. This is for good reason.

3. Espresso is just really strong coffee

No, no, no! By all means enjoy your cafetierre, but you will never ever make an espresso by simply adding a dark roast in extreme quantities with less water than you would normally add for a standard cup.

Think of it like this: cheese and butter are both made from the same base ingredient, milk, as espresso and filter coffee are both children of the humble coffee bean. Each takes a completely different process down two separate paths in order it get to the final product, however. You don’t make cheese by churning milk in a butter churn just as as you don’t make espresso by coupling excessive amounts of coffee grains with a few millilitres of water.

Espresso is made from a very specific grind of coffee combined with an equally specific method. Coffeegeek.com sumarises it appropriately below.

The coffee beverage produced by a pump or lever espresso machine. This Italian word describes a beverage made from 7 grams (+/- 2 grams) of finely ground coffee, producing 1-1.5 ounces (30-45ml) of extracted beverage under 9 bar (135psi) of brewing pressure at brewing temperatures of between 194 and 204 degrees Fahrenheit, over a period of 25 seconds (+/- 5 seconds) of brew time.

Stay Tuned: What Espresso Isn’t

There are all sorts of arguments for what makes the best shot, from blend and grind to machine and individual barista skills. Nevertheless one thing is certain, and that’s the fact that there are solid facts behind the highly skilled process that ends in that shot in your cappuccino.

I always find it useful to think of what something isn’t in order to understand what it is. Stay tuned for the next part of this series to find out more of what espresso isn’t, plus why that £50/$75 Krups machine Granny bought you for Christmas can’t really make true espresso.

All posts in this series

1. There’s No “X” in “Espresso” and Other Tales of Coffee Woe
2. What Espresso Isn’t: A Primer on Ghettopresso and more
3. Ingredients For Successful Espresso
4. The Coffee Shop Menu, Simplified

The cost of heaven comes at a premium, but what can I expect when my pearly gates exist as the doorway into any shop in Switzerland? Similar to the French macaron, but lighter, a trip to the city of Zurich cannot be complete without a visit to Confiserie Sprüngli for a taste of their divine Luxemburgerlis.

At 10.30 CHF per 100g you will easily spend your daily travel allowance in one go, but after one bite I promise you won’t regret your decision. A shame the recipe is a secret kept close to the heart of Sprüngli.

The oldest vegetarian restaurant in Europe

Opened in 1898, Hiltl claims to be the oldest vegetarian establishment on the continent. When in the city of Zurich I inevitably find myself here enjoying a selection of perfectly cooked seasonal vegetables and moorish treats. Is it the best food I’ve eaten? I won’t lie, because I can turn out similar flavours and presentation from my own kitchen, but it’s really a lovely place and well worth a try.

They have both a sit down menu with service and a buffet (price by weight), the latter a process of serving yourself and weighing the end result for the price. The portions from the buffet versus the menu seem to come out at similar prices (between 25-35 CHF) so don’t try to dupe yourself into saving money. Just sit down and enjoy a treat! The rösti is good and my friend swears by the madras banana.

Pure vegetarians beware as they do use rennet in some of their cheeses. This is evident and marked on the buffet bar but not on the English sit-down menu. Also note there is a special daily menu in German that doesn’t feature on the English menu.

…and of course chocolate

To many people the idea of Switzerland is synonymous with a luscious indulgence in tempting chocolates, and I will agree they do have a way with cacao. But, like any other place associated with a fine food, you can substitute quality for cost or embrace those establishments worth remembering (your wallet never forgets). Teuscher is one such institution, one which will cost you more than you’d ever think to spend on chocolate but which will leave you considering brands like Cadbury’s and Hersheys to be anything but chocolate.

Americans might enjoy Teuscher’s US based stores while the rest of us have to wait for a trip to Switzerland or Germany. Try anything. Everything! Something?

In Switzerland I remind myself, oh I have to, that I must listen sometimes only to what my mind desires. Every once in awhile, it’s okay to ignore that voice of reason in your head and opt instead for sheer ignorance of the fact that you could remortgage your home and still only just afford a meal out. This is what I tell myself. My Luxemburgelis and me.

It’s not unusual for me to call life off for a few weeks and just get out of here. That combined with weekends away, short trips, and visiting my family back in the US means my lazy arse doesn’t get a post up for a brief time. Oops, sorry. The thing is, I love travel. My excuse this itme? A week away in Salcombe (which is in the county of Devon in Southwest England if you don’t know), followed by a few days in Brussels with my visiting mother.

Why am I telling you this? Because when I travel I always find food related things which inspire me, make me warm and happy, and often cause me to drool on my last set of clean clothes. I always say to myself, “write about this! Post the recipe you created as a result!” and clearly I ignore myself most of the time. This time, however, is different because I banned myself from eating my finds until I photographed them… and once they’re photographed they may as well be posted!

Belgian chocolate.

This is almost a buzzword in the foodie world, isn’t it? The truth is most of it’s worthless, factory produced piles of goop which can make Hershey’s chocolate seem authentic. I tried and even enjoyed a fair amount of such choc, so don’t get me wrong. I enjoy a junk food fest as much as the next person, but at the end of the day I believe in paying a lot for a little of something good rather than a little for a lot of something under par in quality. Hence I looked out there chocolatiers with a good reputation for making their own quality product: The Chocolate Line, Dumon, and Sukerbuyc.

Dumon Chocolatier

This is the chocolate maker I would recommend to a serious chocoholic. Dumon’s chocolates are the creamiest, smoothest chocolates for which one could hope. It’s melt-in-your mouth good, and the staff are helpful; they have to be as the chocolates are not labeled. I was at first put off by this, but I left feeling more knowledgable about what I bought as the shop staff really engage with customers to explain. In the end I felt confident in trusting their own choices and took away a box of their picking. I wasn’t dissapointed with a single one.

Chocolaterie Sukerbuyc

Katelijnestraat 5, Brugge.

A sign on the door asks for only customers to come inside in order to preserve quality. A few years ago I’d have passed this off as an act of snobbery and would have huffed away to the cheapest shop I could find. Yes, I’d show them! Now, not so much. Are they snobbish? Perhaps. Does the attitude make their chocolate better? Probaby not.

The thing is, I get it. There are so many chocolate shops in this small city, enough to spend a full day going in and out and only seeing half. They are mostly all the same, and many with staff who don’t seem at all interested in what they sell. I understand why a shop who makes their own would get frustrated with yet another pack of tourists bursting in the door only to leave and, as I said, head to the cheaper place down the road (something they would do anyway). Plus Sukerbuyc has a great window display, one which allows the browsing public to see all they have on offer without entering the store.

I entered the store, because I knew I wanted to buy. I knew they had something different, and I knew I needed to buy some of the Advokaat (avocado); I’d sampled a white chocolate truffle with avocado in Brussels but this was the first I saw in dark. Others I sampled include dark chocolate and violet, coffee, and more which have long since come to rest in my stomach.

My opinion on Sukerbuyc? For lack of better words, this chocolate is less rich than that which is sold in Dumon. Not that it’s untoothsome, just less creamy and with less milk used in the recipe. I could handle no more than one or two silky pieces from Dumon in one sitting; my body could survive slightly more from Sukerbuyc no doubt. Their avocado was quite possibly my favourite find of the trip.

The Chocolate Line

Simon Stevinplein 19, 8000 Brugge

Fried onion, cola, violet, caramel coriander, cabernet sauvignon, lavender, lemongrass, vodka-lemon, and earl grey. Chocolates.

I thought I would save the most interesting for last.

One thing that frustrates me most with people, even self proclaimed foodies, is their willingness to dismiss a flavour simply because it sounds bad. Think of all the things we ingest now, combinations which at some point in time didn’t exist. Once upon a time there was a person with an original thought to use curdled milk to make cheese, to mix flour and water and bake it, to combine tomato with herbs to create a sauce… You get the idea. Why not combine onion and chocolate? From a species which enjoys a wide range of fermented foods and wholly unordinary culinary practises, chocolate and onion seems positively straight forrward!

So yes, those are the flavours I chose, and I’m not at all disappointed with my selection. The chocolate and fried onion combination was quite interesting and subtle; it worked well in my opinion. But my favourite thus far has been the vodka-lemon, imparting a series of changing flavours as it rests on your tongue. Cola has been my least favourite, though not overall. That distinction would have to go to the sickly false banana flavoured chocolate I regretably purchased elsewhere.

When in Bruges, eat these

Dumon is perfect for serious lovers of rich milk chocolate. Try anything with their chocolate ganache.

From Sukerbuyc I preferred the dark chocolates, and the avocado filling is highly recommended.

If you’re interested in trying something different and wholly inspirational, head to The Chocolate Line. Be sure to try the vodka-lemon white chocolate!

I think it would be fair to guess most people know you can find tofu in both firm and soft varieties, but what’s the meaning behind these differences? What’s the difference between these products and why do they exist? Let’s first look to two important countries when it comes to bean curd production: Japan and China.

The textures of tofu

Chinese tofu is generally what is being referenced when someone is talking about extra-firm tofu, while regular tofu is more in line with Japanese tofu. The main difference is that the Chinese variety has more water pressed out of it, so it is dryer and more meaty in texture. It’s also very easy to cook with in Western cuisine because of its consistency. Japanese style tofu, on the other hand, is generally a little softer and can be enjoyed simply on its own (this would normally be a medium-firm tofu). Both of these types of tofu are fairly common in the West and both have their benefits.

The ways in which Japanese tofu (regular) and Chinese tofu (firm) are made differ slightly. Chinese tofu is generally coagulated with calcium sulfate while Japanese tofu is usually made using nigari as a coagulant. This isn’t necessarily a hard and solid rule because it’s mainly based on geography. China’s in-land mountains provide the calcium sulfate (also known as gypsum in the West) while Japan’s coasts allow them the sea water needed to extract nigari (also known as bittern). Coastal Chinese also make tofu with nigari.

Recipes and ideas for firm and extra firm tofu

Medium (Regular) Tofu Recipes:
• Matthew’s Delicious Tofu
• Stir-fried Tofu with Zucchini

Firm and Extra Firm Tofu Recipes:
• Caramelised Tofu Recipe
• Sesame Baked Tofu
• Thai Coconut Tofu Recipe

What about silken tofu?

Silken tofu is produced by coagulating a thick soy milk and it is a different process altogether. Regular and firm tofu are pressed in order to remove excess water, but silken tofu never goes through this process. Instead it is simply poured into a container and allowed to become firm on its own. This means, unlike in tofu traditionally used in the west, the curds and whey don’t get separated. Essentially silken tofu is so silky because it has a lot of water left inside.

Recipes and ideas for silken tofu

• Vegan Butterscotch Mousse Pie
• Mini Tofu Quiches
• Silken Tofuand Carrot with Soy-Ginger Sauce
• Grilled Tofu Salad

Did you know…?

An interesting fact: the more water a block of tofu retains, the less flavour it will soak up in cooking. That’s why a lot of recipes tell you to press bean curd first! So if you’re buying the crappy supermarket stuff and want to cover the stale taste more, buy the extra-firm and press it even more!

To save these recipe cards, do the usual right click –> save as.

Same applies. Right click –> save as.

One Less Plastic Bag Totes

One Less Plastic Cup Mugs

Everyone could use another coffee cup, right? I just lost another one last night when I set it on the floor from the height of my waist. Clearly a the surface I expected had vanished. Imagine an entire world of people like me, combined with an environmental push to reduce waste, and you must realise the gift giving potential in these great mugs!

Still, I think Mother’s Day is a tough holiday in terms of shopping. While I am not against the typical stuff, if I am to give a gift to anyone I want it to be unique and suited to them personally. Otherwise I would rather not give a gift at all. That’s why I thought I would make a list of some unique and unusual Mother’s Day gift ideas for mothers who enjoy time in the kitchen!

1. T-Shirts for cooking moms

Here are some great cooking related t shirts, a perfect and unique gift idea for any chef in your life (especially the ones who either have all the coolest kitchen gadgets already, or the ones who are so darned picky that you wouldn’t dare try to buy them any new utensil or machine). A tee is something that appeals to just about everyone, and on Cafepress you will find a huge selection of shirts beyond anything your own imagination could have cooked up in a million years! Here are a few favourites:

Peace, Love, Bake Raglan Tee. Perfect for the mom who loves to bake, this girly raglan features a hand giving a peace sign, a heart, and an oven, all in hip brown and pink colours (I must admit I’m really into that scheme).

I Should Be in the Kitchen Retro Ringer. This reminds me of a completely inappropriate joke a friend shared with me a few years ago, which goes something along the lines of “Why doesn’t a woman need to wear a watch?” The answer, in all its political correctness, is “because there’s a clock above the stove.” Not able to believe that anyone could possibly say something like that and be serious, I found humour in the audacity of it, that anyone could ever find it funny for any reason other than how bleedin’ stupid it is. Needless to say, that joke actually has a good connotation for me because of the feminist who told it and because, yeah, my arse does belong in the kitchen!

Beware. I’m a Kitchen Nightmare Women’s T-Shirt. This one describes me to a tee (har har), and I’m sure it would suit a lot of moms out there, too! My suggestion, however, is not to give this to any mom who doesn’t have a good sense of humour… Boy does this design describe why the “messy” exists in the title of this blog.

2. Make your own mug set for mom

Edamame is my Homeboy Coffee Mug. Show your love for soy with this awesome edamame coffee cup, perfect for veggie moms the world over!

Tofu Buddies Mug. Featuring a distinct Japanese illustration style, this adorable tofu mug will suit any playful mom who loves her daily dose of soy!

Lots of Donuts Large Mug. Ideal if your mother is a police office, I suppose! This mug is the perfect accompaniment to something sweet!

3. A gift basket of baked goodies..

This is a cool idea for a Mother’s Day gift basket, a very cool idea. The baking diva behind this fabulous concept lets you choose from a selection of different goodies for inclusion. You would of course have to contact the seller to ensure that all ingredients met dietary requirements, but what a cool Mother’s Day gift idea! There’s only one available, so be quick…

4. All messy cooks need an apron (or 12)

Veggie Lover BBQ Apron. The perfect gift idea for a mom who’s keen on her veggies and wants to inspire the family, by force or not, to also enjoy vegetable-goodness!

Kiss Me, I’m a Vegetarian BBQ Apron. This is so much better than “kiss the cook,” by a long shot!

Vegetarian Revolution BBQ Apron. If you’ve got a veggie mom who’s stylish in the kitchen and out, this trendy Russian styled vegetarian revolution apron is fab!

5. Make your own cookbook for mom

I’ve blogged about this before, but I think it’s so cool that it’s worth another mention. You can read my other post about making your own cookbook here.

So there you go, a few ideas for something other than flowers for mom on Mother’s Day (not that I have anything against flowers, mind you. They are very nice). Cafepress is a mine field of great gift ideas, so go have a look around there if you’re still not feeling inspired!

Thoughts?

In essence, I believed (and still do to a certain extent) that the concept of organic was a sham. This doesn’t mean I’m against organic. Quite the opposite, in fact! I just wish the standards were higher and regulations were strict, that it wasn’t up to private organisations to set different standards.

But c’est la vie. People don’t seem to care about what’s going into their bodies enough to really give a rat’s arse.

So. Abel and Cole.

The veg box

I ordered the small deluxe organic box, a box which features a variety of 8 or so different vegetables. At the time of writing this cost £12.50, a little pricey but not completely beyond affordable. You can see, in the picture above, the small deluxe organic box in the upper left corner. The other box is full of additional goodies which I ordered.

The other goodies included blood oranges (A++), bananas, free range eggs, and bean sprouts. I also tried the peanut butter, Sojasade blueberry soy yoghurt, and some soy sausages. The entire order was in the £25 ballpark, far more than I’d pay for the same stuff than at Tesco, but it just felt better. Cheesy, I know.

I wanted bananas and avocado

Two of my biggest complaints in this country are the quality of both bananas and avocados in store. They are unpredictable at best and less flavourful than cheap buffet food, errr, also at best. I have little positive to say about the matter. Abel and Cole at least was able to offer me an improvement on one of them items, that being the avocados. They’re not perfect (nothing is like a fresh avocado in Chile or New Zealand, where they grow), but after a few days’ ripening they are very yummy. The bananas, on the other hand… well, they’re just bananas. They’re not terrible, but after eating them fresh in SE Asia, no one’s going to feed me a banana that can even compare to superior banana-dom.

Everything else? Very good. The quality of the fruit and veg which I received were great and I have since received two more quality deliveries from the company. My only complaint is that they are out of peanut butter for a few weeks, something which actually made me decide to try Riverford’s vex box next week (not the primary reason, but I wanted to try Riverford anyhow).

The good and the bad

The good:

• Attention to detail (you can say what fruit and veg you dislike and they won’t include it).
• They stock peanut butter that rocks (too bad it’s now out of stock, because it’s hard to find non-crap PB in this country).
• They gave me a free bottle of olive oil for joining, and my friend £10 for referring me.
• They sell soya yoghurts which I can’t get in a shop close to where I live.
• Free delivery with order of £8 or more.
• Very clean and informative site, along with a fun newsletter with recipes and facts (delivered with your order and also viewable online).
• They offer some foods I’ve never found in Tesco (like salsify).
• They focus on seasonality.

The bad:

• A little on the pricey side.
• You can’t choose delivery day nor time.
• They are out of peanut butter.
• Doesn’t seem like they are marketing to the masses, but to a small group that’s already converted. I’d love to see companies like this really push on a national scale with a national advertising scheme.

Conclusion

Will I order again? Yes, more than likely. I’m still going to try Riverford out next week to compare, so we’ll see. But Abel and Cole sells some stuff that Riverford doesn’t, so are already ahead of the game in that department.

Abel and Cole is pricey, but in a way that’s something I like. I don’t believe price necessarily dictates quality (hey, I run a business so I know there’s a wee bit of psychology behind this stuff), but I believe it does dictate how you treat what you buy. If you buy an expensive t-shirt, you’re going to make sure you don’t wear it when you’re deep frying. If you buy expensive food, you’re going to make sure you don’t let it go to waste and you’re going to make sure you bloody well enjoy it. This forces me to eat not what I’m craving at the time, but something that will take thought and effort. And I believe effort in the kitchen is important because your food should be a creation of which you’re proud and you respect.

That’s not to say I’m not still topping up with the odd off-season goodie at Tesco to make that special new recipe idea I’ve had floating around in the grey bits…

The last set of free recipe card templates I posted was very popular, so here are a couple more free printables to help organise your collection of sweet recipes! If you’re looking for great gift ideas from the kitchen, how about jotting down a few of your favourite cookie recipes on these printable recipe cards and binding them together with a bit of ribbon?

Now Available in PDF format

That’s right, now you can download these cute recipe cards in Adobe Acrobat and type on them before printing! Simply tab between the different text areas (they’re necessary because of the shape of available writing space- don’t worry, the purple highlighted area won’t print).

Sweet Treats Recipe Cards (pdf)

I really enjoy making these free recipe card templates! They give me a little break from the normal routine and it’s nice when you see something you’ve made being used and/or talked about.

What is a TasteBook? It’s a high quality, hardback cookbook which you can personalize with your own recipes and pictures. It makes a cool housewarming gift and offers a new take on homemade gifts from the kitchen. Whether you want to add your own recipes or search from a selection of over 20,000 other awesome recipes for your TasteBook, you’ll never run out of ideas!

This is the coolest idea. Seriously. TasteBook gives you, the amateur chef without a publisher’s printing budget, the ability to make your own cookbook. This is a fabulous thing, whether you’re looking for cool housewarming gifts, gifts for a cook, or a way to catalogue all of your own personal favourite recipes in a more organised manner than, say, a pile of scrap paper in the corner. The only downfall I can see at this point in time is that they don’t yet ship outside of the United States.

What if you’re less of a practised chef/recipe writer and more the type of person who likes to find the perfect recipe in the never ending field of recipes already out there? No problem! TasteBook has partnered up with the delicious epicurious.com to offer over 20,000 recipes, including ones from Bon Appétit and Gourmet magazine. TasteBook allows you to search and add recipes from a huge catalogue of well-known chefs, magazines, and recipe websites. As mentioned these include, but are not limited to, Bon Appétit, Gourmet, and a whole host of celebrity chef personalities. You can even connect to your epicurious.com recipe box and import recipes to your TasteBook.

So what is the final product like then? Your TasteBook will come in a 26 ring binder measuring 11 x 8 1/2 inches, inside of which can be up to 100 high-quality printed 10 1/4 x 7 inch pages of recipes. There are ten tabbed chapter markers (e.g. vegetables, desserts, etc…), which makes finding your recipes that bit easier.

Each TasteBook comes with up to 100 recipes, which can be ordered at any time. This means, for instance, if you order your TasteBook with only 50 recipes then you will still have 50 more pages to order whenever you want (the only additional cost is a small shipping fee of $1.95 for up to 25 pages). Since the ring binder that holds the TasteBook pages can be opened easily, you can simply pop the new recipe pages in where you deem fit. The other benefit to this binder format is that you can take the recipes out whenever you want… so if you’re messy like me then you can just take that single page to the counter to ruin decorate with food stains specimens, rather than the whole book.

If you’d rather choose a TasteBook with recipes pre-selected by the TasteBook team, you can still create your own title for the book as well as choose from one of over 50 different cover images. You can even add some of your own recipes to a pre-selected recipe book and include your own photos for your recipes as well.

So how do you make your own cookbook?

The process couldn’t be much easier if it tried, as it’s all based on a simple drag and drop process (find a recipe you like and drag it into the category you’ve created). You simply search their catalogue and select the recipes you like, or add your own and upload photos to match. Once you’ve added the recipes you want included in the final product, you choose a cover and title for the book. That’s pretty much it, really!

I love the part about being able to include your own photos for the recipes you’ve personally written and and added. This leads me to images of family picnics and holiday dinners from the 1970s, when Grandpa used to wear that silly hat. Talk about a cool and somewhat homemade kitchen gift idea for the whole family, filled with both great memories and recipes!

You can even share your TasteBook online with friends and family and they can then add their own recipes to your book online! The whole concept is just a really cool idea, whether you’re looking for the most cool housewarming gift on the planet or just want to make your own cookbook to house the recipes which currently live in that aforementioned pile in the corner. But (hey, am I sounding like an infomercial yet?) TasteBooks aren’t just for cute housewarming gifts! If you’re thinking about how to make a church cookbook or that sort of thing, a TasteBook could be the perfect solution. Why not give a TasteBook to a chef as a gift (they’re impossible to shop for)? Be creative and you can come up with a whole bunch of cool ideas for these easy to make cookbooks…

Interested? Check out the TasteBook website for more information (and even video tutorials on how to make these personalised cookbooks).

A lot of the work I do involves graphics and design, most of which ends up filtering over into my real, day-to-day life and its arrangements. That means I have all sorts of printed goodies laying around my flat, some of which is used (most of which is in the “really husband, I will do something with this stuff” pile). I made these free recipe card templates on a whim, thinking some of you might get a kick out of something bright, modern, and not a boring and typical 4×6 lined index card in your recipe catalogue. All of these cards are 4×6 inches, so will fit nicely in that aforementioned catalogue box thingie, or whatever it is you use (organised chaos, perhaps).

Now available in pdf format!

Based on feedback I wanted to both create a higher quality format and all the cards to be typed on for printing. The result is a pdf document, in which you can add your own text. Please be aware any text you type beyond the realm of the visible card will not show when printed. This seems like common sense but hey, you never know. You can type in and save this format to disk, too.

Floral Pop 4x6 Recipe Cards

Some foods are difficult to translate once you lose the dairy, so it’s always great when you come across an old dinner friend that’s been made vegan or vegetarian friendly. This tofu enchilada recipe, an adapted Paul McCartney recipe, is completely vegan and even includes a recipe for tofu sour cream.

If you’re after a simple meat substitute, perfect for when you have those picky meat-eating guests over, this recipe for tofu meatballs is a unique veggie way to dress a pasta dish. This tofu meatball recipe is also completely vegan. This recipe for Tofu Balls comes from one of the Moosewood cookbooks and features the use of eggs, so is not vegan.

The Vietnamese have a real way with tofu, so if you’re after a Southeast Asian tofu recipe then I’d highly recommend checking out some Vietnamese tofu recipes. This Vietnamese Tofu Salad recipe is both simple and nutritious. If you want something a little bigger, try this recipe for vegetarian pho, a Vietnamese noodle soup which generally contains meat. You can use either tofu or a mock-meat substitute instead. If you want a real Vietnamese food treat, try this quick and easy recipe for Dau Hu Xa Ot, or deep fried tofu with chilies and lemongrass. This tofu recipe is both easy and tasty, and will shock your tastebuds into a desperation to try more Vietnamese vegetarian food.

So what’s next? Everyone with any sense of food decency knows there are a billion and one things you can do with tofu to make a meal, but what about pudding?? What about a great vegan tofu dessert recipe? If you’re after silken tofu recipes then these desserts using tofu might be just perfect for what you’ve got in mind. For a quick and easy tofu dessert recipe, why not try this Raspberry Tofu Dessert, courtesy of the UK Vegetarian Society. Equally as easy, you could always try a classic chocolate tofu pudding recipe. Finally, here’s a tofu cheesecake recipe to tempt your tummy!

Tofu has an insane number of uses, and I’m glad to see that people are experimenting with it in their diets, vegetarian or not. I hope the trend continues to grow and more great recipes come out of this fantastic soya protein.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you’ve found something to keep you busy in the kitchen!

After a lengthy holiday in Southeast Asia, I’m back and ready to cook (well technically ready to sleep, but I’ll get around to both at some point). Sorry for the lack up updates being lazy and not updating while I was adventuring away.

The easiest country in which to be Vegetarian in Southeast Asia is easily, for me, Vietnam. A lot of people assume that since these countries are Buddhist, they are veggie-friendly. This is not the case, especially in Thailand where things like fish and oyster sauce are used in just about everything from sweet chilli dips to curries. In fact, the “vegetarian” sections of menu will often list things like “vegetables in oyster sauce.” Go figure.

I won’t dwell on that much, because having been there before I knew this was to be expected. But there is one thing I will dwell on, and that’s the quality of bean curd in the region. In Vietnam I ate it nearly every day, sometimes more. Very early on I made the decision that as soon as I got home I would order a SoyQuick soy milk maker and a tofu press. Now the trip has come and on, I’m back home, and have received my new toy. This morning was my first attempt at its use, and with the first batch of soy milk I decided to try to make some home made tofu.

Using the SoyQuick was dead easy and it really makes the soy milk in a speedy manner (the beans, of course, have to be soaked first), but I thought the clean-up was a bit tedious (but then again it was before sunrise — hey, I’m jetlagged). I followed the instructions (*gasp*) to coagulate the milk and poured it into some muslin in the tofu press, along with a tad of salt and some liquid smoke flavouring. The instructions instructed (fancy that) to press for only 15-20 minutes, but I left it for a couple of hours. I’ll admit this was mainly due to laziness over anything else.

The end result is pretty good for my first go, I think! I’ll be sure to experiment with lots of nifty flavours and such over the next weeks, so stay tuned!

Recipe link:Classic Chocolate Cake from Baking Bites

The last time I was visiting my mom and dad in the states, my mother sent me home with a couple of those fancy silicone cake moulds. I gave one to my mother-in-law and the other sat in the corner of my kitchen collecting dust for two months. The recipe I used only filled half the mould, but in the end that was better as there were only 4 of us (and even still the cake lasted for two puddings).

Needless to say, I did not use the chocolate ganache recipe for icing. Instead I made a simple pourable (icing sugar + milk) icing and then decorated that with a tube of freshly melted dark chocolate. Topped with a few dozen yellow and blue marzipan balls, this really was a glorious hit to the tastebuds.

My step-son, a tried and true chocolate lover, found this decadent cake to be a treat and a half. So did the rest of the family. American style cakes sit on a pedestal of moist goodness (and please understand this is a huge compliment because I detest using that particular m-word). That’s not to say that English cakes aren’t good; they are certainly lighter and hence do not cause me a full day’s bed rest after a single slice. American cakes just tend to use a higher quantity of fat, whether oil or butter, and end up far more dense and moist. The upside is they are incredibly rich and delicious. The downside is, as mentioned, more than a small slice is too much for my body to handle. That’s why, on a special occassion like a birthday, I make sure to seek out a recipe that’s really special, and this recipe certainly is that. It was chocolate heaven. Enough said.

Recipe courtesy of Baking Bites

Simple foods like breads and fruit juices should not contain 101 ingredients, most of which I’ve never heard of. When I see something in the ingredients list I’ve never heard of, that product goes back on the shelf so I can look it up on the internets when I get home. Nine times out of 10, it’s a wacky preservative cooked up in a lab somewhere. I will not buy that product. In the US (save havens like Whole Foods and Trader Joes) it is increasingly difficult to find products that are simple and not choc-full of preservatives and other crazy things.

And don’t even get me started on the difficulty of being vegetarian, especially since the FDA doesn’t require dairy manufacturers to list whether or not rennet is used (all they require is “enzymes,” which could of course be vegetable, microbial, or animal). Combine that with the desire to eat foods without a million unnecessary ingredients (I mean, come on, who puts gelatin in yoghurt?! That’s just lazy manufacturing) and suddenly my dinner plate gets more empty and/or my grocery bill sky rockets (groceries are actually far cheaper in the UK, believe it or not).

Needless to say, I am feeling happy to be back home. I’m happy to be back in a society where “I’m hungry” translates to heading back home to get dinner started, rather than an immediate need to feed on the closest available snackfood. I generalise heavily I know, but there’s something to be said for it. How can a person have a healthy relationship with food and their body when it’s all based on instant gratification and no knowledge (nor care) of what’s being put into their body?

To be healthy and happy with your body is to have respect for it, and that respect entails an understanding of the foods you eat and a healthy relationship with that food. I think people forget this, and hence comes the inevitable self-loathing in relation to the body, leading then to the roller coaster of fad-diets which again are another example of instant gratification.

I don’t care what the British say about the French; a healthy relationship with food is the one thing they have down pat, and I wish Americans (and also, increasingly, Britains) could somehow follow their lead.

I’m afraid I’m going to have to hold back on the recipe for this one, since it’s not my own. Want it? Subscribe to Bryanna Clark Grogan’s Vegan Feast newsletter and get the Jul/Aug/Sep 2006 issue. It’s not Bryanna’s own recipe (it’s one of the fabulous Debbie from Spice Island Vegan). I topped it with onions, parsley, and tomato.

I was never a big fan of seafood (it was the first thing I gave up when becoming vegetarian), but my husband loves it. The thing is, he doesn’t eat meat around me (isn’t that sweet?) and we don’t have any in our flat. I thought I’d give this recipe a try for him and he seemed to think it was okay, so… Go Debbie!

Anyone who knows me will know I’m a huge fan of Starbucks (yeah, yeah, I know). Their coffee is 98% of the time completely reliable across the globe. The problem I have with a lot of coffee places is that their standards change constantly. I’m sure when you’ve got the quality of an espresso machine as afforded by Starbucks then it is perhaps more difficult to draw a bad shot of espresso, but most places I’ve been would be well advised to ship their baristas off for a bit of training. When I go somewhere for a cup of coffee, I expect the barista to be able to replicate the same flavour as the last time I was in that same shop. I cringe when I see a shot of espresso drawn in just 10 seconds, or a shot that was drawn ten minutes ago being used in the next latte order. I’m no barista myself, but I do have some standards (which is why I’ve always stuck with the seemingly, but not really, reliable Starbucks).

A few months ago a friend tried to take me Monmouth Coffee on Monmouth Street in London, only it was closed. I’d forgotten about it for awhile, despite the great things I’d heard about this coffee. A few weeks later I was with some different friends in London and it became necessary that we ingest some caffeine. Remembering Monmouth, we found our way to the Monmouth Street branch once again and embarked upon a coffee experience I could only describe as perfection. I have since had the coffee at the Borough branch (equally as great) and decided to purchase some ground espresso to try out at home in my Baby Gaggia.

A member of staff recommended the Monmouth Espresso Blend, which I happily purchased (and which made my bag smell delightfully of coffee for the rest of the day). Monmouth describes this blend as follows on their website:

MONMOUTH ESPRESSO BLEND
Smooth and nutty with balanced fruit and acidity
We constantly taste and re-taste our espresso blend, making slight adjustments to the blend components and ratio, always looking to improve the balance and complexity. We are currently using Fazenda Rodomunho (Brasil) as the base of the blend, adding Cooperativa Quebradon (Colombia) for high notes and complexity, Finca San Francisco (Guatemala) for caramel notes, and Bibi Plantation (India) for dark-sugar sweetness.

Surprisingly, at home I was able to come close to what was served up in shop (only a little less strong). Perhaps this is in part due to the quality of the coffee? I can make a fair espresso, but I’m certainly no trained barista. At any rate, I’ll certainly be returning to Monmouth for future beans and future brews (this stuff is on par with Iceland’s espresso abilities, and that’s saying a lot coming from someone who’s still determined that Icelandic people are naturally gifted with the barista touch)!

A few years ago I tried to make these myself, and they were okay, but certainly not brilliant. When I found these vegetarian goodies at Wing Yip in Croydon, I was delighted. I was even more delighted when I tasted them! They’re dead simple (just boil for a few minutes) and taste like heaven. I’m a huge fan of sticky rice and the gooey joy it brings, but my husband is not, so this meant I had a few days of yummy all-to-myself lunchtime treats with no guilt for not sharing.

Available in 3 flavours (peanut, sesame, and red bean), I opted for the red bean because this is what I once tried in the past (and loved). Next time I’ll certainly give the other flavours a try, too!

Thank you Tee Yih Jia for these treats!

Experts advise us to eat more fruit and veg; boost protein and fibre intake; make sure we get the optimum levels of vitamins and minerals.

But what actually happens to these nutrients once they are inside the body?

Anyone who’s been vegetarian for ten or more years, and possible some of you who aren’t, will remember the mix-craze, where it was recommended that vegetarians mix certain foods to obtain proteins and other important foody nutrients we were otherwise supposedly losing out on. Those days have pretty much passed, with the realisation that vegetarians do get mostly what they need in terms of nutrition, provided the diet is a varied one. This article reminds me of those days, only on a far more logical scale; there’s no matter-of-fact statement that in order to be healthy, you have to combine this with that, etc…

Instead, the article provides a brief but informative look at how our body takes in certain minerals and nutrients, and what cooking processes and combined foods may or may not increase this absorption.

Read all about it!