It is no secret that I am kind of a "secret Vegan." I am Veganish. I think it is healthier, better for the environment, and probably better for my soul (If I believed that I had one, but that is another post for another day...) but I am not going to starve in Mongolia if all they have is yak, either. I don't make a "thing" of it, I don't proselytize. I am not an animal-rights activist, or much of any kind of activist, but I kind of do my mostly vegan thing as much as I mostly can. I have no idea if I just offended someone in a yurt somewhere.
In any case, as I have begun my attempts to take myself out of the mass-marketed, fatness-inducing, pre-packed and ready-to-rumble food world, I have noticed that there are just as many products marketed at the other side. It is easy to worry about the environmental, health, and ethical impact of meat-eating, but has anyone really studied the impact of NOT eating it? I mean, as a vegan-for-me person without a real agenda, I have been noticing more and more just how many products (many of which are lousy in one way or another, incidentally) that are marketed (hard!!!) at vegans and vegetarians. Add to this two major desires of mine: First, to avoid eating a vegan mushpile every night ('cuz that is gross) and; Second, to avoid being one of those "white food" vegetarians (you know that guy - the one who eats nothing but crackers, french fries, and peanut butter? this is not healthy and I want no part of it). Thus, some investigation of how to make my Veganish lifestyle effective at providing me with a "normal" healthy broad range of foods, and to avoid having that be so restrictive that I sacrifice nutrients (or taste) is required.
This has prompted a new series:
Vegan product review (or, henceforth, VPR).
VPR #1: Veganaise
This product is widely-hyped, and even comes sealed with plastic that reads "made with solar power" - I guess they figure if you care about one thing, you care about all of the other yuppy causes (and I am not saying I don't, I am just sayin' in general). Purportedly, this is the "best tasting" vegan mayonnaise substitute on the market (well, at least as they market it).
The thing is, I don't even LIKE regular mayo, so I have no real idea how I might integrate this product (which is stiff full fat, albeit all polyunsaturated veggie fat) into my previously mayo-free diet.
SO, I tried it - cooking with it as a binder, using it to emulsify some salad dressing, and as a spread to moisten an otherwise dry-as-old-bones (not that there were any, this is a VEGAN rant, kids...) sandwich.
and, much to my self-loathing yuppy dismay, I liked it. I mean, it is kind of nice - lighter tasting than real mayo, lacks any musky animalic flavor notes, and has a pleasing degree of vinegary bite. The texture stayed light and whippy when I cooked with it, and it did provide more satisfying throat-lubrication (nasty, but true) to a tofurkey on whole-what pita than cranberry chutney had the day before.
My name is Erica, and I like Veganaise. (this is where you say "Hi, Erica" and make me admit that being Veganish really is less of a lifestyle change or "problem" when it is this easy to make a substitution that seems, even purely culinarily, better.)
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