The paps were there and I guess they didn’t have a keen interest in how to make roast potatoes crunchy. Security was in place ready for the food fight. Not exactly what you would expect from a food demo but this was a little out of the ordinary.
Heather Mills was here to talk about vegan food and her controversial new restaurant in Hove, V-Bites. Ms. Mills and her crack team were kitted out in V-Bites T-shirts and all I could think of was how terrible the logo was. Why is the V stabbing the Bites? But that’s more Graphic than Foodie so I shall leave it there, although if anyone cares I can happily supply a 5000 word essay on it.
Heather first asked the room who was vegan. To her (and my, actually) surprise there were just two vegans and a pescatarian (sounds like a band!). To her credit, she took it on the chin and said she was pleased, as she wanted to show us carnivores the benefits of having one or two nights off a week from meat. Cue the needle over vinyl sound.
Right. What the shizzle is the deal with some vegans and veggies thinking us carnivores sit down to a Fred Flintstone size rack of ribs for breakfast, lunch and dinner? I eat meat a couple of times a week maybe. The rest of the week is filled with a wide variety of pastas, risottos, curries, soups, fish and a car boot load of vegetables. WE DO NOT NEED TO BE SAVED.
It’s ok, I’m over it. First on the menu was a stir-fry using the revolutionary beef substitute soy product that she is developing. Someone did actually have to shout out that it was burning. But you know what it tasted like beef! Texture was still a little flabby but not bad. I don’t like soy sauce doused over stir-fry but that’s a personal thing.
Next up was her Cheeky Nut Korma served up with Heather’s secret homemade mayo. Yup. Mayo on korma. The textured chicken substitute soy thing was a bit odd and not quite as successful as the beef. The korma sauce was lovely but the lemony mayo on top was “unusual”. When asked how the mayo is made without eggs, she would not divulge, only to reveal that it involved some kind of…yup, you guessed it, soy substitute.
She has developed these meat substitute products and she even said she was going to have her own factory making them. In case you were wondering, the mysterious meat flavour is “all about the herbs” apparently.
We finished off with her chocolate and ginger cake that is proclaimed to be irresistible to children but lacked the lightness and richness you get with glorious dairy butter.
She gave us a good tip on roast potatoes and how to cut veg. She also made some good points. I agree that meat should not be an everyday food. I believe in eating a variety of fresh, wholesome foods, most of which are in fact, vegan.
But I don’t agree with restricting the diet unless for extreme medical or religious reason. And if you do choose a vegetarian or vegan diet, I don’t see why you need these processed, flavoured, rubbery soy products – vegetables and fruit are beautiful, full of flavour and contain most of the nutrients you need alongside whole grains, pulses and the like to make some pretty spectacular meals. Soy substitutes, for me personally, have no taste benefits and I don’t see how they can differ from chemically charged processed meat products that are also unfortunately available. Traditionally used in Asian cooking for 3000 years or so, soy was consumed at a much, much lower quantity than today. They also fermented it to remove toxins but it is not the same as the Western stuff you can pick up now that is available unfermented, highly processed and creepily “hidden” in a lot of other food.
Oh, apologies for getting heavy, I don’t want to preach the other end of the argument at the wrong audience. I am certainly no expert in soy but I live by the “everything in moderation” rule, and what I do know is that free range, respectfully raised animals provide us with wonderful nutrition through their meat and dairy products. Oh and that food should above all be enjoyed with gusto and passion.
She was excellent in her delivery and you could tell she really does believe in what she is doing, is uber passionate and for that I have respect even if I do not agree. You go girl. She will even be cooking at her V-Bites restaurant, focusing on her pièce de résistance, the Sunday roast (when her daughter is not in term time and she is not doing charitable work in the US and…and...and...)
Was I converted? No. I shall continue to enjoy my veg without the need for substitutes, soy or anything else processed. She did however work up an appetite so I pootled over to the long queue at Sam’s of Brighton’s stall for a wonderful, minted, Sussex reared lamb burger.
Next time: Back to meat, fish and dairy goodness with the amazing Richard Eldon from Blanch House and back on the booze with more beer and cocktail tasting.
*gnawing on an unidentified meaty leg bone*
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that Heather has developed her own beef substitute in her own Factory - what with her 25 Million or so divorce settlement it's probably located in a Hollowed out Volcano somewhere in the Pacific.
Well done GF, an excellent posting. I applaud you for being so balanced in your comments as I don't think I could have been.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid there's an arrogance about this woman which I detest.
I spoke to my sister who's been a veggie for over 30 years and she agreed that the thought of 'meat flavoured' vegetarian food disgusts her. Why HM has gone down this road baffles me.
Thanks, yes I did try to remain balanced and went in with an open mind. (Those of you who know me personally will know that took some serious work on my part!)
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the day, each to their own but I think we should be working on limiting processed food and sourcing fresh, natural food, whatever it is.
I really fancy a bacon sandwich.
ReplyDeleteI just realised I said *gnawing on a meaty leg bone* and Heather only has one leg....horrified.....in a stuttering, foppish, haltingly Hugh Grant kind of way...I didn't mean gnawing on Heathers....meaty...I mean...she hasn't got meaty....leg...
ReplyDelete(1 second later)
It's ok - I'm over it now.
Actually made myself giggle - perhaps I'm subconciously hilarious.
LOL. As a pescatarian I agree with everything you say!
ReplyDeleteThere seems to be a bit of a theme here. Paul McCartney only marries women that create meat-substitute type meals.
I loathe Linda McCartney's fake meat meals and I simply don't understand why Heather is doing the same thing.
I used to chef at a vegan restaurant and the thing I hated the most was the fake cheese, the fake bacon and that horror of horrors TVP (textured vegetable protein).
It seems to me that this food is for vegans that still wish they were eating animal products.
Thanks for the report, very interesting.
V-bites. Sounds like just the right kind of name for a Heather Mills venture. But if the food doesn't pass the test, then I can't see it lasting. Nothing about what you've written about the whole experience is exactly making me want to rush down there to try for myself...
ReplyDeleteAs I've said many times, late in the evening - vegans, why?!
ReplyDeleteI think she makes those meat like products because there are many vegans who still would like to enjoy the taste of meat. They would like to have it without the cruelty, without the environmental destruction, and without the detrimental health effects however. Seems reasonable to me if thats what you're going for anyway. I agree it would be better health to not eat the fake meat at all, but its still better than eating the real thing. See the book "The China Study" which found that even small amounts of animal protein (milk, meat, fish or eggs) cause you to increase your risk of contracting any of the "Western Diseases" like heart disease, cancer and diabetes. The NYTimes called it the “Grand Prix of epidemiology” and the “most comprehensive large study ever undertaken of the relationship between diet and the risk of developing disease. ”http://tinyurl.com/yys7ap
ReplyDeleteHi ERock. Thanks for your comment, it's always appreciated.
ReplyDeleteI don't think all meat is cruel. A lot unfortunately is but that is hopefully changing with the media exposure of mass-produced meat and meat products. I would love to see this side of the industry change.
But to tar all meat production with this brush is unfair and a slap in the face to the farmers who work damn hard and with passion to raise animals with respect and heritage. On the Sussex Downs here in the UK there are some amazing people rearing and producing fantastic products.
I support these farmers by buying their products and I see first hand the care my family in Italy gave to the animals which they used to raise on a beautiful small holding on mountain land where they can forage for wild herbs and chestnuts. The buffalos down the road where they make the mozzarella even have showers available to cool them down if it gets too hot!
I agree with everything in moderation and meat should not be an everyday consumption. Certainly not the processed horrors of burgers, hotdogs and lord knows what else. We are only staring to realise the effects these products are having on our health (the "Western diseases, as you put) but I can only see these pumped up soy products landing in the same camp as these processed meat products. Time will tell. I personally avoid as much processed rubbish as possible.
People have been eating (properly reared) meat for years. Processed fake meat has only just come on the market in comparison. I know which one I would bet on as a safer product.
And here's a question. What about the environmental destruction the large soya plantations are causing in South America? What about the large areas of rainforest being cleared for the increased Western demand for soy products? What about the poverty & unemployment the communities are experiencing as they lose their jobs and land and traditional farming skills?