vegan

New vegan recipe collection

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I don’t sing the praises of many cook books but this latest vegan title from celebrity chef Hugh Fearnely-Whittingstall is worth noticing.

I admit I don’t know a lot about Hugh but some people have told me he made his name in part by cooking a lot of animals.

He now seems to be on a mission to get people to eat a lot of veg (although he is not vegan himself) and Much More Veg is his plan being put into action.

The recipes are gorgeous and the photos even more so.

If you are due a gift anytime soon, I would point the person doing the buying in the direction of this book.

Follower drives on Instagram

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One form of support I’ve been involved with as a blogger and social media person recently is Follower Drives.

I got the idea a few days ago when I was visiting a brand new vegan restaurant in Sitges, Spain. Spice Garden is the only 100% vegan restaurant in Sitges and I was a bit disappointed that the Instagram account for the restaurant had quite a small number of followers.

During my meal, I posted a series of photos on my own Instagram asking my followers to consider following the restaurant. I set a target of 500 followers and if you click through to the account now, you will see that we were able to zoom right past that number.

The restaurant started with 187 followers and now has over 1,300 in just a matter of days.

I applied the same campaign idea to raising the follower count for a brand new late night vegan bar in Barcelona called Bar de Retro. This time we took them from 99 followers to over 1,200 in a day!

My latest Follower Drive is for a London vegan shoe store and ethical boutique called The Third Estate.

This store is exquisite but their Instagram account had been languishing around the 700 follower mark for a while. I set a target of 2,000 followers and we are almost there within 24 hours. I think they need just about 200 more.

Please get involved and get over to their profile.

I hope you can join me for more Follower Drives in the future. I think it is a great way to give independent vegan businesses a boost and help raise their online profiles.

Vegan food in Camden

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When someone describes what they cook as filthy vegan junk food, my interest couldn’t be higher.

Biff’s Jack Shack is a decadent London-based vegan street food business making crispy fried fillet burgers and wings out of jackfruit. They have been doing a lot of impressing people around the capital and now have set up shop in Camden for the entire month of August.

Biff’s delicious food can be snapped up from their temporary pop up located at Camden Town Brewery (click here to see location via Google Maps). The food stand is trading in this spot each Thursday and Friday from 5:30pm until 9:00pm and Saturdays between 2:00pm until 7:00pm all throughout August.

But what of the food? Prepare yourself because I don’t think you’re ready for this epic-ness.

Jackin’ Wingz

Choose 2 or 3 Jackin’ Wingz slathered with a topping blend of your choice:

  • Classic Cayenne Buffalo Hot Sauce and Blue Cheese Sauce
  • Southern BBQ Sauce Spiked with Bourbon
  • Thai Cinnamon Infused Sweet Chilli
  • Sriracha and Cool Mayo

The ‘Jack Bauer Tower’

  • Enriched Vegan Brioche
  • Cool mayo
  • Crisp Iceberg
  • Fat Hash Brown
  • Classic Burger Cheese
  • Crispy Fried Jackin’ Patty
  • Ketchup/Hot Sauce of your choice

The ‘Father Jack’

  • Enriched Vegan Brioche
  • Smoke infused vegan Bacun Jam
  • Whiskey BBQ Sauce
  • Crisp Iceberg
  • Smoked Burger Cheese
  • Natural Beer Battered Onion Rings
  • Crispy Fried Jackin’ Patty

I don’t know about you but all of that has me drooling and checking my diary for my next available eating opportunity.

Don’t miss out on Biff’s Shack Jack during their Camden Town Brewery residency (where vegan beer is plentiful BTW) and be sure to follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

FGV being interviewed

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Here is a quick post to let you know that I was just a featured guest on a podcast… and you can listen if you fancy that sort of thing!

Ethical Beast is a podcast out of NYC, but my recent episode was actually recorded in Mexico City a few weeks ago.

Joe got in touch with me when he knew he was going to be in the giant Mexican capital, so it was great fun sitting down for a quick chat with him. He quizzed me on all manner of topics including my new book coming out in January 2018. I had friends coming over for dinner as it was my final night in Mexico before returning to London and you can even hear the intercom buzzer announcing their arrival.

Click here to listen to my episode and be sure to check out some of the older Ethical Beast episodes, too.

Make vegan esquites – recipe

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A simple recipe for a Mexican favourite. Esquites couldn’t be easier or tastier.

Ingredients:

2 cups frozen or fresh sweetcorn 1 cup vegetable stock
1 cup diced white onion
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried epazote*

To garnish:

Chile powder
Vegan mayonnaise
Coriander/Cilantro
Diced white onion
Fresh lime

Instructions:

  • ​Place corn, stock, onion, oregano and epazote in a medium saucepan
  • Simmer for approximately 10 minutes
  • Serve in small bowls, ensuring each bowl has plenty of stock
  • Garnish according to taste. In Mexico, people sometimes add cheese and cream so you could experiment with vegan versions of these.

*This herb is common in Mexico but may not be easy to find outside North America. Try online or specialty shops.

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

A visit to Wiz Kid in Philadelphia

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You’ve probably already seen FGV’s previous proclamations about Vedge in Philadelphia being the best restaurant on the planet (see here and here)! Well when I heard that the founders Kate Jacoby and Rich Landau had opened a small fast-food outlet in the new Whole Foods on Pennsylvania Avenue in Philly, I knew I had to investigate! Check out my visit to Wiz Kid:

The menu is small but perfect. I of course picked the ‘Wiz Kid Philly’, a cheesesteak-style roll with seitan and mushrooms. Oh, and how could I pass up the fries topped with cheeze wiz?

Kate and Rich must have magic powers! There is nothing of theirs that I have tried which hasn’t tasted exceptional and Wiz Kid was certainly no exception! How do they make food taste this good? What is their secret? I want nothing less than world domination for Kate and Rich!

Check out Wiz Kid’s website to see the full menu and be sure to follow them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. I believe they’re opening a second location in Center City soon!

Updated menu and hours Temple of Hackney

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You all adore Temple of Hackney, the vegan fried chicken shop by Temple of Seitan.

So of course you love this quick little snippet of news relating to the shop’s brand new revised menu AND the new opening hours.

Firstly, let’s look at the menu.

A few of the items have been changed ever so slightly and the meal deal has come down in price.

Also, you came here to find out about the new opening hours.

They are posted below for your pleasure.

Yes, you can get your vegan fried chicken quota 7-days a week and until 9pm Monday through Saturday.

Get well into it.

Follow Temple of Seitan on Instagram.

Vegan Cheese Revolution at Orchard Grocer, NYC

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You may have seen my post from last week about all the amazing vegan food that I sampled in New York City during my 48-hour visit earlier this year… but there was one place that was so impressive that it deserved a blog post of its very own!

Orchard Grocer in Manhattan’s Lower East Side is one of the best-stocked vegan stores I’ve ever been to in my life, which just happens to share a retail space with a vegan shoe shop. It is filled to the brim with incredible products that are hard to find anywhere else. I was so full from my previous eating that I didn’t even get to try the house-made sandwiches but I’ve heard REALLY good things about them from others. Anyway, enough chit-chat… check out these photos:

Orchard Grocer, NYC

It was so overwhelming seeing this many incredible vegan products in one spot. Check out my Instagram video of the cheese selection:

My visit to @orchardgrocer in #NYC earlier this year #vegan #vegancheese #vegannyc

A post shared by joshleuner (@joshleuner) on

For those who have visited Moo Shoes in NYC previously, you’ll be interested to know that Orchard Grocer actually takes up half of the store. Moo Shoes is now using just half of its original space while Orchard Grocer takes up the rest. Read more about Orchard Grocer on their website and be sure to follow them on Facebook and Instagram. Happy drooling!

Another online vegan shop for the UK

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Dear UK vegans. You are getting too much choice.

I’ve recently posted about Greenbay of London launching their online shop, as well as Veganubi.

Now Plymouth-based vegan grocery store Ethica has joined the party and you can order plant-based groceries from them for delivery anywhere in the UK.

Just visited this super awesome 100% #vegan grocery shop in Plymouth. Yay for Ethica!

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What I love about the Ethica online shop is the sustainable policy underpinning everything.

Check out the following statement on the Ethica website:

We’re really conscious of making our packing process as eco friendly as possible.

All of our boxes that we send out are re-used. They’ll either be ones we’ve been sent by our suppliers or, when we run out, we buy in used boxes and give them a second life (so no new material or energy has gone into producing them!).

We’ll also never send out any packaging material that isn’t completely biodegradable. All materials are either 100% recycled paper/cardboard or wheat based degradable nuggets (for cushioning). Even our packing tape is made from just paper and starch, so no non-biodegradable acrylics or PVC!

As we’ve just started our online ordering, we’re pretty limited with our post options but as soon as we can we’ll be switching to a carbon neutral courier!

Click here to get shopping now (orders over £50 won’t cost a penny in shipping) and follow Ethica on Facebook and Instagram.

And of course visit the physical shop when you are in Plymouth.

Vegan in Skipton

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I love reader tips and submissions.

I can’t eat in every town on the planet, so readers sending in guest reviews and photos means this blog can report on a wider selection of experiences than would be possible if I was the only one contributing.

Take these photos from Tina as an example. When would I have ever found an opportunity to go to Skipton?

Tina sent me an email accompanied with these photos showing some of the delicious vegan food being served by The Castle Inn located in Skipton, North Yorkshire.

Check out the menu and these top food shots.

Follow The Castle Inn on Facebook and visit them soon for delicious eating.