fatgayvegan

Photos from paradise

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The first Friday night of my month-long Around the World with FGV supper club series took place last week and it was a vegan meal of epic proportions.

Adrian and Diana of Vegan Peasant Catering came up with the vegan goods (and then some!) during their Caribbean themed dining event. It was a truly world class affair.

You only need to see the photos below to understand that Vegan Peasant are one of the finest catering companies on the planet. You don’t often get vegan food of this quality in the UK. It’s a rare treat, indeed.

Follow Vegan Peasant on Twitter and like them on Facebook to make sure you keep updated with all of their upcoming events and culinary adventures. I can’t recommend hiring their services highly enough if you are planning a special event that requires catering.

Your guests will be blown away. Mine were!

Cinnamon spiced plantain
Cinnamon spiced plantain
Toasted nori, thyme & aubergine accaras
Toasted nori, thyme & aubergine accaras
Spicy potato & callaloo corn empanadas with Trinidadian coconut chutney & hot Bajan chutney
Spicy potato & callaloo corn empanadas with Trinidadian coconut chutney & hot Bajan chutney
Chiffonade savoy, daikon & scallion salad with ginger miso dressing
Chiffonade savoy, daikon & scallion salad with ginger miso dressing
Christophene ratatouille, cajun sweet potato fries, coconut rice with pigeon peas & avocado aioli
Christophene ratatouille, cajun sweet potato fries, coconut rice with pigeon peas & avocado aioli
Candied mango frangipan & piña colada cream
Candied mango frangipan & piña colada cream

Overeat with friends

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A recent trip to Loving Hut Archway resulted in a mammoth amount of vegan food being ordered. Seriously. So much food.

I was hanging out with Ange and James of glorious ethical boutique The Third Estate and we were all hungry. Even though we all knew we would be unable to show any form of restraint, we boarded the 390 bus in the direction of north London suburb, Archway. We ate everything.

James has spent the most part of the time I have known him raving about the vegan duck rolls at this Loving Hut location. He had convinced me my life was a devalued experience without them. I succumbed and it was the first thing we ordered. Old Jimbo might just be onto something. The build-you-own pancake rolls were tasty.

But the food didn’t stop there.

For some reason we ordered three types of crispy vegan chicken, a sizzling dish of vegan beef, side of rice, a vegan chicken burger with fries and a vegan fish burger. We all had to pull together as a team to chomp through the mound of deliciousness placed before us. Vegans united in greed.

Check it out below.

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Treats for me

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Josh has been in the USA for the past week and a half in Tampa and Philadelphia. I missed him greatly and it was wonderful to welcome him home today… especially when I saw the jumbo bag of vegan snacks and treats he brought with him!

Check out the drool-worthy photos of my bumper haul below.

Are any of your favourites here? Anything you are curious to try?

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Tacos sin carne

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I can’t believe I forgot to tell you about this wonderful organic food cafe and grocery store Josh and I visited in Mexico City.

Origenes Orgánicos is an extremely pleasant restaurant chain with two locations in Mexico City. The Colonia Roma setting fed us during our recent vacation and we enjoyed it so much, we went back for seconds.

A sign of a decent eatery is how well their menu is marked when it comes to vegan choices and how confidently the servers talk about those options. Origenes passed with flying colours on both counts. Our server even told us that the chipotle mayo accompanying our our complimentary bread basket was soy-based.

I found the prices to be a little on the steep side for Mexico (although inline with what I’m used to paying elsewhere), but you can’t argue with the quality, taste and freshness of what we were served. Check out the photos below and make sure to pay Origenes a visit when you are next in the city (c’mon, you know you wanna go!).

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Gardening comp

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Here is some interesting news for the gardeners amongst you.

A television production company is in the process of recruiting keen gardeners for a new show focussing on people who are confident when it comes to turning home grown produce into meals. The BBC2 endeavour is being called The Big Allotment Challenge and the makers have put a call out for amateur kitchen gardeners to take part. The show even plans to be inclusive of home flower growers.

If you think you have what it takes, ask for an application form via grow@silverriver.tv or 0207 907 3401. Applications close March 13, 2014.

It would be fantastic to see a vegan on the series, to show people what plant based eating is all about. Somebody do it!

Ice cream defeated me

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The Vegan Ice Cream Wars have left many casualties throughout a long and tumultuous history. Sadly, the FGV himself (that’s me!) is the latest in a long line of the fallen.

I should learn restraint, but I don’t have an off switch when presented with a full tub of chocolate ice cream. I keep eating until there is nothing.

Yi is the newish kid on the block when it comes to dairy free dessert and I was keen to get my chubby paws around a tub. The container I purchased in Whole Foods Market was a substantial price and came with the warning usually associated with the ingredient xylitol. You know, too much will result in frequent trips to the toilet.

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Dull

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Meals on flights seem to belong in two camps. Either they are awful or they manage to be just OK. My recent British Airways flight back from Mexico City to London involved food of the fairly awful variety.

My expectations were high after the decent dishes I was served on my way over to Distrito Federal, but the reality was disappointing.

The main meal was an uninspired and unenjoyable mix of rice and vegetables, a cup featured barely ripe fruit pieces while the salad was overfilled with slimy mushrooms.

I didn’t even attempt to eat the dessert as it looked like it was made with dairy milk and was not labelled as vegan. Actually, my entire meal was labelled vegetarian as opposed to the vegetarian/vegan label on Josh’s meal. This is why we pack out own snacks, right plant eaters?

The only thing worse than the meal was the movie I watched during the trip. If you get a kick out of dreadful films, watch Austenland.

Check out the photos below and see all my inflight meal posts here.

Uninspired
Uninspired
Slimy salad
Slimy salad
Unripe fruit
Unripe fruit
Dairy dessert?
Dairy dessert?
The film was the perfect match for the meal
The film was the perfect match for the meal

Who in London

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Exciting news for pop music fans. Properly exciting news.

Remember when I raved about vegan pop performer Betty Who? You don’t? Go here and here to remind yourself of how I lost my heart to Betty Who.

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Now that you are up to speed, hold on to your cruelty-free hats as I drop the latest.

Betty Who is performing in London on May 27th, 2014!

Fresh from topping the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart with her hit Somebody Loves You, the Australian singer has locked in a date to perform in east London. The venue appears to be rather intimate so I strongly suggest being quick when tickets go on sale this Wednesday (March 5th, 2014). You can buy here.

See you at the gig. I’ll be the FGV in the front row.

Cupcake competition

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Living in London, it is easy to feel like you are at the centre of all things vegan in the UK. We have a monthly potluck, a monthly drinks event, a yearly beer fest, amazing vegan bakeries, vegan friendly restaurants and countless social events.

We have it pretty good in the capital and can often be guilty of overlooking the rest of the country when it comes to vegan good times. Take the upcoming vegan cupcake competition in Leeds. It sounds fab and should be celebrated.

Iron Cupcake: Leeds is a baking competition that has been happening for a few years in the Yorkshire city. Every time it runs, participants follow the designated theme to create 12 cupcakes in order to impress judges and take home a prize.

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People not baking are welcome to buy tickets so they can take part in the excitement by watching the action unfold and getting a taste of the entries.

On March 9, 2014 the competition pushes the plant-based agenda by making the theme of Iron Cupcake: Leeds vegan. Yes, that right. Every single entry in the competition needs to be completely free of animal derived products.

Get over to the official website right now to book your place in the competition or grab a ticket to be a spectator.

Enjoy!

Chicken and rainbows

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My Instagram account got a good workout today. I spent a large part of the day in north London and managed to snap a few photos of things that caught my attention.

Here are two of my favourite things from Saturday March 1, 2014.

Plate of vegan chicken at Loving Hut, Archway – deep fried balls with sweet & sour sauce, smoked chicken and salty chicken
Super cute rainbow cardigan in ethical cotton made by Komodo – seen in The Third Estate boutique, Kentish Town

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