I'm a sucker for weird veggie-friendly foods! I especially love discovering what other countries and cultures do to replicate their meaty dishes in veggie friendly formats. So I was delighted to find a local store to me selling all manner of Chinese meat-substitutes - including these amazing looking "Chicken" Drumsticks! I ordered a bunch and cooked them up. The "bone" sticking out of the end is bamboo. Chewable and sweet - but probably not for swallowing unless you really need extra…
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Synthetic meat is coming soon! Actually, it has been coming soon for a long long long long long time. There are many interesting social aspects to this future. Is lab-grown meat kosher or halal? Would eating human-meat be cannibalism? Is it vegetarian? But, most importantly, what do we call people with a dietary preference for in-vitro meat? Back in 2005, a blogger suggested "synthetarian". A portmanteau of synthetic and vegetarian. The word has an interesting history. The earliest online …
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I go to lots of conferences, unconferences, hackdays, and tech events. As a vegetarian, I'm used to being relegated to second-class when it comes to event catering. If I'm lucky, I get some cheese sandwiches mingled with a plate of meaty snacks. That's why I was overjoyed at ODF Plugfest Rome when the organisers made this announcement: Terence Eden is on Mastodon@edent"All lunch boxes will be vegan (so that everyone can eat everything)"THANK YOU! #LibOCon17 #odfplugfest Sensible inclusive…
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I was incredibly fortunate that my new employer sent me to a conference in China recently. I can't discuss what I did out there - but I can report on all the delicious food I ate! (NB - I paid for all meals myself!) Being veggie in Beijing was relatively easy. I had a stock phrase "我吃素" (Wo Chi Su - I eat vegetables), and a smattering of tourist level Mandarin. I had recommendations from friends and - most importantly - I had the HappyCow app. An indispensable guide to veggie eating around …
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It is a little masochistic to dwell on one's mistakes. I doubt anyone thinks that I am perfect (not even my mother!) - but I think talking about our mistake serves a useful purpose. It's healthy for us to discuss our failings, and hopefully helps people from following in our footsteps. After last week's success with making solid apple juice, I thought I'd try my hand at "spherification". A way to make vegetarian caviar pearls. The process should be simple enough. Mix your preferred…
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A few weeks ago I tried some delicious vegetarian caviar. Beautiful - but expensive. I began to wonder how hard it would be to make my own flavour pearls. Well, all good experiments start by buying a beginners' kit. Before attempting basic "spherification", I decided to attempt something much more simple. Agar-Agar veggie strips. 400g Apple Juice 100g Caster Sugar 7g Agar-Agar Powder The Agar-Agar needs to reach around 90℃ in order to fully dissolve. So mix the ingredients together in a…
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Has it really been 6 years since I last had vegetarian caviar? That's far too long! Sadly, the manufacturers of that particular brand have disappeared - so I was overjoyed when I discovered the UK-based Vegetarian Caviar Club. There are four flavours available, and jars cost between £6 and £7 plus postage. Let's get one thing out of the way first - I've never had real caviar. Not the hundred-quid-a teaspoonful proper stuff. If you're reading this blog, I doubt you have either! Before I b…
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I once read an excellent article which asked the seemingly simple question "Is Kosher food Halal?" It's worth a read to understand the politics, religion, cultural assumptions, ecclesiastical law, and bigotry behind the two systems of approved food. To me, the argument is a bit like saying "Who would win in a fight - Chewbacca the Wookie, or Worf the Klingon?" Fascinating, but ultimately the product of two imaginary systems with no real world relevance. Sadly, we live in a world where we…
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The life of a vegetarian isn't always an easy one. I'm aware that I'm lucky enough to live in a society which is broadly accepting of my dietary preferences - which is what makes it all the more annoying when a company which should know better cocks up. Twice. This has been sent to Virgin Atlantic's complaints team. Dear Sir, I realise that it's a standing joke to complain about the quality of airline food - but I wish to convey my distress at the vegetarian meals provided on the last two…
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I love being vegetarian. Don't get me wrong, there are some annoying aspects of having a restricted diet - but mostly it's plain sailing. I also love visiting food fairs - but recently it has felt like I've seen every vegetarian product under the sun. There doesn't seem to be much more innovation in veggie friendly food. This year, I went to the Good Food Show (well, MasterChef Live - but hardly anyone is there for the TV tie in) to see what was on offer. The usual range of meat…
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I'm very happy being a vegetarian. There are, however, some highly annoying problems that all vegetarians encounter. The first is, when going to a Michelin Starred restaurant, only having a single menu choice. Usually it's cheese salad. Or mushroom risotto. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful to have a single item suitable for my dietary preferences, but would it kill restaurants to give us veggies a choice? Half the fun of going out to a meal is discussing what one is going to eat. When you're…
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