France and Thailand

Recently I went on a culinary tour around the world right here in Bangalore. I am lucky in that my job (writer/marketing for the magazine Travel&Shop) allows me to taste a variety of food at different restaurants. Here are my top two recent finds for the month of March.



Oko-a Pan Asian restaurant @ the Lalit Ashok Hotel Dessert-Thai Coconut Creme with Water Chestnuts
It comes in a little cup with spoon. The coconut creme is so smooth and just the right amount of sugar. Unlike milk, it is lighter on your stomach and quite refreshing. Digging up the water chestnuts at the bottom of the cup is a treat. I haven't had proper vegan dessert since New York. Now I know better.







The French Quarter Bistro-100 Foot Road in Indiranagar
Main Course-Ratatouille
Unless you're used to French food, you might get disappointed that this dish is simply veggies tossed in a tomato sauce. But seriously trust me when I say it is delicious. It comes with some bread (tell staff to not put butter on it) which you can tear up and sprinkle on the veggies. I for one, am in love with the marinara style base they use. Originating from Nice, France it has garlic, onions, zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers, basil, and tomatoes. Maybe there were carrots but I really don't remember.

Traveling

I have been traveling for the last few weeks and have thus been unable to update.

I have so many things to say about the city of Hampi and it's food. I really feel Hampi has created it's own food style. It's just the funniest thing in the world because everything is spelled wrong at all of the restaurants. You have restaurants that have *many* cuisines. I mean they're all global restaurants!! You can get "Maxcican" "Italyan" "Chinese" "Midle Eastrn"....you name it. But don't expect your dishes to resemble or taste like what you are used to. A mexican burrito looks more like a round quiche filled with carrots and peas and veggies. That's the whole charm of it though. You never know what you may get.

For vegans I recommend finding out every ingredient in a dish that you order. I ordered a veg sandwich for breakfast and I told them to take out the cheese. I thought I would be safe but much to my disappointment I got a veg sandwich with mayo :(. I never considered it would even have mayo but I should have been more careful.

When in doubt....order a falafel. I had falafel twice in my two day stay. The hummus was DELICIOUS. The falafel balls were once soft and once stale. The salad was fresh. I probably could have eaten it for all my meals. All dishes will be under Rs. 100.

I miss Hampi. I want to go back.

Eating out in India

While eating out in India (Bangalore specifically) I have been so pleasantly surprised at how many vegan options there are. Here are some of my favorites.

Cafe Coffee Day:
Vegan Shake-sometimes made of soy milk and sometimes rice milk. Make sure the uninformed staff does not mistakenly put dairy whipped cream on top. Ask if they have a soy or rice whipped cream.

McDonalds:
McAloo Tikki Burger with no mayo

Boca Grande: (in Koromangla)
Vegan Burger-veggie burger without sauce. I'm just happy the menu actually said vegan. I almost took a picture of it with my camera because I was so surprised.

Little Italy: (in Indiranagar)
Many many options. I can't exactly write down everything without feeling like jumping up in excitement. Although things are not marked vegan, the menu gods have clearly given it thought by offering substitutes for butter with various olive and sage oils and other seasonings. PS-it says "Jain on Request"...amazing!!!

Subway:
All the sandwich creations you can think of. Make sure not to opt for the "Honey Wheat" or "Parmesan Cheese" breads.

Costa Coffee: (I have not actually tried this yet)
Allows you to substitue any of the regular coffee and dairy milk with soya milk.

Barista:
Sugar Donuts and Blueberry Tarte (Yes vegan! according to petaDishoom at least)

Caffe Pascucci:
Bruschetta-ask them not to put butter on the garlic bread
Vegetarian Pasta-without cheese

Fava: (UB City Mall)
Orange Hummus (this is to die for-I really have dreams about this delicious dip)
Vegetable Cous Cous

Take 5:
Boiled Peanuts with onions and tomato appetizer

The Beach:
Vegetarian Manchurian appetizer

Mast Kalandar:
Samosa Chaat
Rajma Chawal-tell them to hold the side of yogurt

Milk-is it worth it?

Dairy cows are the hardest worked of all farmed animals, suffering from excruciating mastitis, lameness, infertility, and exhaustion from being continually impregnated to keep their milk yields flowing. Many of today's dairy cows are already too big for the indoor cubicles they inhabit, finding it difficult to lie down.


"How riveting does the sound of a tortured animal need to be in order for you to want to hear that badly"-Jonathan Safran Foer

Global Warming

Global Warming and reducing your carbon foot print have now become house hold conversations. You will hear tips on driving less, changing your bulbs to CFL, buying eco-friendly detergents, and blah blah blah. Here are two interesting (read: SCARY) facts that explain what you eat for dinner tonight can have a much bigger impact than driving from Bangalore to Goa and back.

• Several of the world’s mightiest rivers no longer reach the sea, and aquifer levels around the world are dropping by dozens, and even hundreds, of feet. Largely responsible is the fivefold increase in worldwide (water-guzzling) meat production that’s taken place over the last half-century. Producing a pound of animal protein requires about 100 times the water needed to produce a pound of vegetable protein. It takes about 1,300 gallons of water to produce a single hamburger. Seventy percent of the fresh water that is taken from the world’s rivers, lakes, and underground wells goes to agriculture, and 43 percent of the world’s grain goes to feed animals for meat.

• The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that 70 percent of the world’s commercial fish stocks are fully exploited, overfished, or collapsed. To supply surging world demand, fishers use rapacious techniques, such as sonar, driftnets, longlines, dredgers, and leviathan fishpacking vessels. In the case of longlining, 4.5 million hooks are launched daily. Now, 90 percent of the coveted top predator fish are gone. Consequently, fishers have moved down the food web to species once considered“trash.” These species, of course, are the food source of the fish that were initially overfished. Amazingly, a third of the world’s harvested fish go to feed livestock or farmed fish. The ocean’s interconnected ecosystem simply cannot keep pace. In 2006, a report published in the journal Science estimated that by 2048 all wild commercial fish stocks would be wiped out.

2 reasons from 101 Reasons Why I'm A Vegetarian

Your Doctor Does Not Know

"Doctors advise milk because of what they have heard from their mothers and grandmothers. Most modern medical curriculums do not teach how to promote health but rather how to deal with disease.

• Ayurveda lists milk as one of the five white poisons, yet many Ayurveds today promote milk and milk products.

• The Jain Shastras consider milk, curds, ghee, and butter “vigais” (foods that do not promote spiritual well being).

• Naturopathy and Natural Hygiene also consider milk as harmful and Modern science has proved this. “Not one of the 1,500 papers listed in the journal “Medicine” that deal with milk points to its goodness — only to the pus, blood, antibiotics, and carcinogens in milk, and the chronic fatigue, anemia, asthma, and auto immune disorders milk consumption causes.”

Taken directly from www.sharan-india.org (An amazing website with a plethora of information)

O really, that has NO animal products?

www.petaDishoom.com (thank GOD for PETA) has listed out the common Indian food in a supermarket near you that has NO meat, NO milk, NO cheese, NO honey, no animal by products. So....no excuses...it's way too easy to be vegan here.

Breads

St Michael’s Whole Wheat Bread
Ovenspick Brown Bread

Jams
All jams, such as those made by Kissan, Mala’s and Sil, should be vegan, but check the label to make sure that a particular jam does not contain either honey or gelatine.

Sweets

Candy
Poppins
Parle mango bites
Kisme Elaichi
Mentos
Foxes sweets
Melody sweets
Dark chocolates (check ingredients: no milk solids, whey or milk)

Biscuits and Cookies
Parle-G: Monaco Plain, Monaco Zabardast Zeera, Jeffs, Sixer
Nimkin Cheeselings and Hide & Seek
McVities digestive
Betty Crocker Bisquik (to bake your own biscuits)
Picwick: chocolate, pineapple and orange

More for That Sweet Tooth
Weikfeild’s custard powder and jelly, chocolate drink and Cremelle Pudding
Haldiram’s Soan Papdi (regular)
Chandu’s Soan Roll & Soan Cake
Hershey’s Syrup: chocolate and strawberry
Chickkers: Peanut Punch, Sesame Surprise and Coconut Crunch

Chips
Kurkure: Masala Munch and Chatpata Chaska
Lays: Bindas Bhel, Golguppa, Classic Salted, Australian Cilantro Surprise,
Magic Masala, Caribbean Style, Spanish Tango and Onion Cream Style
Haldiram’s: Taka-Tak, Paprika Chips, Pudina Treat Chips and Classic Salted Chips

Namkeen
Haldiram: Shahi Mixture, Khatta Meetha, Panchrattan, Moong Dal, Nut Cracker, Kashmiri Mixture, Cornflakes Mixture, Aloo Bhujia, Kaju Mixture, Dal Biji, Bhujia, Navrattan, Chana Jor Garam, Bombay Chana, Hara Chiwda, All in One, Chilli Chatak Lachha, Mint Lachha, Bhelpuri, Plain Bhujia, Long Sev, Kranchy Mixture and Methi Sev

Garden: Tikha Ganthia, Cornflakes mix, Chatpat Bhel & Sev Puri, Garlic Sev and Mint Sev

Popcorn
Act II: Classic Salted and Butter Lovers

Cereal
Kellogg’s: Corn Flakes (mango pulp, strawberry and plain), Wheat Flakes, Fruitloops, Chocos, Frosties and Rice Krispies
Sofit Cereals: Chocolate, Strawberry and Plain
Bagrry’s: Oat Bran, Oat Meal, Oat Wheat Cereal, Crunchy Muesli, Wheat Bran and Fruit & Fibre Muesli

Noodles and Pasta
Maggi Veg Noodles
Maggi Atta Veg Noodles
Top Ramen: Smoodles Veg Curry, Smoodles Veg Masala and Oriental
ITC Pasta Treat Masala

Dressing
Kraft: Creamy Italian, Fat-Free Italian and French

Soups
Knorrs soups: Vegetable Sweet Corn, Chinese Vegetable, Tomato and Hot & Sour Vegetable
Lipton Recipe Soup and Dip Mix: Onion Mushroom, Onion and Vegetable

Frozen and Ready-to-Eat
Al-Kabeer frozen foods: Veg Spring Roll, Veg Burger, French Fries and Veg Samosas
Aashirvaad packed foods: Yellow Dal Tadka, Pav Bhaji, Pindi Channa and Rajma Masala

Drinks
Godrej Sofit Soya Milk: Malt, Apple, Mango and Natural
Silk Soya: Plain, Vanilla and Chocolate
Drinho Soya Milk
Steata Soya Milk: Chocolate, Kesar Pista, Malt, Original and Natural
Haldiram’s: Rose, Thandai, Khus, Badam, Pineapple and Orange
Nestlé Nesquik Syrup: Chocolate, Strawberry and Very Vanilla
Mapro: Pineapple, Strawberry, Litchi and Mango Crush
Squashes: Linbu Timbu, Khus, Lemon ginger, Pinacolada, Khus and Santra Mantra
Kissan Squashes: Grape, Pineapple, Mango, Lime and Orange

Real Juices
Most juices are vegan: orange juice, mango nectar, mixed fruit juices, pineapple juice, grape juice, tomato juice, guava nectar, litchi nectar and cranberry nectar
Coolers: Aampanna, Watermelon, Pomegranate and Jamoon
All Tropicana Juices
All Godrej Xs Juices