Valentine box – limited edition

by

You already know about The Vegan Kind, the much-loved vegan subscription box service based in Glasgow that ships everywhere.

Karris and her ever-growing team are swamped with orders every single month, but I have a feeling they are going to be extra busy in the coming weeks.

Why?

The Vegan Kind describe their special limited edition Valentine box as a scrumptious chocolate box full of old favourites and never before seen items.

Karris warns that this box is going to sell out almost immediately, so you need to be faster than ever if you want to buy this for other people or yourself (no judgement for being your own Valentine).

The box is £15 and Valentine pre-orders are happening NOW!

Click here or on the image above to visit The Vegan Kind website and search for the Valentine box in the online shop. You’ll probably see a few other things you fancy, as well.

Fat Gay Vegan (me!) is now an affiliate of The Vegan Kind, working alongside this pioneering company to help promote their boxes. Look out for special news and updates!

Recipe for gorditas

by

Support these videos via Patreon.

Ingredients:

  • 500g corn flour/corn masa – make sure it is the one that says ‘suitable for tamales’ 1 cup of water
  • Salt
  • Vegetable oil
  • Refried black beans
  • Makes approximately 10 gorditas

Instructions:

  • Wash hands carefully or wear food-safe gloves for this recipe
  • Put the corn flour/masa in a large bowl and sprinkle in about 1 tablespoon of salt
  • Add a splash of water and some of the oil and start mixing with your hands
  • Keep adding water bit-by-bit until a solid dough is formed
  • Scoop out a 2” ball of dough and roll between your palms until smooth
  • Make a dent in the middle with your thumbs and place approximately 1 large tablespoon of refried beans into the middle of the ball
  • Fold the sides over and use your hands to create a flat disc-shaped gordita approximately 1⁄2 an inch thick
  • Heat approximately 1” of vegetable oil in a large pan to a medium/high heat
  • Place gorditas into the hot oil and fry for approximately six minutes, turning halfway to ensure that they are golden and crisp all over
  • Remove gorditas from oil and drain on paper towel for approximately three minutes
  • Use a sharp knife to cut the gordita open and fill with your favourite toppings and condiments.
  • We like fresh white onion and coriander/cilantro, topped with salsa verde but anything goes really

Recipe and photo remain property of Sean O’Callaghan and Julio Alcantara and may not be reproduced without permission. © fatgayvegan.com

All Bar One keeps vegan menu alive

by

Money talks.

Do you remember when I blogged about the vegan menu being promoted at UK chain pub All Bar One for Veganuary?

Click here to read that post and see full menu.

Well, it seems that the vegans (and non-vegans) of the UK did such a stellar job of buying everything on that special menu during January, the company has decided to keep the plant-based options alive for another month.

Michael Duffy, who is the marketing manager at All Bar One, commented:

The feedback we received from the new vegan friendly menu has been extremely positive and we’re really pleased that we are reaching new audiences and continuing to impress our regular All Bar One guests. With one in four of our guests now being a vegetarian or vegan, we created the pop up menu in partnership with Veganuary to serve this increased demand for plant-based dishes.

One in four customers don’t eat meat? That is huge!

This decision is clearly driven by the financial rewards the company saw during Veganuary and I wouldn’t be surprised if the vegan menu stays permanently. Maybe they have already decided to keep it but are stringing out the attention they are getting from people like me. LOL

Have you tried the vegan menu at All Bar One? How was it?

You can find your nearest All Bar One via their website.

Best vegan donuts in London

by

London. You are onto a good wicket.

(Does ‘good wicket’ actually mean anything? Am I using that term correctly?)

After a short time away from the action, the glorious Peanut Butter Bakery is BACK to its usual weekend haunt at The Boiler House market on Brick Lane (see location on Google Maps).

Peanut Butter Bakery caused an absolute sensation at my vegan Christmas market, with people lining up for an extremely long time to get hands and lips on their sensational donuts.

If you think you would enjoy eating the best vegan donuts in the UK, get along to The Boiler House on Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 February, 2017. You will be unbelievably happy if you make the effort to get along.

To inspire you, here is a photo just posted by Peanut Butter Bakery detailing some of the things you should be excited about this weekend.


You need to follow Peanut Butter Bakery on Instagram.

Non-profit vegan clothing company

by

Did you know there is a 100% not-for-pofit vegan clothing company in Sheffield?

This news is too important to put through the FGV word wringer, so I have asked HeartCure to give me the precise rundown on what is taking place in their neck of the woods.

Based out of Sheffield, HeartCure are the only completely non-profit vegan clothing company in the UK. They donate everything they can to Brook Farm Animal Sanctuary and in their first 6 months they raised over £1,000 for the sanctuary.

They have recently relaunched their website with all new designs including an all new kids range! They always try to be more design based than just text and ignite curiosity in those who see the clothing to help spread a positive vegan message.

HeartCure plan to support more Sanctuaries this year and donate all they can to help the vegan movement grow, involving collaborations with activists.

They started HeartCure as a way to help raise money for animals while also supporting fair wear and ethical trade standards. It’s always been about making change, not profit.

The owners are officially Jordan & Georgia but HeartCure is made up of everybody involved, from the photographers to the models and everyone who has supported the brand.

They are also launching the UK’s first vegan social centre which will be launched this year called HeartCure Collective. The social centre will be at a warehouse in Sheffield and will include a cafe and bar, ethical clothing store, weekly activist meet ups, youth meet ups, a stage for speeches and live music. You can get involved via the Gofundme campaign by clicking here.

They are aiming to make the warehouse space a social hub for all vegans. It will be a place they can hang out during the day, meet friends in the evening, a space to organise their own events and discover more about activism.

The collective will welcome vegans and non-vegans as they believe it will be a great place for anyone interested in veganism to find out more about living ethically and sustainably.

That is a lot to take in, right?

Brief overview? HeartCure is a rad clothing brand raising money to save animals.

Visit their online shop here, like them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter and follow them on Instagram.

Wagamama in Amsterdam Centraal Station

by

Post by:

josh panel

I recently had to meet my elderly Dutch aunt in Amsterdam for a brief lunch before catching the train back to London. Of course Amsterdam has many vegan options but given the time constraints and accessibility concerns, I wanted something close to Amsterdam Centraal Station.

A quick search online showed that I was in luck as Wagamama has a branch inside the station and there were rumours that they had a separate vegan menu available to customers. We arrived shortly after they opened and were greeted by the friendly servers who, like everyone else I met in Amsterdam, spoke perfect English. When I asked for the vegan menu, I was delighted when the server brought this to me:

Vegan menu at Wagamama in Amsterdam Centraal Station

How great is it that they have actually taken the time to see which dishes are inherently vegan and which ones can be easily made vegan and how to do so! This is in stark contrast to the UK Wagamama restaurants where if you ask about veganism, you are shown some crusty old ring binder with all sorts of confusing charts about crustacea, grains, egg etc. Kudos to the Amsterdam branch for being on top of shit!

Yasai Itame curry at Wagamama Amsterdam Centraal Station

I played it safe and ordered what I always order at Wagamama – the Yasai Itame cury (no mushrooms, extra tofu) which is a delicious mix of rice noodles and assorted vegetables in a piquant coconut broth. It was wholly delicious and I’m terrified of ever ordering anything else at Wagamama in case it doesn’t live up to this dish.

So, if you’re in Amsterdam and in need of delicious vegan food in a hurry, pop into Wagamama and thank them for having a vegan menu.

Sainsbury’s is stepping up on veganism

by

Hey, have you all noticed the shift happening over at Sainsbury’s in regards to promoting vegan food?

Within the space of a week, the UK grocery giant has posted three vegan cooking videos to their Facebook page.

Check them out here:

Wow. Three pretty spectacular vegan recipes shared by one of the biggest retailers on the planet. They have even gotten two leading vegan food personailities to help with the videos (Heart of Cake and CookDaily).

This is a clear indication of how powerful veganism has become in the UK. These companies do not undertake anything without market research and a lot of consideration.

That they are making vegan options a big part of their current advertising campaign says volumes. Times are changing and if they don’t get on board, they are going to miss out and they know it.

In related news, Sainsbury’s have apparently teamed up with a group of scientists to redesign their store layouts to encourage customers to buy less meat.

The following is lifted from a story in The Guardian:

Oxford University scientists will work with Sainsbury’s executives in a programme that will see supermarkets redesigned. Proposals include: placing vegetarian alternatives on the same shelves as meat products; giving vouchers and loyalty points to shoppers who choose vegetarian products; and providing recipes and leaflets that outline how shoppers can eat less meat.

What do you all think of this push on plant-based consumerism by Sainsbury’s?

Vegan pop up event

by

UPDATE This event completely sold out in about 48 hours. The organisers have added five extra tickets to give people a chance who missed out. Click here to book QUICKLY! Also look for this to become a more regular event with changing food themes.

One of my favourite chefs in London is Adrian of Vegan Peasant Catering.

Together with his partner Diana, Adrian has built a peerless reputation as one of the finest vegan food caterers in the UK. I’ve collaborated with them on a few events and the food always leaves people raving.

Now is your chance to take part in the Vegan Peasant fine food experience for yourself.

I know I say this about a lot of things, but honestly if you don’t book a spot for this dinner as soon as you read this there is a HIGH chance it will be booked solid.

Thursday February 23, 2017 from 7pm until 10pm. Admission is £25.

Menu

Canapés

  • Smokey Aubergine Ganousch, Candied Lemon Zest & Sage Crisp Crostini
  • Cream Cheese, Pink Grapefruit & Garlic Chive on Buckwheat Blini
  • Black Pepper & Sea Salt Shortbread, Ricotta & Candied Fennel

Bowls

  • Sauté Wild Mushroom and Spinach with Oregano and Cherry Tomato Concasse over
    Gnocchi, finished with curly Endive and Basil oil
  • Balsamic Glaze Roasted Beetroots, Red Onion, Carrots and Toasted Walnut over Bulgur
    Wheat Salad finished with warmed Horseradish Sauce and Parsley

Sweet bites

  • Frutti di Bosco (Italian Fruit of the Forest)
  • Chocolate Chocolate Brownies

A welcome drink is provided on arrival and additional drinks will be available to purchase. This exclusive event is in the Hackney Central area close to Hackney Central Overground and Homerton Station. Attendees will receive directions and details within 48 hours of the event.

Click here to book now.

Follow Vegan Peasant on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You should also get in touch with them for any large scale vegan catering needs you have as they have fed up to 300 people with mouthwatering plant-based food.

Vegan donuts in Amsterdam

by

Amsterdam is full of vegan surprises.

Such as vegan donuts in a non-vegan donut shop.

Tasty Donuts is a donut and coffee chain with outlets in Germany, Austria, Netherlands and Slovakia.

Each Tasty Donuts shop has one of their trays dedicated to vegan donuts. As you can see in the photos above, there are four flavours from which to choose including one called Blacky(?!).

The Amsterdam outlet didn’t have a whole lot left on the vegan shelf when I visited late in the day, however what they did have was extremely tasty.

You can visit the Tasty Donuts website to discover all the locations.

Non-vegan café switching to vegan

by

I simply ADORE sharing news about non-vegan food places switching to plant-based offerings.

Slowly but surely, small victories for animals are turning the world just that little bit more vegan… and victories rarely come more uniquely planned out than what is going down at The Fields Beneath.

The Fields Beneath is a much-loved coffee shop and café situated at Kentish Town West station in North London.

Owner Gavin gave me some VERY interesting insights into how he is easing his loyal customers into veganism. I absolutely love his plans for 30 plant-based coffees for £30.

Let me step aside and give Gavin some more space to explain:

At The Fields Beneath, we’ve been open a little over four years and started transitioning to a vegan menu in December, cutting out meat first. The exciting opportunity we’ve got with the shop is that a vast majority of the customers are not vegan. They don’t get it in the way I feel only vegans do; I certainly didn’t myself until about this time last year, and the cafe has the chance to introduce customers to many parts of the vegan journey.

We started the conversation two weeks ago by offering a program where a customer can get 30 coffees for £30, the catch being no dairy! As of yesterday we’ve signed up 100 people. ‘What’s wrong with dairy?’ comes up a lot but the aim is to cut out dairy completely by the end of April.

As for the food, we’ve aimed so far to replace things with their vegan counterparts; our cakes, our croissants and sandwich ingredients. The hot dishes have been vegan for over a year.

From February we’ll be pushing the possibilities with food, choosing not just plant based menus, but leaning on as much seasonality as we can. On top of the team we’ve got, led by Helena Vieira, we’re building one for the future and have welcomed back old friend Avneet Padda after two years away working for the likes of Silo in Brighton and Cafe Oto in Dalston. She’s bringing a wealth of experience with baking, fermenting, pickling, seasonal produce and so on. So we’re very much at a ‘watch this space’ point.

We roast the coffee ourselves at Tate Britain, and have plans to make our own oat milk so that a) our costs don’t go up by moving from dairy to Oatly, and b) to make sure people don’t need to spend more money to be vegan.

What a well-thought out and inventive way to ease people into accepting vegan café choices as an everyday occurrence.

I can’t wait until my London return when The Fields Beneath will be 100% vegan. Who wants to meet me for a croissant?!

Please follow The Fields Beneath on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Extra note: The Fields Beneath is a London Living Wage Employer. Fuck yeah!

Extra extra note: The Fields Beneath are running a hot water bottle drive. If you have a hot water bottle that is spare, drop it off with the café. If you are currently on the streets, you can drop in to collect a hot water bottle that has been recently filled. You are also welcome to return for hot water refills when needed.