Guest guest Posted October 19, 2003 Report Share Posted October 19, 2003 http://www.sfbg.com/38/03/x_meatless.html Meatless By <A HREF= " miriam " >Miriam Wolf</A> Seitanic rituals MAYBE I'M JUST complaining, but planning vegetarian meals is a lot harder than planning meat-based ones. If I remember correctly from my childhood, my mom merely pulled some hunk of meat, chicken, or fish from the freezer, then went about deciding what potatoes, vegetables, and salad would go best with it. Not me. Instead, I stand in front of the refrigerator letting all the cold air out while I ponder the stack of vegetables therein. Do we need to eat that bunch of kale tonight, or can I get another day out of it before it turns slimy? If I make that okra, will everyone just get up and leave the table without saying a word and head for Pancho Villa? The problem is I just can't seem to find the " center of the plate " item all the other items pair with. I end up with hodgepodge meals that are all over the map, literally: Southern-style greens served with take-out pot stickers and an Italian salad of tomatoes, olive oil, and basil leaves. Some days I can get around this by planning the meal around a pile of rice or pasta, but even non-Atkins devotees will tell you that doing that every day is not, perhaps, as healthy as it seemed to be 10 years ago. (Unless, of course, you're using exclusively brown rice and soy spaghetti, but that's another discussion.) Thank goodness for seitan (or, as the bumper sticker spotted at World Vegetarian Day last week noted, " Praise Seitan " ). Seitan, for the uninitiated, is made from wheat gluten – the protein component of wheat – by a process that gradually washes the starch and bran away until what is left is chewy, dare-I-say-meatlike gluten. The gluten is then boiled in a flavorful stock to become seitan. It's easy enough to make yourself, but who has time? Especially with so many different gluten products out there. Cruise the frozen and refrigerated cases at your local natural food stores and you'll come up with countless items, starting with Now and Zen's famous UnTurkey. Or step into an Asian grocery store and check out the cans and cans of various wheat meats in different sauces. Or order the gluten puff combination appetizer at Chinatown's Lucky Creation. The platter comes with four or five kinds of gluten – curry puffs, sweet and sour puffs, chewy-sweet barbecue pork nuggets, etc. – served room temperature and unadorned on a plate. Sounds weird, tastes great. Seitan and other fake meats make it easier to get dinner on the table without having a nervous breakdown. " Chicken " nuggets on the menu? Serve 'em with mashed potatoes and sautéed broccoli. Can of gluten puff with mushrooms? Fire up the rice cooker and start slicing the stir-fry vegetables. Some vegetarians eschew fake meat, thinking it too reminiscent of actual flesh. Sometimes it can be a bit too real. Who among us hasn't tasted a particularly vivid dish of vegetarian duck at Fountain Court and wondered Did they mix up my order? On the other hand, who could confuse the perfect rectangles of pink-and-white soy product for real bacon? Other, more enlightened (than me) vegetarians ask: With a whole wide world of vegetables, grains, and beans, out there, why dine on ersatz meat? My only answer for that is, Because it's fun. Photorealist paintings, every-detail-corr ect period movies, vegetarian corn dogs – I love all that stuff. Fake meat taken to a high enough realm, say seitan-based chicken-fried " steak " or macaroni and cheese made with Annie's vegan spread and fried tofu dogs, becomes as much performance art as dinner. Ready to worship seitan yet? On one block of Divisadero Street you can enjoy seitan in both upmarket and downmarket guises. All-vegan Herbivore feels very righteous. Fresh juices and smoothies accompany the global menu, which includes pad thai, ravioli, Vietnamese spring rolls, and more to the seitanic point, a vegetarian shawarma wrap. Stuffed with hummus, veggies, hot sauce, tahini, and strips of house-made seitan and served with a big pile of well-dressed organic greens, the shawarma wrap has an addictive flavor and satisfyingly chewy texture. The serene, designer interior and secluded garden seating in the back add to the healthy atmosphere. Twenty steps away lies Jay's Cheesesteak. If you're not too picky about what's just been on the grill, you can enjoy a supersloppy (in a good way) seitan sandwich in several flavors, including pizza, barbecue, and mushroom. Jay's piles on the lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, grilled onions – perfect for those days when you need the heft of a burrito but aren't in the mood for rice and beans. Formica tables, cartoon-influenced art, and a busy counter make Jay's more populist setting a world away from Herbivore's rarified venue. Oddly, branches of both Jay's Cheesesteak and Herbivore face off mere steps from one another on 21st and Valencia Streets as well. Conspiracy ... or coincidence? Herbivore. 531 Divisadero (at Fell), S.F. (415) 885-7133. Mon.-Thurs., 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Fri., 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sat. 9 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sun. 9 a.m.-10 p.m.; 983 Valencia (at 21st St.), S.F. (415) 826-5657. Sun.-Thurs., 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Takeout available. Beer and wine. MasterCard, Visa. Wheelchair accessible. Jay's Cheesesteak. 553 Divisadero (at Fell), S.F. (415) 771-5104. Daily, 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; 3285 21st St. (at Valencia), S.F. Daily, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Takeout available. Beer and wine. Cash only. Wheelchair accessible. E-mail Miriam Wolf at <A HREF= " miriam " >miriam</A>. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 20, 2003 Report Share Posted October 20, 2003 Hi, You may be interested in a UK perspective: I tend to follow the asian vegetarian model of cooking and base most of my meals on the stir fry model or the curry model. This means its all mixed up,together on the plate and just 2 cooking pots. For a large part of the world's population rice is the staple food and eaten with every meal, and I am quite happy with this, I do mostly use long grain brown basmati rice which is very nice, and I use all sorts of dishes to go with it, a large variety of beans, veg and pulses included, ocasionally I will do a pasta dish or I will use cous cous. My partmer, who lives with his very aged father, cooks the traditional " meat and veg " meals " on a regular basis and we usually have a large selection of seasonal veg done in the pressure cooker, with a nut burger on the side. We tend to do the " fake meat " in sandwiches. For breakfast I have cereals or toast and for lunch a smoothie or a sandwich. Dried fruit and nuts for snacks. I hope this gives you some " food for thought " . Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian is a very good book on the subject tho n= ot specifically vegan it has a comprehensive coverage of basic and not so basi= c dishes, the majority are vegan. , EBbrewpunx@c... wrote: > http://www.sfbg.com/38/03/x_meatless.html > Meatless > By <A HREF= " miriam@c... " >Miriam Wolf</A> > > Seitanic rituals > MAYBE I'M JUST complaining, but planning vegetarian meals is a lot harder > than planning meat-based ones. If I remember correctly from my childhood, my mom > merely pulled some hunk of meat, chicken, or fish from the freezer, then went > about deciding what potatoes, vegetables, and salad would go best with it. Not > me. Instead, I stand in front of the refrigerator letting all the cold air > out while I ponder the stack of vegetables therein. Do we need to eat that bunch > of kale tonight, or can I get another day out of it before it turns slimy? If > I make that okra, will everyone just get up and leave the table without > saying a word and head for Pancho Villa? > > The problem is I just can't seem to find the " center of the plate " item all > the other items pair with. I end up with hodgepodge meals that are all over the > map, literally: Southern-style greens served with take-out pot stickers and > an Italian salad of tomatoes, olive oil, and basil leaves. > > Some days I can get around this by planning the meal around a pile of rice or > pasta, but even non-Atkins devotees will tell you that doing that every day > is not, perhaps, as healthy as it seemed to be 10 years ago. (Unless, of > course, you're using exclusively brown rice and soy spaghetti, but that's another > discussion.) > > Thank goodness for seitan (or, as the bumper sticker spotted at World > Vegetarian Day last week noted, " Praise Seitan " ). Seitan, for the uninitiated, is > made from wheat gluten †" the protein component of wheat †" by a process that > gradually washes the starch and bran away until what is left is chewy, > dare-I-say-meatlike gluten. The gluten is then boiled in a flavorful stock to become > seitan. It's easy enough to make yourself, but who has time? Especially with so > many different gluten products out there. Cruise the frozen and refrigerated > cases at your local natural food stores and you'll come up with countless items, > starting with Now and Zen's famous UnTurkey. Or step into an Asian grocery > store and check out the cans and cans of various wheat meats in different sauces. > Or order the gluten puff combination appetizer at Chinatown's Lucky Creation. > The platter comes with four or five kinds of gluten †" curry puffs, sweet and > sour puffs, chewy-sweet barbecue pork nuggets, etc. †" served room temperature > and unadorned on a plate. Sounds weird, tastes great. > > Seitan and other fake meats make it easier to get dinner on the table without > having a nervous breakdown. " Chicken " nuggets on the menu? Serve 'em with > mashed potatoes and sautéed broccoli. Can of gluten puff with mushrooms? Fire up > the rice cooker and start slicing the stir-fry vegetables. > > Some vegetarians eschew fake meat, thinking it too reminiscent of actual > flesh. Sometimes it can be a bit too real. Who among us hasn't tasted a > particularly vivid dish of vegetarian duck at Fountain Court and wondered Did they mix > up my order? On the other hand, who could confuse the perfect rectangles of > pink-and-white soy product for real bacon? > > Other, more enlightened (than me) vegetarians ask: With a whole wide world of > vegetables, grains, and beans, out there, why dine on ersatz meat? My only > answer for that is, Because it's fun. Photorealist paintings, every-detail-corr > ect period movies, vegetarian corn dogs †" I love all that stuff. Fake meat > taken to a high enough realm, say seitan-based chicken-fried " steak " or macaroni > and cheese made with Annie's vegan spread and fried tofu dogs, becomes as much > performance art as dinner. > > Ready to worship seitan yet? On one block of Divisadero Street you can enjoy > seitan in both upmarket and downmarket guises. All-vegan Herbivore feels very > righteous. Fresh juices and smoothies accompany the global menu, which > includes pad thai, ravioli, Vietnamese spring rolls, and more to the seitanic point, > a vegetarian shawarma wrap. Stuffed with hummus, veggies, hot sauce, tahini, > and strips of house-made seitan and served with a big pile of well-dressed > organic greens, the shawarma wrap has an addictive flavor and satisfyingly chewy > texture. The serene, designer interior and secluded garden seating in the back > add to the healthy atmosphere. > > Twenty steps away lies Jay's Cheesesteak. If you're not too picky about > what's just been on the grill, you can enjoy a supersloppy (in a good way) seitan > sandwich in several flavors, including pizza, barbecue, and mushroom. Jay's > piles on the lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, grilled onions †" perfect for those days > when you need the heft of a burrito but aren't in the mood for rice and beans. > Formica tables, cartoon-influenced art, and a busy counter make Jay's more > populist setting a world away from Herbivore's rarified venue. > > Oddly, branches of both Jay's Cheesesteak and Herbivore face off mere steps > from one another on 21st and Valencia Streets as well. Conspiracy .... or > coincidence? > > Herbivore. 531 Divisadero (at Fell), S.F. (415) 885-7133. Mon.-Thurs., 11 > a.m.-10 p.m.; Fri., 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sat. 9 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sun. 9 a.m.-10 p.m.; > 983 Valencia (at 21st St.), S.F. (415) 826-5657. Sun.-Thurs., 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; > Fri.-Sat., 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Takeout available. Beer and wine. MasterCard, Visa. > Wheelchair accessible. > > Jay's Cheesesteak. 553 Divisadero (at Fell), S.F. (415) 771-5104. Daily, 11 > a.m.-11 p.m.; 3285 21st St. (at Valencia), S.F. Daily, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Takeout > available. Beer and wine. Cash only. Wheelchair accessible. > > E-mail Miriam Wolf at <A HREF= " miriam@c... " >miriam@c...</A>. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 21, 2003 Report Share Posted October 21, 2003 That's all well and good if you can get it! The only seitan I've seen in the UK is Mock Duck, which I like heated up with a few bits and pieces (grilled red pepper etc) and served on brown rice. Apart from that I've yet to encounter the stuff. Anyone else found it? sorry..we can get tons o fake meats and seitan here in the colonies.... mock duck comes in cans... you can get seitan in either the refrigerated section, er frozen.... and, i've seen it in a box as well..but..that sorta was like eatin cardboard gum cheers fraggle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 21, 2003 Report Share Posted October 21, 2003 -Hi, Have you looked in your local health food stores? Its in ours here in Newcastle and if yours doesnt stock it they may order it in for you. I think the wholesalers such as SUMA will provide it for them. Alternatively you may be able to get it on line from The Vegan Store. It tastes a bit meaty to me, but is useful for putting in sandwiches, which I do if I am going to be out over lunch time. It is quite dry on its own so I usually put a bit of salad in and some vegan maynnnase or chutney. Its not brilliant so if I was you I wouldn't fret over not having it. I have never seen Mock Duck so I wonder if we are looking in diffeent places! -- In , " vegan_lady_k " <cathryn@u...> wrote: > > That's all well and good if you can get it! The only seitan I've > seen in the UK is Mock Duck, which I like heated up with a few bits > and pieces (grilled red pepper etc) and served on brown rice. Apart > from that I've yet to encounter the stuff. Anyone else found it? > K > > , EBbrewpunx@c... wrote: > > http://www.sfbg.com/38/03/x_meatless.html > > Meatless > > By <A HREF= " miriam@c... " >Miriam Wolf</A> > > > > Seitanic rituals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 21, 2003 Report Share Posted October 21, 2003 In a message dated 10/21/03 8:54:30 AM Pacific Daylight Time, herbvalerian writes: I have never seen Mock Duck so I wonder if we are looking in diffeent places! one brand of mock duck here that is found in asian stores and the like comes in a can, and..well..is molded on one side to resemble skin.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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