Aquafaba cooking class online

Nobody loves hosting an online cook-along quite like Made in Hackney so you know their upcoming Cooking with Aquafaba class is going to be informative AND fun.

Taking place virtually on Saturday 19th September, 2020 between 11:00am and 1:30pm, Cooking with Aquafaba is set to be a masterclass all about the food ingredient that has had plant-based chefs buzzing for the past few years.


The suggested donation for this online class is £20 but any donation amounts accepted. All funds raised go towards the Made in Hackney community meal service providing free nutritious, tasty meals to households who need them during these challenging times.

The class will take place via Zoom with details to be provided via email (usually the day before the class).

Need more info about the event?

Join raw plant based chef, Bruna Oliveria, to learn all the tips and tricks for using aquafaba as an amazingly versatile vegan egg replacer.

The class will include:

  • How to make a tasty fluffy vegan omelette
  • Make a light airy vegan chocolate mousse using only natural sweeteners
  • A chance to ask Bruna questions
  • Recipe handout with a bonus recipe for making egg-free meringues
  • For ingredients and equipment needed see below

About Bruna

Bruna Oliveira is a raw chef and the founder of London Nut Cheese Co. She studied Naturopathy and Naturopathic Nutrition at CNM London in order to pursue her passion for healthy and natural living. Bruna loves creating delicious recipes with the aim of inspiring people to transform their lives through making positive changes in their diet.

Click here for more information and to book your ticket now!

What The Pitta go south of the river!

Have you ever been hanging out in the Battersea region of London and thought, “Gee, I’d love some What The Pitta food right about now”?

Well, guess what?

What The Pitta has a delivery kitchen that has just opened in Battersea!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDW0CwiJcie/

Opened from Saturday August 1, 2020, the Battersea kitchen from the winner of the Kebab Awards 2020 for Best London Takeaway will be open Monday-Thursday 5pm-10pm and Fri-Sun 12pm-10pm.

The Battersea kitchen from What The Pitta will be delivering exclusively via Deliveroo and the map below shows the delivery radius.

As you can see, large parts of Brixton, Kennington, Vauxhall, Balham, Wandsworth, and Clapham are serviced by the new Battersea kitchen.

Extra note: What The Pitta will be opening in Manchester in January!

Follow What The Pitta on Instagram.

New vegan donut shop in Wales

This is a super quick post to tell you about something exciting that was brought to my attention yesterday.

How about a vegan donut shop in Bangor, Wales?

CocoVanille sounds like heaven on Earth.

Get along to this brand new eatery on the High Street for delicious milkshakes, ice cream, smoothies, and donuts.

And please do not forget their local, freshly ground coffee if you are a caffeine fan.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDUDw9Ylk1n/

You can follow CocoVanille on Facebook or Instagram and see their exact location thanks to Google Maps.

New vegan fast food in Sheffield

Vegans ready to get Saucy in the UK.

Sheffield vegans and the vegan-curious alike are set to enjoy a true taste revolution as plant-based Saucy launches with gourmet fast food delivery in the South Yorkshire city.

Launching on July 31, 2020 Saucy is the new project from the founders of legendary vegan eatery, Make No Bones, and I’m super happy to be working with them to help with promotion.

Saucy co-founder Dave Shaw said of this new fast food concept:

“My dream has always been to feed delicious vegan comfort food to as many people as I can. While our team is busy working hard behind the scenes to get Make No Bones back up and running and serving our loyal customers again, we also wanted to bring another plan to life.

We designed the Saucy menu to appeal directly to the taste buds of decadent burger lovers and people who, just like me, can’t resist a hefty portion of crispy fries.”

Specialty menu items set to impress include the Katsu Burger featuring a fried chicken-style fillet housed in a fresh bun with sesame-infused slaw and Japanese curry sauce.

Freshly cooked fries are available in two sizes, as is the irresistible Japanese-inspired slaw when ordered as a side.

A selection of beef-style burgers sit alongside the line-up of chicken-style burgers, while fans of gourmet dipping sauces will be thrilled to see a wide range of in house sauces available to order separately to take their fries experience to another level.

Saucy is currently serving delivery only via local food app Mealbase, with more options for takeaway and delivery coming soon.

Follow Saucy on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

Free vegan things this week

Now that I’m back living in the UK, a lot of companies are asking if they can send me free samples of their products.

Obviously most companies that do this would like at least a post about the products on my Instagram account. Sometimes if I am really taken by a product, I will also share on my blog and other platforms.

Take a look at some of the free stuff that was sent to me during the past seven days.

Is there anything you like or have tried before?

Also, please follow me on Instagram to see all my free product photos and supermarket finds.

Vegan products at UK LEGOLAND

Swedish award-winning plant-based brand Oumph! is now available at popular family destination, the LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort, located in Berkshire, 25 miles west of London.

Pulled Oumph! and The Oumph! Burger, which was recently awarded Best Vegan Burger 2020, are offered as plant-based options in a selection of dishes in The Tournament Tavern, set within the LEGOLAND Castle Hotel, and Bricks Restaurant, which is located in the LEGOLAND Resort Hotel.

“We pride ourselves on offering our guests a diverse menu selection. There is a growing appetite for a variety of vegetarian and vegan menu options so we are delighted to be working with Oumph! to add another fantastic choice to our Hotel menus”, says Chris Ireland, Commercial and Hotel Director at the LEGOLAND Windsor Resort.

Nick Jacobs, Head of Sales for Oumph! in the UK, comments:

“We’re pleased to see that a family focused establishment like Legoland have chosen Oumph! to add value to their menu. This will be very welcome for the ever-increasing number of Oumph! fans among vegetarians, vegans, flexitarians and meat-reducers”.

LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort details and additional info: About LEGOLAND®

Follow Oumph! on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Young Vegans pie shop London closing

2020 has been an indisputably tough year for everyone and nobody knows this better than independent vegan businesses.

And the latest news to back this up?

News broke yesterday of legendary London food hot spot Young Vegans Pie Shop closing in Camden.

Cue a flood of tears.

Young Vegans Pie Shop was the pride of its owners, Carla and Marco.

For anyone who has had the pleasure of meeting these enterprising vegans, Carla and Marco are not just a force of nature when it comes to business but also two of the nicest people on the London vegan scene.

Young Vegans pies were always the star attraction when they appeared at Hackney Downs Vegan Market and their Camden Pie Shop was a magnet for plant-based eaters from all over the planet.

I reached out to Carla to ask for her to clarify exactly why her Pie Shop in Camden Market is closing and she said:

Our Pie Shop in Camden Market was great as it allowed us to learn a lot and grow our brand. But with uncertainty around COVID it makes sense for us to pivot and focus on expanding our online store and to make Young Vegans a household food brand.

As sad as we are for the Young Vegans Pie Shop to disappear, we can celebrate the fact that we can still buy their delicious pies via their online store.

Click here to shop for Young Vegans pies for UK delivery and be sure to follow them on Instagram to stay updated on future plans.

This week in UK vegan supermarket finds

Some of these things are new, some of them are new to me, while some of them are simply old favourites.

Scroll down to check out some of my best vegan finds of the past week from UK supermarkets.

And if you want to stay updated on all my latest supermarket discoveries, please follow me on Instagram.

New vegan crisps

Do you love potato as much as I love potato?

It’s my favourite food no matter how it is served, but I am particularly in love with crisps.

Of course I never called them crisps until I moved to the UK. Growing up in Australia we called crisps chips and what UK people call chips, we called hot chips.

Ha!

Anyway, back on track.

Mr Singh’s is a family-owned company from London. Known for their hot sauce, the company has branched out into crisp production!

At the moment, the crisps from Mr Singh’s are available in three flavours:

  • Chilli, lemon & cracked salt
  • Chilli, cheese & onion
  • Spicy tandoori chicken

You can order the crisps directly from Mr Singh’s website and look out for them in independent stores and online via The Vegan Kind Supermarket.

Follow Mr Singh’s on Instagram.

Join me for a vegan desert adventure

Times are changing and the way we do a lot of regular activities has to change, too.

As you probably know, I recently co-created Vegan Culinary Cruises to host 100% vegan cruise vacations with our first departure was set for New Year’s Eve 2021/2022.

Everything was set and bookings were coming in and then… yep. The global crisis happened.

All cruise lines around the globe have put everything on hold. Our VCC departures will be back in the future, but in the meantime I wanted to help people plan vacations for 2022 so we came up with the idea to host land tours and vacations.

Say hello to VCC Adventures.

VCC Adventures showcases our land-only-based adventures for vegan and vegan-curious travellers looking to enjoy a 100% plant-based adventure holiday filled to the brim exciting exploration coupled with our signature delicious vegan cuisine. With exciting itineraries taking in some of the most beautiful, fun-filled destinations on the planet, VCC Adventures is the perfect vacation for compassionate travellers looking to get the most out of a vegan travel experience.

WHAT ABOUT THE 2022 ADVENTURE?

Join FGV and VCC Adventures for a vegan desert vacation in Utah, one of the most naturally breathtaking locations on the planet.

Our hotel-based adventure scheduled for May 15-20, 2022 is the perfect way to ease back into vegan travel as we all patiently wait for the cruise ships to hit the waters again.

Our 5-night, 6-day getaway is packed full of food, fun, and unforgettable sightseeing.

Nature set Bryce Canyon, Zion, and the Grand Canyon ablaze with copper-hued chasms and theatrical formations. Explore the diverse symphony of forest, desert, plateau, and canyon in this spectacular combination of National Parks. No postcard could possibly prepare you for the chiseled vastness of the Grand Canyon, the monolithic oddities of Bryce Canyon, or the stunning cliffs of Zion.

Explore the wonders of the USA‘s Southwest, known as Colour Country, with our travel experts at VCC Adventures. Through the eons, the wind and water’s harsh power has created the red-rock formations, deep canyons, and towering cliffs that have become many of the world’s most famous natural attractions. This enormous geological playground features nature’s intricate forms and brilliant colours combine to offer a Western landscape getaway of incredible diversity and some of the most exhilarating outdoor adventures on earth.

Activities include park walking, bus and hiking tours, outdoor nature and wildlife lecture series, vegan inspired evening programming, and a special behind the scenes day and actives at the world-famous Best Friends Sanctuary.

THE PROGRAM

Our exclusive VCC Adventures tour program is perfect for every activity and ability level. On touring days clients can choose from two levels of walks/hikes in the National Parks:

  • Moderate: Easy walks and/or park bus tours with guided interpretation perfect for all ability levels
  • Adventure: More adventurous hikes with guided interpretation over varying terrain and elevation gain

You will also enjoy:

  • Education & Guiding: All tours are accompanied by our full-time naturalists and educators who bring to life the natural wonders, geology, ecology, Native American history, and so much more!
  • Special Guests: Sean O’Callaghan of Fat Gay Vegan oversees a unique line up of special guests. These experts and personalities from the vegan world will be on hand to regale guests via up close and personal storytelling, Q&A sessions, and insights into everything plant-based. These special guest sessions are unique to VCC Adventures and will conveniently take place during our bus trips, making our time on the road fun, informative, and engaging.
  • Vegan Cuisine: Our VCC Adventures staff bring to you our 100% plant-based signature vegan dining experience all from our very own on-site private kitchen and meeting dining facility, all included for the duration of your tour. Just as we do on all Vegan Culinary Cruises and VCC Lite journeys, our culinary team ensure the highest standards of vegan cuisine. All products are specially sourced, and our menus are created to be fun, unique, nutritious, and delicious.
  • Accommodations: We are based at our hotel in St George, Utah for the duration of the stay so there is no need to pack and unpack. St. George is the perfect location, centrally located for all nearby National Parks. We will enjoy our own beautiful private meeting space for all meals and programming.

If this desert land tour adventure sounds like the vacation for you, click here to find out more information about the itinerary and book your spot.

This is going to be a dream vegan vacation in the desert and a trip of a lifetime that you (and I) will never forget. I hope you can join me for a wonderful week.

Book now.