The Vegan Thread

Veganomicon

Thanks but I'm wary of going down this road. With a name like this surely the enactment of any of the recipies will only lead to emergence of Cthulu type horrors and I reckon they're probably meat based.

Seriously though - thanks. I'll give it a go.

Sorry, ovp, I actually don't have any recommendations for vegan-only cookbooks, partly because I've always adapted recipes from vegetarian or even omnivorous cookbooks (The Robert Carrier Cookbook is actually a favourite, horrible dinosaur though it is :) ), and partly because the purely vegan cookbooks I have are fairly niche, e.g. Linda Majzlik's series or 'Vegan Deli' or a Japanese cookbook. A big favourite is still Das Sreedharan's 'Fresh Flavours of India', which has meat and fish recipes in it but lots of good vegan or easily veganisable recipes.

I would second the vote for Veganomicon, it's got a lot of tasty recipes in it (just in case the wariness of the title wasn't all joke, it's a purely vegan-only book without readymade meat substitutes either). The only failing of the works of Isa Chandra is that it's very american, i.e. always calling for ingredients not always common in the UK. She did a fantastic book of cookies and another of cupcakes. Highly recommended as well.

I'm getting fucked off with the tyranny of Quorn. 6 months ago, all the big supermarkets had a selection of soya mince, pieces, sausages, burgers, a lot of which were vegan friendly, particularly own-brand. Now there's been a change, and suddenly egg-based bastard Quorn is the only show in town.

I know it's overprocessed and we should just be living off raw veg, but still yearning for some soya mince bolognese or just a simple veggieburger. Any suggestions?

Most supermarkets will do a frozen own-brand bean burger which (I'd hope) should be vegan friendly. Normally called "Moroccan spiced bean burger" or something along those lines, they're normally reasonably good.

Failing that, make your own bean burgers? They're not too hard.

Mince news.

Can't you get to a Whole Foods / H&B / similar? I really like the 70s-looking 'Vegetable Protein' sausages and burgers from H&B. Saying that, any supermarket I go to at the moment has Linda sausages. Never found a supermarket burger that was vegan.

I tried some Granose dried mince last week, if that stuff was meant to imitate soggy overcooked bulgur wheat I'd be impressed, but hey, I wanted fuckin mince.

I'll be damned - they removed vegan-friendly mince from the shelves just after I turned vegan, and it'll be back in a few weeks - that's reassuring to know, think it should be possible to hold out till then.

Can occasionally get to H&B, but the freezer sections are pretty limited, in SE Ldn at least. Also lost a bit of faith in them a few weeks ago when the sausage roll I bought was out of date and full of mould inside. Didn't realise until I was halfway through...

most biggish supermarket seem to stock this dry mince

Sorry not really contributing so much but do most vegans eat fungus based meat substitutes?

Appreciate the irony with complaining that they gave me unidentified fungus on my unidentifiable fungus. Still, they gave me a free bag of cranberries when I told them.

May be behind the times, but I've just discovered Vegusto cheese alternatives. It's the nearest I've come to the only thing I miss....highly recommended!

Vegusto is nice, but pricy. :)

True....reminds me of.....er....um... oh something or other! ;-)

Something which is predominantly not vegan. :)

Sorry not really contributing so much but do most vegans eat fungus based meat substitutes?

Pretty sure most analogues are made from soya protein and/or vegetable proteins, which can mean quite different things, but not fungi. Quorn is the well-known mycoprotein-based analogue but it also contains eggs.

A rare weekend in the UK led me to check out a couple of 'new-ish' vegan places

Lock 7 bike cafe on Broadway Market are now doing 100% vegan waffles at the weekends. Sweet and savoury toppings, and all £3-4. I had a savoury one and it was delicious. More info and menu here http://veganphotographersproject.tumblr.com/

cycled past lock 7 twice a day for a year and a half and never knew this! lame. if you're a broadway regular you probably already know about the veggie table (burgers and salad), the crepe dude, and happy kitchen vegan bakery stalls... i don't work for HK any more though so i can't guarantee the standard of the cakes!

Best vegan recipe books

i'd also endorse the stalwart veganomicon for its sheer volume and reliability. if you're based south, ms cupcake in brixton has a good little range of vegan cook books. also a lot of other cool vegan snacks.

Vegusto is nice, but pricy. :)

vegusto IS nice, but have you tried this?

it absolutely blew my mind. best vegan cheese imo.

i'll be heading to that brecknock road vegan food thing if anyone else is?

i'd also endorse the stalwart veganomicon for its sheer volume and reliability. if you're based south, ms cupcake in brixton has a good little range of vegan cook books. also a lot of other cool vegan snacks.

What, does she only sell to southerners? ;)

I have a device known to some as a fixie bicycle which enables me to frequent shops far out of my normal range. :)

vegusto IS nice, but have you tried this?

it absolutely blew my mind. best vegan cheese imo.

I've read about it but I haven't seen it in any shops yet. I've also missed every vegan food fair so far this year, where I sometimes pick up new products like this.

i'll be heading to that brecknock road vegan food thing if anyone else is?

I'm planning to go. When are you going to be there? Anyone else?

I'm getting fucked off with the tyranny of Quorn. 6 months ago, all the big supermarkets had a selection of soya mince, pieces, sausages, burgers, a lot of which were vegan friendly, particularly own-brand. Now there's been a change, and suddenly egg-based bastard Quorn is the only show in town.

I know it's overprocessed and we should just be living off raw veg, but still yearning for some soya mince bolognese or just a simple veggieburger. Any suggestions?

Linda McCartney's mince is the nicest I have ever had. I find that the dry varieties just go horribly soggy when water is added.

You can get it from Planet Organic, not sure where else, probably H&B.

Has anybody been to the new(ish) Cakes n Treats place in Camden?

Jamie and I will probably be at the Brecknock Road vegan festival this Saturday, I think it starts at 11am. Hope to see you there Lucy and Oliver!

Mince news.

Can't you get to a Whole Foods / H&B / similar? I really like the 70s-looking 'Vegetable Protein' sausages and burgers from H&B. Saying that, any supermarket I go to at the moment has Linda sausages. Never found a supermarket burger that was vegan.

I tried some Granose dried mince last week, if that stuff was meant to imitate soggy overcooked bulgur wheat I'd be impressed, but hey, I wanted fuckin mince.

Ha, shit, I just clicked on that link... no wonder Linda McCartney's mince has been unobtainable for a while. But my work has just started stocking it again, so I assume the issue has been sorted?

edit - http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/fmcg/soya-mince-products-to-return-to-shelves-in-november/350145.article

haha Oliver I was just trying to be accommodating / helpful! She (/I because I am now a manager there) will sell to all and sundry. Come by soon!

VX in kings cross stocks that cheese. It is AMAZING.

Yeah see you there Jamie and Shelby! Maybe message me your number or we can arrange to meet there at a certain time? I'm planning on going to lock 7 for brunch waffles before if you wanna join and we can cycle to brecknock together? Plans, I has dem

Haha, I'll PM you now :-)

That sounds good. When do you want to be at Lock 7?

11am?

Pretty sure most analogues are made from soya protein and/or vegetable proteins, which can mean quite different things, but not fungi. Quorn is the well-known mycoprotein-based analogue but it also contains eggs.

Oh right wasn't aware quorn included eggs , thanks though that's pretty much solved the dilemma