I'm a chef fanboy...

and I'm sharing some of my favourite cooks

Chef fanboys are exciteable….from an event featuring Alain Ducasse in 2013

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Full disclosure, dear reader. I used to be a food writer and restaurant reviewer, and for quite a while managed to get away with not eating anything dead. And no-one noticed! Sometimes, it got awkward, when a chef decided to give us everything on the menu, and we had to politely explain that we wouldnt/couldn’t/shouldn’t eat this or that. We got wise to this overkeen chef ruse, and told them in advance we would only like to try one or two dishes…and food waste was never an issue, as we’d share leftovers with friends and neighbours.

Anyway, I’m honoured to have met some fantastic chefs over the years, from the incredible Tim Raue (who opened an amazing Asian-inspired place in Dubai when I lived there, but got disheartened when diners kept asking for boiled rice and dim sum) to Gizzi Erskine, to Kirti Bhoutika, the exuberant winner of the TV show MasterChef India’s Season 5.

Me back in 2017 with Tim Raue in Dubai: fat, sweaty and overexcited. I look great, on the other hand

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While none are vegan, they are all lovely people, and I noticed Gizzi’s latest book is a move towards more sustainable eating, (despite her recent endeavours with lamb’s testicles); Tim has always favoured fresh, local, light ingredients, and is working with A Swiss alt-meat company, and Kirti runs a fanatstic cake store, with one of the bestsellers being vegan!

My point is, most chefs - good ones in my book at least - appreciate and understand the place that good veg-based dishes have on a menu. And with the need to think more about sustainability and food waste creeping up the agenda, I honestly think we are witnessing a postive change towards more veg-forward menus.

Having said all that, I can’t have any of the above on my list of food heroes, as they’re not vegan. In my years of looking for new, interesting and innovative ways of cooking veg, I’ve realised there are a few people I always go back to.

And I’m not one for heroes, but Gaz Oakley is up there.

Gaz is a classically trained chef, author & YouTuber originally from Cardiff, Wales, who began his kitchen journey at the tender age of 15. Much later, he watched a YouTube video of a Gary Yourofsky speech, and that turned him vegan overnight. And like me, rather than ranting and railing at meat eaters, he decided his approach to helping people turn vegan was to cook beautiful dishes.

His recipes are clear, and while often a little complex, they’re always packed with flavour and satisfying. I also love his chilled style, and his YouTube channel is a nice place to be.

During the pandemic lockdown, my wonderful girlfriend bought me his ‘Plants Only Kitchen’ recipe book, which I then decided to work my way through every dish. Adding, amending and tweaking as I went, of course.

Sam Turnbull at It Doesn’t Taste Like Chicken is a wonderful, bubbly Canadian chef who always sounds like she’s about to crack up laughing. Her recipes are great, and when I’m searching for a way to veganise something, her recipes often fall at the top of the pile. I recently attended a free webinar she hosts about how to cook perfect seitan. It’s worth a listen/ watch. The free film is a gateway to her ‘Seitan School’ and, like Gaz, she has recipe books, including a free digital one when you subscribe to her website. Her journey to the light side was triggered by watching ‘Vegucated’ - well worth a watch. If you haven’t seen it, it’s here, free, on You Tube (depending on which country you live in, I suppose, but it works for me).

Chef Ani is someone I’ve always admired for her recipes, bubbly nature and youth. But I think she’s older than she looks, given she attended a culinary school in New York in 2015. Her steamed sausage recipe was one of the first times I ever tried making a vegan sausage, and who could forget such a monumentous occasion?

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Another inspiring Welsh bloke is Matt Pritchard, who has a number of skills under his non-leather belt - professional skateboarder, stunt performer, celebrity chef and triathlon athlete. But he’s perhaps best known as the star and co-creator of MTV UK's Dirty Sanchez. In 2019, he hosted the first BBC vegan cookery show, Dirty Vegan. Most definitely not to be confused with Agatha Christie’s grandson, Pritchard offers accessible, easy recipes and has produced a couple of great cookbooks worth a look.

Enough of people I like - but I could go on forever, and should also mention Sweet Potato Soul, Chef Rishim at Tendril and the incredible Omari McQueen, who’s waaay too young to be so damn good.

Who do you admire, and whose recipes do you follow? I’m keen to know!

RECIPES

So, I thought I’d share some of my favourite recipes from all of the above.

Here goes:

Gaz Oakley’s Sticky Sesame Puff Tofu

This is tasty, quick and straightforward. As ever, one of the reasons I love it is that it’s infinitely customisable. You might cook the tofu chunks and use them to top a ramen bowl, throw them in a taco or wrap, or serve them on top of your favourite grains, or a steaming bowl of roasted veg. I’ve had them on salads and pizzas too!

Ingredients

• 1 Large Block Extra Firm Tofu, cut into 2 cm cubes (I prefer Tofoo brand)

• 5 tbs Cornflour

• 2 tsp Chinese 5 Spice

• 4 tbs Vegetable Oil

• 1 Red Onion, peeled & chopped roughly

• 4 Cloves of Garlic, minced

• 1 Red Chilli, finely sliced

• Thumb sized Piece of Ginger, minced

• 1/4 cup/60ml Light Soy Sauce or Ponzu (Japanese citrus Soy Sauce, basically)

• 4 tbs Hoisin Sauce

• 3 tbs Maple Syrup

• 2 tbs Tahini

• 3 tbs Sesame Seeds

Serve with

• 2 Heads Pak Choi, steamed

• Greens

• Sticky Rice (cooked!)

• Chopped Spring Onions

• Extra Sesame Seeds

Preparation

• Place your cubed tofu into a mixing bowl then sprinkle over the corn flour and 5 spice.

• Mix well, making sure the tofu is evenly coated.

• Place a non stick pan over a medium heat and add the oil.

• When the pan is hot add the tofu and cook for 2 minutes on all sides or until the tofu lightly browns and puffs up.

• Add the red onion, garlic, chilli and ginger into the pan then turn the heat down low and allow the onion to soften, stirring the mix every now and then.

• Deglaze (basically, adding a liquid to a pan to loosen any lovely crispy bits of tofu/ flavour. Crap cooking joke: I’m very fond of fond) the pan with the soy sauce, then add the hoisin, maple syrup and tahini.

• Stir gently, so you don’t break up the tofu but ensure everything is coated, then let the sauce bubble away and thicken up for 4-5 minutes, stirring often.

• Meanwhile, prepare your garnishes.

• Before serving stir through the sesame seeds.

• Top your rice recipe with the sticky tofu and serve with greens, pak choi, chopped spring onion & a few extra sesame seeds sprinkled on top.

Note: He cooks it here, below, and it seems less complicated than the recipe above…

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Sam Turnbull’s Easiest Seitan Chicken Recipe

This has been a go to for me since the recipe appeared, in 2021, I think. The queen of Seitan, Sam’s recipe is as customisable as you like, I’ve tried making it beefy, fishy and spicy. Not at the same time. Go wild.

Ingredients

For the seitan:

• ¾ cup vital wheat gluten

• ¼ cup plain/ all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon vegetable broth powder

• ½ teaspoon onion powder

• ½ teaspoon garlic powder

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• ⅔ cup water

  Note - omit the onion, garlic and salt and replace with seasonings of your choice - I like bbq seasoning, chicken seasoning, old bay, Slap Ya Mama…

For the sauce (optional):

• 3 tablespoons Thai sweet chili sauce

• 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce

• 2 tablespoons water

• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar

• ½ teaspoon sesame oil

And

• 2 tablespoons light oil for frying, (such as canola or vegetable)

• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, for garnish

• 1 small handful chopped green onions or chopped chives, for garnish

Preparation

• Add water to a pot with a steamer basket and bring to a light boil. Sam says ‘add an inch’ but I prefer just putting enough in so I don’t worry about it boiling dry.

• In the meantime, whisk together the vital wheat gluten, flour, vegetable broth powder, onion powder, garlic powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Pour in the water and mix to form a ball of dough. It’ll be a bit sticky - and warning - washing up the bowl can be a nightmare. Use an old rag or something, otherwise your lovely kitchen scrubber will quickly get ruined.

• Lightly grease the steamer basket, then tear off bite-sized pieces of the seitan dough and place them in a single layer in the steamer basket. Cover, and steam the seitan for about 10 minutes. I often find 12 is better. Warning - they expand, so space them out or do them in two batches. You can be frying up the first batch while the second is steaming.

• In the meantime, in a small bowl or a measuring glass, mix together the Thai sweet chili sauce, hoisin, soy sauce, water, rice vinegar, and sesame oil. Set aside your sauce.

• When the seitan is done steaming, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet or non-stick pan. Use tongs to remove the seitan bites from the steamer basket, and place them into the hot oil in the pan. Be careful as it may splatter.

• Cook the seitan bites a few minutes per side until they are golden brown and crispy.

• Remove from the heat and add the sauce and toss to coat. Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds if desired and serve hot.

Chef Ani’s Eggplant/Aubergine Parmesan

I’ll leave this to her:

Warning: You may find her voice annoying.

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Matt Pritchard’s Lentil Cottage Pie

A classic, tasty and easy dish. Again, I’ll drop the video here so you can admire his tattoos.

Warning: You might feel he needs to cough.

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Stuff You Should Know - And Care About

The US government has six hundred thirty-five million, twenty-nine thousand, three hundred and eighteen kilograms of cheese stored underground

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This infuriating number - written out in full for effect - came to my attention via the good folk at What the Health Film on Instagram. It seems after decades of heavily subsidising the US dairy industry - which, of course, causes horrendous suffering to female cows every day - the US government has a stock of unwanted cheese paid for with taxpayers money. Weirdly, I did the maths, and based on the amount of (bad) cheese the average American eats, this vast stockpile would only last the nation 38 days…

Labour can stop badger culling

Charlie Moores over at Protect the Wild wrote a great piece about the UK’s new government, link above. While several Labour MPs and Ministers have stated that it is Labour’s intention to stop culling these wonderful animals, it seems like there’s a way to go. Luckily, there’s a number of legal challenges in the pipeline, explained in Charlie’s post. Sadly:

You can do your bit by adopting a badger, here.

Protesting Pamplona’s Bullfights

Brave animal rights activists have gathered in Pamplona to protest the archaic ritualised execution of bulls at the San Fermín festival, which will see 60 terrified bulls stabbed to death by Sunday. Horrendous. I’ve always been appalled by this spectacle of inhumanity and cruelty. As PETA puts it: “Every year, bulls are forced to scramble down Pamplona’s narrow streets as they run from a jeering mob. They often injure themselves as they slip on the cobbled ground or crash into walls while attempting to escape the crowd.

“These bulls have typically had little interaction with humans previously, and suddenly being thrust among a horde is distressing and overwhelming.

“Many people who attend this cruel spectacle don’t realise that the same bulls they run from down the streets are tortured to death in the bullring later the same day.”

There’s hope - more than 125 Spanish towns and cities have rejected the torment and butchering of bulls for entertainment, but in Pamplona, the cruel spectacle continues.

Sign the petition here.

Cause of the Week

See above - stop the sick murder of bulls for ‘entertainment’.

If you’ve reached this point, thanks. I hope you enjoy the recipes, and my waffle.

Share this post far and wide, and have a beautiful week ahead. I saw a post somewhere the other day that reminded me we are all sharing this planet together, for the blink of an eye, so let’s try to be friendlier, more loving and more caring to each other and the planet.

Love and sunshine

Will x