Good Read: Vegan Life Magazine

We've had a good read through the new glossy vegan magazine for the UK, and were really impressed! This is something you could leave casually leave on the coffee table and not feel embarrassed about - it's slick, well presented and really readable. It's also available in Supermarkets, which is a major milestone:

News: Fry's vegan range now in Booths

Vegans in the Northwest welcome news of Booths supermarkets stocking the market-leading meat replacement brand. The range of Fry’s Family Foods products is available at half-price until May 20 as a special introductory promotion at Booths.

News: Frys frozen range now in Ocado

Your favourite vegan frozen food brand Fry’s Vegetarian is now available through online retailer Ocado. Following a bumper year of sales in the UK, Fry’s has succeeded in getting all 17 of their totally vegan range of products onto the shelves at Ocado. This is great news for vegans who now have a national supplier offering vegan frozen food at the click of a mouse.

VegFest Bristol 2012: Day 3

The traditional British summer Sunday...Pimms, Strawberries, Ice Cream...vegan style! We're leading with three photos of the laid back Sunday morning atmosphere of day 3 at VegFest, which go to show why this is the greatest vegan show on earth. Where else would you find a vegan ice cream stall, a vegan strawberries and cream stall and a Pimms over ice stall all in one place?

The Sunday music was just as laid back, with Anthea Neads & Andy Prince kicking off proceedings for the afternoon.

VegFest Bristol 2012: Day 2

UPDATED: Finley Quaye live on stage this evening at VegFest Bristol. The headline act attracted a capacity crowd and queues to get in to the festival site reached across Millennium Square.

The amphitheatre at Waterfront Square filled to bursting for the evening performances.

VegFest Bristol 2012: Day 1

The world's biggest vegan festival got underway today at Bristol (UK) with crowds gathering in the early summer heat for 3 days of music, food and revelry. The event kicked off at 2pm this afternoon and saw festival goers entertained by live bands on the harbourside from afternoon until evening. The weekend is headlined by Finley Quaye tomorrow night (Saturday, 7:30pm). The unexpected May sunshine ensured everyone was in high spirits, although shade was in short supply in the open amphitheatre at Waterfront Square.

The Magnus Puto get people dancing

More photos below...

Did you know...that Jelly Tots are vegan?

Once upon a time, Jelly Tots were made with gelatine...the animal gelling agent. In case you missed it, they've been vegan for several years since the gelatine was replaced with modified starch.

Most fruit jellies are still made with gelatine so it's useful to have a mainstream product that isn't. There are several veggie jellies available from wholefood stores, but jelly tots can be bought from any corner shop...useful for cake decorating emergencies....or sugar cravings..

VEGG: The Vegan Egg Yolk

We've got our hands on a packet of Vegg - billed as a vegan egg yolk. The mix consists of little more than a blend of yeshi (nutritional yeast) and sodium alginate (an extract of brown algae) with a few vitamins, but is a versatile egg yolk replacer.

Sodium alginate is the stuff molecular chefs use to 'spherify' liquids, to make fruit juice 'caviars' and the like. The Vegg mix can be spherified into perfect round egg yolks...but not straight out of the packet - additional purchases are required for that.

Out of the packet you can make yourself a quiche, an omelette or French toast.

UPDATE: Read our full review of The Vegg vegan egg yolk



See also our French Toast made with The Vegg post.

See also our Vegg 'n' Bacon english muffin post

Here's one that didn't work - hard boiled Vegg yolk...we just re-invented gnocchi!

Quorn goes vegan...first baby steps

That's right, this is no Photoshop...that really is a pack of Quorn 'Vegan Burgers'. All Quorn products until now have included egg albumen as a binder, but this recently launched line in the US is all vegan and uses wheat and potato protein instead of egg.

The product hasn't launched yet in the UK, but producers Marlow Foods are UK based and the following statement from the company indicates that a vegan product launch is expected on home soil.

"A Quorn product suitable for a Vegan diet is currently available in the US only. Here in the UK, we’ve also seen the growing demand for Vegan food and are already looking at a Vegan product offer under the Quorn brand developed specifically for the UK market."

There are many vegan burger options already available, but the important thing is that Quorn has a dominant position in the meat-free market. This means that Quorn is often the only choice available in small supermarkets and many catering outlets. The arrival of a vegan Quorn product line makes it simpler for retailers and caterers to offer a vegan option. This could also be the first baby steps of the whole Quorn line going egg-free.