Vegan and half vegan

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OK. This is taking ‘meat reducer’ too literally.

A new UK food company is pushing what appears to be vegan meat replacements as well as products that are half meat and half vegetable protein.

LOL.

I’m always keen to promote new vegan meats, but Hooba Foods seem to be chasing a bizarre niche market that I’m not sure even exists.

The list of their vegan products include mince, meatballs and burgers. From the look of the info on the website, the main ingredient is mushroom. You can see the entire vegan-suitable range online here.

A photo posted by Hooba Foods (@hooba_foods) on


So that is the vegan range out of the way.

Now, about this 50/50 range.

Hooba market their 50/50 range as being ‘all the taste but half the meat’. I don’t know about you, but I don’t know anybody who eats meat who would knowingly eat a burger or sausage made with 50% meat.

I find this a very unusual product. Are there meat eaters out there that could be swayed with these half and half products? Would they work as a transitioning tool in order to help get people to stop eating animals completely?

A photo posted by Hooba Foods (@hooba_foods) on


Will you be recommending the 50/50 products to omnivores in your life? Will you try the vegan products by Hooba?

Extra note: Thanks to reader Stephanie for bringing this brand to my attention.

Decadent vegan cakes

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Berkshire.

I don’t know much about you. You’ve got Windsor Castle. You are west of London. I think The Office was set in your surrounds.

And you have a vegan bespoke celebration cake maker to call your very own.

Tiny Sarah’s Cakes is the stuff of sugar-filled dreams. The first time I looked through her photos on Facebook, I kept trying to think of an excuse to order a cake of my own. Surely I could find someone to marry or I could adopt a baby?!

Take a look at some of these creations and you will understand my emotional reaction.

Sarah is a French-trained baker and cake decorator. She recently became vegan and of course decided to turn her newly-established special order cake business 100% plant-based.

As you can see, Sarah’s cakes are extremely intricate so they can’t be shipped but she is willing to talk about shipping cookies and brownies to you if you are in the UK.

Otherwise, if you need one of her glorious vegan celebration creations you need to arrange to collect it from her in Bracknell, Berkshire. I’d say a drive to Berkshire would make your wedding or party perfect with one of these cakes.

I am in awe and I want to start seeing photos of cakes you all have specially ordered.

Go to Tiny Sarah’s Cakes online and like the Facebook page. Lots of photos can be seen on her Instagram.

Vegan afternoon tea for Valentine’s Day

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There is a cute tearoom in Exeter called The Hidden Treasure Tea Room and the big news you need to know about is the Vintage Valentine’s Sharing Menu taking place on February 14, 2017 between 4pm and 9pm.

The Hidden Treasure Tea Room is not a vegan establishment but if I had a quid for every time a reader raved about their plant-based options, I’d be a retired blogger trying to realise his dreams of becoming a Mexican wrestler.

This Valentine vegan menu sounds superb and you can’t even think about complaining for the price of £45 per couple for 5 courses!

Check this out:

1) Setting the table – pea and mint spoons, olive and rosemary forks, blue “cheese” and grape knives and a tropical granita.

2) Three tasty morsels – tiny tomato soup with a desert island, Mediterranean stuffed pepper and crispy rocket.

3) Take a break – herb broth-in-a teapot with savoury popcorn.

4) Sticky fingers – three delicious dips with a selection of interesting things to dip and share.

5) Divine decadence – a selection of desserts and two spoons! Including sparkling Prosecco and elderflower jellies, melting chocolate pots, brown sugar custard hearts, mini fruit pavlovas and fizzy fruits.

You will need to book a spot for this incredible vegan meal. The Hidden Treasure will understandably be packed on the day.

Call 01392 274134 or email hiddentreasuretearoom@gmail.com to reserve space.

You can also get more info on the Facebook event page.

Most popular of 2016

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I need to apologise for my lateness.

Last year I shared the most-viewed/liked photos from my Instagram account for 2015 sometime in January 2016.

Here we are in February and I’m only just now highlighting the most popular Fat Gay Vegan Instagram posts from 2016. So slack.

Last year, I gave a rundown of the most popular photos but I thought it might be more fun for you all to try and guess where they are from.

There are 16 photos on my most-viewed/liked list.

How many can you work out? Put your answers below!

Follow Fat Gay Vegan on Instagram.

New vegan burgers and sausages

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You should all be familiar with the Cauldron brand seen in most mainstream UK supermarkets.

They are probably most familiar to vegans thanks to their tofu and because a lot of their other products are only vegetarian.

However, the brand appears to be exploring more plant-based items with the launch of vegan burgers and sausages now available in Morrisons and Waitrose.

The sausages are billed as featuring mediterranean grilled vegetables, haricot beans and tomato pesto while the burgers are made from cauliflower, aduki beans, spinach and chipotle.

With the runaway success of Quorn vegan items, I expect we will see a few more Cauldron lines that are 100% plant-based rolling out soon (the two brands are owned by the same company).

Have you tried the new Cauldron burgers and sausages? What did you think?

Vegan food in a pub

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Have you ever found yourself driving the A1(M) between Leeds and Newcastle only to think how grand it would be if you could come off the motorway for vegan pub food.

I know we’ve all been there, right?

Worry no more, weary travellers. Baydale Beck Inn has a brand new vegan menu to fill you up and it’s kinda really impressive.

Baydale Beck Inn is a family-run pub on the outskirts of Darlington, County Durham.

Alongside their regular non-vegan menu, the Baydale vegan menu is now available all the time. Check it out below.

I don’t know about you, but that is one of the finer vegan pub menus I’ve seen.

You can check out Baydale Beck Inn on Facebook and see where they are located on Google Maps.

Valentine box – limited edition

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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

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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

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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

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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.