Strawberry Season Taste Test: 6 vegan creams go head to head for the right to top our great British strawberries.
UPDATE: Our Taste Test for Best Vegan Cream is now live!
Winning Ways. Fabulous Fudge Factory Fudge
Up against the Holy Cow fudge we reviewed just a few weeks back, this fudge is a clear winner. Winning Ways of Essex, going by the name of the Fabulous Fudge Factory have concocted a dairy-free fudge that has that all important tooth-feel. You can really sink your teeth in to this fudge and we even tried it out on some unsuspecting non-vegans who couldn't tell it was dairy-free.
Flavour Fave: Bessant & Drury's Ice Cream
The vegan ice cream market is still a land of opportunity with a just a few established brands, some better than others in our experience. Bessant & Drury's are the latest to stake their claim to a corner of the dairy-free market with their range of coconut-milk ice creams. They were in the fortunate position of being the only ice cream vendor on site in the scorching heat at last weekend's VegFest. So is Bessant & Drury's a case of ice dream, or I scream?
Belting idea: Recycled Bike Tyre Belts
Belt choices for vegans are pretty limited so what a fantastic idea to recycle old bike tyres. We spotted these non-leather offerings in Bristol at a Sunday market stall alongside the floating harbour. Fifteen quid for your choice of slick or knobbly, in all variety of widths and even a few colours.
VegFest Bristol 2012: Review
What matters more than numbers is that thousands of people, vegan or not (yet) walked away from a weekend in Bristol with a fantastic impression of what it's like to be vegan - it's all eating, drinking, dancing and getting sunburnt!
This was a truly great festival and thanks must go to the organisers and also to the sponsors (Redwood Foods) who gave us all of this for free this year. The weather certainly helped, but with a robust programme, a great venue and some big name headline acts, success was assured. Here's our round up of VegFest Bristol 2012 on veganoo:
Reports:
Photos:
Videos:
- Check out our Finley Quaye video over on YouTube
- You can jump over to the VegFest UK Facebook page
- Or catch us on the Veganoo Facebook page
veganoo.net
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.
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| The Magnus Puto get people dancing |
Butter me up? Review: Cleo's Peanut Butter Cups
Peanut butter is one of those 'marmite' foods....either you love it or hate it. For peanut butter lovers (like us), what could be better than a shot of the stuff covered in chocolate? Two of course...in a handy pack...
A Lidl less Gelatin. American Hard Gums
Lidl continues to be an occasional source of vegan confectionary. In amongst their range of jellies a little vegetarian V gave these away, which on closer inspection were vegan. The vast majority of their jellies are still made with gelatin but it's encouraging to see some progress at the discount end of the market. So here we have vegan American Hard Gums...but are they any good?
Flex Oil. Omega 3s from Flax Oil
Flax oil is just another name for Linseed oil, the stuff your brother might have oiled his cricket bat with. The difference is in the processing...food grade flax oil is cold pressed from Linseeds without the use of solvents. Flax oil is useful for vegans because it contains the highest level of the omega-3 fatty acid ALA among vegetable oils.
Good Heavens. Hemp milk from Good Hemp
Hemp Milk, you know the stuff...you might even have tried it. Like drinking the water you've washed your muddy boots in. That all changes with the new and improved Good Hemp recipe. We can honestly say this stuff is rather good. Much to our surprise we find it mild tasting, gently sweet, not at all gritty, and look at that picture...it's even white. But is Good Hemp good enough to become your favourite non-dairy milk?
Wot No Dairy? Taste Test: Non-Dairy Yoghurts
In a sign that the non-dairy market is maturing, there are now several natural plant-milk yoghurts available in the UK. The latest entrant, Redwood's 'Wot No Dairy' is soy-free too if you're excluding soya from your diet. We put the newcomer up against two established favourites from Provamel and Sojade. How does it fare?
Teese me, please me? Review: Teese 'Mozzarella'
There are many dairy-free cheeses on the market now, but few are palatable in all honesty. Teese is the latest to appear in the UK and promises a vegan mozzarella that melts and stretches just like the dairy stuff. Does it deliver?
Taste Test: Best Vegan Chocolate Buttons
Whatever you call them...choc chips, drops or buttons, you'll be sad to learn that Humdinger have withdrawn theirs from the UK. The Humdinger faux-milk chocolate buttons and their white chocolate buttons have been the dairy-free choice for many vegans. With Humdinger gone, we look at the options available in our Chocolate Button taste test...
Review: Holy Cow Vanilla Fudge
Holy Cow, could this be the Holy Grail...in other words the perfect vegan fudge? Sorry to disappoint, but we have to say no. Like most vegan fudges this is more of a sugar fondant than a fudge, without the creamy toffeeness of the dairy stuff. The bite is too firm, with a sudden yield as it breaks, rather than the teeth sinking slowly you'd expect from fudge. There is also that graininess you get with sugar fondants.
Review: Caramel Choices chocolates
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..
Review: Mini Moos chocolate bars
Moo Free has been around for a couple of years with their faux milk chocolate and their latest line is Mini Moos - three packs of mini choccy bars. We tried out their honeycomb bar which is a bit like a deconstructed Cadburys Crunchie...pieces of honeycomb toffee atop a bar of rice-milk chocolate.
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.
This Month: VegFest Bristol 2012
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| VegFest Bristol. Photo courtesy geometricapartments.com |
UPDATED: Read our review of VegFest 2012 Bristol
It's May already, which means VegFest Bristol is just 4 weeks away. The annual vegan extravaganza is billed as 'the world's biggest vegan event' and features three days of stalls, shows, talks, food, music and more.
Entry to the festival is free this year, including access to the headline music acts and the comedy hours. Highlights include Ready Steady Chef live cooking shows, a daily Happy Hour with stall discounts, an extensive comedy line-up and Finley Quaye headlining on Saturday night.
Veganoo will be on scene to bring you news and photos from the 3 day event.
Event Details as follows...
Why the Germans make the best Tofu
You can buy German tofu in the UK, under the Taifun brand sold in wholefood stores. You'll find it stocked next to lesser offerings from UK producers. Where the German tofu is tasty though, the local tofu is coarse, and with more of a rubbery texture than the smooth cutting German stuff. UK producers often cut corners too, using liquid smoke, rather than smoking the tofu blocks in the traditional way. The liquid smoke tends to make the tofu a little bitter, rather than impart that meaty deliciousness that is so desirable.
Read on for the Vorsprung-durch-Technik approach to tofu smoking...
Welcome to veganoo!
Veganoo is different...we tell it like it is. Ever get tired of positive reviews for everything vegan? At veganoo we bring you news and reviews with our honest views. If that new vegan cheese tastes like soap, we'll let you know! We're not negative, but we won't shy away from the truth either. Send us your news and what you'd like reviewed and we'll do our best.
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