Hold the Sour Cream

Island Cuisine

2011-02-10T06:27:00.000-08:00

For its size, Tampa is pretty full of vegetarian/vegan restaurants. We have Grass Root, a vegan/raw restaurant in Tampa Heights (and also more recently in South Tampa), Udipi in Carrollwood, The Loving Hut, a quirky vegan-only restaurant that spreads the word of its founder, the Supreme Master Ching Hai (much more on that later!), and many other vegetarian/vegan-friendly restaurants, too. These restaurants are easily found on any Google search of "vegetarian Tampa" and are conveniently located on major streets like Florida Avenue or Dale Mabry Hwy.

But one of my favorite takeout spots is a little vegan gem hidden in the back of a strip mall between a Ross and a Payless shoe store. It's called "Island Cuisine" and serves Caribbean-style food out of a modest kitchen and buffet cart.

With "JERK CHICKEN" and "JAMAICAN BEEF PATTIES" written on the windows and glass doors, you'd never guess that this place serves some of the best vegan food in town.
Here's a picture of the counter where you order your AMAZING food. You can also get a 2-liter of Faygo if you nasty.

The owners are actually vegetarian. I got to talking with one woman who said that she'd like to serve vegetarian food only but she would lose too much business. She tries to keep it as veg-friendly as possible, though, so all the side dishes are completely vegan and along with a list of different meat and chicken dishes, the menu features items like tofu, seitan and even "tofu fish bites." She told me that some people order collard greens and ask, "Why isn't there any meat in these greens?" Shaking her head and smirking she said it was something else that most people can't even eat meat-free vegetables.

The last time Melissa and went to Island Cuisine we ordered a mix of jerk tofu and spicy seitan with bow tie pasta. All the dinners come with two sides so we got red beans with rice and collard greens. We also got a side of plantains because I have never left a restaurant that serves plantains without them.
Although there are some tables outside to eat on, we always take our food home. There's something about a view of the Ross parking lot that doesn't do much for the appetite.

Before finding Island Cuisine, I assumed that Jerk food and especially greens from Jamaican restaurants (almost always cooked with chunks of meat) was a thing of the past. Not so!

They know how to cook a meal. The saltiness of the greens brought out the spicy-sweet marinade on the tofu and the beans and rice were perfectly seasoned. I'm always completely stuffed after eating only half of this meal, as it's FULL of protein and fiber.

Hands down one of the best vegan takeout places in Tampa.

TAMPA FLORIDA Y'ALL

2011-01-11T08:03:00.000-08:00

It's alive!

To be honest, I considered discontinuing this blog and letting it take up space on the Internet as a remembrance of my seven months in Ukraine. I recently realized, however, that my vegan take on regional cuisine is still very relevant as I settle back into life in the United States. After months of inactivity, I've decided to breathe new life into this old thing.

First, a little update on my life as of August. After a week in New York City visiting friends (and allowing my ears to adjust to the cacophony of English conversation all around me), I moved back to my hometown of Tampa, Florida, where I now live with my girlfriend Melissa. We recently found a cute apartment in Seminole Heights, an historic district full of 1920s bungalows and river parks. After many years of neglect, the area is experiencing a resurgence of independent restaurants, bars, and shops. Seminole heights also boasts a community garden which supplies produce to local restaurants and a monthly Sunday morning market (soon to be the subject of future posts).

Since I now call Tampa my home, this city on the water and its food will be the main focus of this blog for the time being. In order to talk about Tampa's unique local cuisine I should first give a little background about the history of the area. The city was officially organized under Florida legislature on July, 15 1887 (exactly 100 years before I was born!). During that time, the city experienced a boom in industry following Vincente Martinez Ybor moving his cigar manufacturing company to Tampa from Key West. As a result of this growing industry, a huge number of Cuban and Spanish cigar workers immigrated to the district now known as Ybor City, just east of downtown Tampa. These immigrants brought their native cuisine with them, a Latin and Caribbean flavor that heavily influences local Tampa fare to this day.

The city grew considerably after WWII and the construction of MacDill Air Force Base. In 1956, the University of South Florida was established north of downtown and suburban areas in North Tampa began developing. Nowadays, downtown Tampa and Ybor City are no longer the centers of commerce and culture they once were at the beginning of the 20th century. In the last fifty years, most of the businesses in Tampa have moved from the center of town to suburban shopping plazas and office parks that cover the county in all directions.

Though this suburban sprawl presents its fair share of problems, the current set-up of the city has allowed various neighborhoods and suburbs to take on their own regional feel and flavor. In under half an hour I can drive from my parents' house in Carrollwood to my grandparents' house in the South Tampa neighborhood of Sunset Park and pass through no less than ten neighborhoods with their own distinct feel and flavor. In this blog I will explore the cuisine of these neighborhoods, searching for hidden vegan gems or customizing recipes to make them vegan friendly while still preserving the integrity of these dishes. I'll include a true Tampa spread, from the fried yuca at West Tampa's La Teresita to monthly Vietnamese vegan buffets at Trang near USF.

I see blogging about my vegan journey in Tampa as a perfect continuation of my life in Eastern Europe. Like the city of Odessa, Ukraine, where I lived and blogged for seven months, Tampa, as a major port city, draws its cuisine from all over the world. Where Odessan food is influenced by Greek, Jewish, French, Russian and Georgian culture, Tampa draws its flavors from its neighbors Cuba and Mexico, as well as from more recent influxes of immigrants from as far away as Vietnam, India, Ethiopia and Lebanon.

As a third generation Tampanian (or as my Uncle Michael would call it, a full-blooded Tampon, yikes), some of my favorite meals growing up were fried plantains (or platanos maduros), black bean soup and freshly pressed Cuban sandwiches. I still eat beans and plantains on a regular basis, as these foods call for fresh and basic animal-free ingredients, but for those of you who know what goes into an authentic sandwich Cubano (a combination of ham, pork, salami and Swiss cheese that would make even the most secular Jews among us blush), I'm sure you aren't surprised that I had to take this item off my menu...

A rabbi's worst nightmare

That is, until last week!

That's right! Last Saturday I woke up with one goal in mind: build an authentic vegan Cuban sandwich. It took three damn hours, but i did it!

Note the red face: three hours in a kitchen in Florida with no a/c.

So how did I do it? Well, It had actually never crossed my mind to make a vegan Cuban. I just assumed that, like Snickers bars and turkey legs, Cuban sandwiches were a thing of the past, its flavor fading like an old photograph on the tip of my tongue. All that changed the day I ordered ¡Viva Vegan! from amazon.com on a whim. Flipping through this glorious cookbook (my new fave), I stumbled upon a vegan Cuban sandwich recipe and FLIPPED out. I made some the very next day. Here's how:

Most of the three hours were spent making mojo seitan (in place of the pork on a Cuban) from scratch. For all those unfamiliar, seitan is a protein-packed meat substitute made from vital wheat gluten and chickpea flour. Unlike tofu and tempeh, seitan stretches and shreds just like chicken or pork and holds up to boiling, baking or mixed with veggies for a hearty stir-fry. For this particular sandwich, Terry Hope Romero of ¡Viva Vegan! gives this recipe:

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups cold vegetable broth
4 cloves garlic, grated
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten flour
1/4 cup chickpea (garbanzo) flour
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt, or more to taste

In a measuring cup, whisk together all the wet ingredients and set aside. In a large mixing bowl (or wok, if you just paid the rent and spent the last of your money on vital wheat gluten), combine dry ingredients and slowly mix in wet ingredients. Once everything is combined well, knead for 2-3 minutes then let rest for 10 minutes. Knead for 30 more seconds then place mixture on a cutting board and cut into 4 loaves.

Wrap each loaf in a 12" square of aluminum foil and steam for 30 minutes.

Unwrap and let each loaf cool in the fridge for about an hour to seal the deal.

While the seitan is cooling off, you can get the mojo ready. In an 11" x 9" Pyrex baking dish, whisk together 1 cup of sour orange juice (or 2/3 cup oj and 1/3 cup lemon juice) , 6-8 garlic cloves (chopped), 1/3 cup olive oil, 1/2 tsp cumin and salt & pepper to taste. Take two of the seitan loaves from the fridge (and save the other for more recipes like stir-fry!) and slice them into 1/4 inch slices. Line the baking dish with the seitan, making sure to cover each piece with mojo before baking at 375 for 15-17 minutes.

Flip seitan periodically to prevent burning. Mojo sauce should be mostly evaporated and seitan should be sizzling but MOIST! Do not overcook or seitan will be gummy as hell.

To assemble sandwich, start with an 8" piece of (lard-free!) Cuban bread and slice down the middle. If no Cuban bread is available, a hoagie roll or large baguette works in a pinch.

Or if you're lucky like me, walk half a block to your neighborhood Cuban bakery!

Layer mustard, pickles, packaged vegan ham slices, seitan, tomatoes if you want, and vegan cheese (I use Daiya here).

Close sandwich and put Earth Balance spread (or similar) on the outsides of the bread halves. If you don't have a sandwich press (who does?) you can place the sandwich on a large frying pan at low/medium heat and press down with another pan or a brick covered in tin foil for three minutes on each side.

yyyyuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Cut the sandwich into two triangle-shaped halves and EAT!

It had been so long since my last Cuban that I experienced temporary bliss, like running through a cool water fountain on a hot summer afternoon before realizing you don't have a change of clothes.

This sandwich inspired the continuation of this blog, so stay tuned for the next installment of Tampa flavor, vegan style.

Last day in Odessa

2010-07-16T13:37:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I leave Odessa TOMORROW at 7 pm. Although I could have written quite a bit more on vegan living in Odessa, or Ukraine more generally, I am satisfied with the direction this blog has taken.

I'm actually not finished with Eastern Europe! It's true that I leave Odessa tomorrow, but before heading back to Florida, I'll be in Lviv for a few days, then Budapest and then Prague (then NYC!).

I did a little visual of all the places I've been/will be since January.

That's Odessa, Kiev, Kharkov, Krakow (Poland), Lviv, Simferopol, Yalta, Sevestopol, Balaklava, Bakchisaray, Budapest (Hungary), & Prague (Czech Republic). Not a bad run!

As far as the future of this blog goes, don't worry! I ain't through yet. I intend to continue blogging about all my food experiences/mishaps as I continue to navigate this omnivorous world. After I get back stateside, I plan on moving to Tampa (my hometown), which boasts a rapidly growing vegan and vegan-friendly community. I actually just submitted my tofu scramble breakfast burrito recipe to a vegan taco/burrito recipe contest run by the (AMAZING) Taco Bus.

The future looks promising, but I will always miss my home away from home on the Black Sea. Ukraine, you've taught me more about myself and the world than I ever expected, and you kept me well fed all the while.

For this, I thank you.

SaM.

Privoz

2010-06-16T07:53:00.000-07:00

There's an old song about Odessa that says without two things the city wouldn't be the same: the sea and legendary open-air market "Privoz." Taking up multiple city blocks, this market is indisputably the most "colorful" in the Former Soviet Union, and in my experience pretty unique as far as European markets go. Under the large tents and makeshift roofs overhead, you can buy anything from tomatoes to underwear, from hand-woven baskets to herbal remedies for any ailment.

I like to buy my vegetables at Privoz, where they are much fresher and local as compared to their supermarket counterparts. Even though produce such as red apples and bananas aren't without their imperfections, I'd take sweet, delicious food over plastic-looking waxy food any day.

There are also wonderful varieties of pickled vegetables and salads. At most stands, babushkas sell barrels full of pickled cabbage and encourage passers-by to dig their hands right in and take a taste!

This woman below sells her pickled vegetables and salads out of a refrigerated glass case. She even uses GLOVES to serve customers! She might be the only one. Even meats and cheeses aren't sold refrigerated at Privoz, but more on that later...

Summer months mean endless bags of fresh veggies!

At this stand, you walk up to the man selling spices and tell him what you plan to cook. For example, "I need a good spice for soup," or "I'm frying potatoes." He then makes you a special, hand-picked blend of spices ready to use! I just bought the "all-spice" box pictured below and sprinkle it over grilled veggies and rice.

The guys that sell dried fruits are pretty annoying. If the dates and apricots weren't so good I'd stay away from this aisle.

You can also buy freshly shelled nuts by the kilo. Pictured here are crisp walnuts.

You can even buy condoms and racy calendars at Privoz! Sold, of course, by your friendly neighborhood babushka.

In this last part of my post, regarding meat, I will let the pictures speak for themselves. I usually try to avoid this area of the market but I thought it important to document meat packing practices. I hope this helps clarify one of the reasons why I gave up an animal dependent diet. Note that no refrigeration is used in these pictures. I wish I could have captured the smells and sight of blood all over the floor in these photos. Also, if you think meat packing industries in the USA are more humane/cleaner/better for you, think again. The only difference is that back home, we buy meat neatly drained of blood and sealed in plastic and styrofoam (having been soaked in chlorinated water and bleached beforehand, that is).

SaM.

Long time, no post!

2010-06-06T10:15:00.000-07:00

Well, it certainly has been a little while since my last post. I just wanted to make it clear that I haven't given up on this blog! It's just been a pretty busy week, what with my father visiting and teaching more often than usual. I'm working on a post about Privos, Odessa's biggest open air market, which should be on here by the end of the week.

In other news, I just bought my plane ticket back to the US and I'll be flying out in August. Things should get interesting then...

-sigh-

SaM.

Georgia on my mind...

2010-05-09T04:51:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since my last post, but Melissa and I just got back from our vacation in Kharkov a little while ago (which will be the subject of my next post!) and I've been teaching long hours ever since. Now that it's Sunday and I can finally relax a bit, I thought I'd post on one of my favorite vegan stand-by options in Odessa (and all over Ukraine, for that matter): Georgian food!

No, I do not mean fried chicken a la Paula Dean. I mean the cuisine of Georgia, that mountainous country on the Black Sea between Russia and Turkey, where they speak საქართველო.

I had never seen a Georgian restaurant in the United States (and am pretty sure there are none in Florida), but here in Ukraine, there are many places which feature Georgian cuisine. Think of it as their version of Chinese or Italian food. Although Georgian food is best known for its "exotic" choices of meat (including horse), and "hatchipuri" (bread covered in cheese with a fried egg in the center), there are plenty of delicious vegan appetizers available at every Georgian restaurant in Odessa.
One of my favorite Georgian places is "Chito-Grito" which gets its name from a famous Georgian song. It's located less than five minutes from our apartment, on the corner of Daribosovskaya and Preobrajenskaya in "Passage," a pre-USSR hotel/shopping plaza.

Here's a picture of Passage and Melissa sitting in the "outdoor" seating area of Chito-Grito.

There I am sitting at a table made to look like a carriage. And, yes, there's a painting of hatchipuri behind me. And a wooden bird. But check out those tulips! Spring!

So here's the spread: ispanakhi, krasnoye lobio, adjabsandali, two loaves of warm lavash (Georgian bread) and black tea with bergamot.

Here's a closeup of the ispanakhi. It's basically a spinach puree made with onions and walnuts, topped with pomegranate seeds.

Krasnoye lobio, or "red bean" in Russian, is a dish made with stewed red beans, onions, walnuts, and various Georgian spices, also topped with pomegranate seeds.

One of my favorite dishes is adjabsandali, a cold appetizer of eggplant, sweet pepper, mushroom, and onion. It tastes amazing inside a piece of warm lavash.

Although I could easily eat this delicious food every day, it is a bit pricey and is best enjoyed on special occasions.

Tonight we're defrosting the fridge because a MONSTER ice block has formed over the freezer and it won't close. As a result, we have to eat what was in the fridge so it won't spoil. On tonight's menu: Vereniki (dumplings) filled with cabbage and potatoes, chickpeas, and oven fries with ketchup. It's like being in college all over again.

SaM.

Birch Juice Season Has Arrived!

2010-04-23T11:03:00.000-07:00

Spring is finally moving into Odessa and the rest of the country, and we all know what that means: birch juice season? Yes, available in most supermarkets now is the juice from Betula pendula, the white birch tree, or берёза (beroza) in Russian/Ukrainian.

After reading all about the practice of extracting and drinking birch juice in Ukraine (as documented by The Pickle Project), I decided to give it a try. I went to my local market and found a glass bottle of birch juice on the bottom shelf of the nectar/juice aisle. I know that this store-bought version is nothing like fresh juice from the forest, but oh well that's what I get for living in a big city. After buying the juice, I quickly brought it home and let it cool in the fridge for a few hours before pouring myself a nice, tall glass. The taste is basically like a woody, watered down maple syrup. Because the juice spoils quickly, the supermarket version I bought was pasteurized and pretty heavily sweetened, killing what I imagine to be the juice's naturally subtle taste. Trying this store-bought variety just made me want to get on a marshrutka headed north and drink a glass straight from the source.

And on a somewhat related note--Apparently in Belarus there's a company that puts out birch vodka.

Well!

SaM.

1001 Uses for Chickpeas: Part I

2010-04-19T06:57:00.000-07:00

I went to Privos market the other day and bought a kilo of dried chickpeas. If you haven't been enlightened by the presence of chickpeas in your life, I think you are missing a vital part of existence. I am here to spread the chickpea gospel.

The chickpea (aka "garbanzo bean") is among one of the most protein-rich foods out there and was perhaps the earliest cultivated vegetable, as 7500 year-old remains of chickpea cultivation have been found in the Middle East. One cup of chickpeas contains about 269 calories and 14 grams of protein. It's also a great source of iron, potassium, zinc, and calcium. Not too shabby, little pea.

In Israel, this thing was everywhere. I ate hummus (a mix of chickpeas and tahina), chickpea soup, chick pea sauce on spaghetti (I'm serious), falafel (a mash of chickpeas, deep fried), and just about every other form imaginable. When I first arrived in Ukraine, I thought I would have to give up chickpeas cold turkey, as I didn't find any trace of them, canned or dried, in any supermarket.

Then, one day I went to Privos market, an amazing outdoor food and product bazaar that deserves its own post. At one stand, near the pickle section, I found a man selling kilo-bags of dried chickpeas, or наот (naot) in Russian. Last night I decided to get a little brave and test out a new recipe: Chana masala, a popular Indian recipe for cooking chickpeas.

Chana masala spice is a mixture of coriander seeds, salt, dried mango, pomegranate seeds, red chili, cumin, black pepper, cloves, mint, nutmeg, ginger, cassia, cardamom, and... mace.
Pre-packaged boxes of this spice mix can be found in Indian food markets if you don't just happen to have mace lying around. I found a box of the spices in Krakow and brought it back with me, but I think the recipe would taste just as good with some fresh ginger, cumin, nutmeg, clove, salt and pepper: spices that are all easily found in any supermarket.

This is the recipe that I followed:

Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
2 cups dried chickpeas or 2 small cans of chickpeas
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/4 head cauliflower, chopped
1 tablespoon chana masala spice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1/2 liter of water

Soak two cups of dried chickpeas overnight (or use two small cans of chickpeas and skip this step). In a large pot heat two tablespoons of cooking oil (I used sesame oil) and fry the onion until translucent. Then add the tomatoes, cauliflower, chickpeas, salt and spices and stir for five minutes. Add 1/2 liter of water and baking soda, bring to a boil and cover.

(Sorry about the quality of these photos... a light bulb blew out in our kitchen and it was pretty dark so I had to use *flash* which I try to not to use when taking food photos)

Simmer on low heat for 40 minutes until all the water evaporates.
Serves four or two very hungry people... especially tasty paired with rice or a crusty baguette.

It came out a little spicier than I expected (it even fogged up the entire apartment!), but it was still very tasty.

Next time I'll try to cut back on the mace.

SaM.

Cheap Eats

2010-04-18T12:52:00.000-07:00

Living on a, let's say, "modest" teacher's wage and part of a US government research stipend *cough cough* -- I'm always appreciative of inexpensive ways to eat quality food. Though Ukrainian prices are usually more forgiving than American prices, living anywhere isn't cheap and it's always nice to get a break every once in a while.

That's why I thought I'd post on perhaps the most amazing lunch I've ever purchased under $6. In Florida, the only quick, vegan "meal" I could've expected to buy for six bucks would have been a bag of pretzels, an apple and maybe a fountain soda. Today, however, my $6 (or about 50 gryvnas) stretched a little bit farther. Here's a picture of a delicious $6 lunch for two:

That's two large salads to-go from Tavria B, a local supermarket chain (I still haven't figured out if there's a Tavria A), 6 apples, a baguette from our local French bakery (or "backery" as the sign says), and a 2-liter bottle of water, без газа (without gas).

The only unfortunate thing about this meal was that it was entirely wrapped in plastic.
But that's a topic for an entirely different post.

SaM.

Snacks!

2010-04-18T12:08:00.000-07:00

With my sporadic teaching schedule, I can't always plan on eating at the same time every day. Sometimes I rush out the door without eating breakfast and other times I'm too far away from the apartment to make lunch and I don't want to go out to a restaurant. This is why snacks come in handy to keep me going throughout the day.

Unfortunately, most Ukrainian snack food (pastries, mini-sandwiches, dried fish, sour cream/caviar flavored chips) is off limits for me. Luckily, seeds of all kinds are very popular here, especially sunflower seeds, as well as nuts, and are both available at kiosks and mini-markets all over the city. Perhaps this has to do with the fact that these salty foods go so well with beer, a favorite Ukrainian "soft drink."

I have a few favorite snacks in my rotation that keep me energized all day.
First, there's dark chocolate and oranges. Fortunately, I found an amazing 60% dark chocolate that's 100% vegan. Melissa introduced me to pairing chocolate with oranges/orange juice and now I'm hooked. Also, peeling and eating oranges reminds me of lazy afternoons spent sitting on the porch of my father's house in Tampa, eating naval oranges straight from the tree. This thought always puts a smile on my face.

Another great combination is strawberries and... Well, I'm not sure what these are, but they taste like bagel chips and are available absolutely everywhere. In Odessa, there are special bread kiosks that sell loaves of fresh black bread, pastries, as well as these bagel-shaped snacks that are not only vegan but certified kosher parve! The salty/starchiness pairs very well with the sweet, tart berries.

For less of a sugar rush, I reach for my tried and true favorite snack: hummus and cucumbers, or any other vegetable for that matter. I'll be honest, I wasn't able to find hummus for my first two or so months in Odessa, which was pretty difficult to handle after five months at Ein Gev. Living in Israel had basically taught me that hummus belongs in its own food group and I was going through some serious withdrawal. Fortunately I found a falafel stand that sells huge containers of hummus for only 13 gryvnas (that's about $1.75). Cucumbers are and have always been plentiful in Ukraine, so that wasn't a problem.

Last but not least, I can't get enough of apples and peanut butter. OK, this snack is kind of cheating, because I didn't buy the peanut butter in Odessa, I bought it in Poland. Unfortunately, they don't sell peanut butter in Ukraine, as far as I know. I did find one jar of imported peanut butter at a gourmet grocery store near my school, but it had long expired. No matter, Melissa and I bought enough peanut butter during our trip to Krakow to last us until the next trip!

Happy snacking!

SaM.

МЯСА НЕТ!!!

2010-04-14T02:04:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to share something ridiculous (amazing?) that I found at a souvenir market the other day. First, though, I must explain one thing.

In Ukraine, all different sorts of astrology are very popular, particularly the Chinese Zodiac. Some of you may know that this year is the Chinese Year of the Tiger. Living in Odessa, it's difficult not to be reminded of this fact, as there are representations/images of tigers everywhere. There are tiger displays in the supermarket, stuffed animal tigers in every toy store, tiger calendars, tiger key chains. I have even seen dogs dressed in tiger-print track suits walking around Shevchenko Park.

Most notably, Yulia Tymoshenko, the Presidential candidate who was defeated in the last elections a few months ago, was presented with an albino tiger cub named "Tigriulia" in August, 2009. Accepting this gift, she said,

2010 is the Year of the Tiger so this gift is a talisman for the next year and I am dreaming to take it somewhere to political negotiations, especially when it grows a bit. I am convinced the Year of Tiger will be successful for Ukraine and for everyone of us.

Since the Year of the Tiger is so popular, all the souvenir markets and booths are full of tiger-themed memorabilia. I'm a pretty big fan of kitschy novelty items and had been looking for a tiger-themed souvenir for some time.

Then the other day I came upon this:

The first magnet says, There isn't any meat!!
The second says (basically), What about Kompot?

So now I have a magnet that represents the Year of the Tiger, includes a reference to an Eastern European fruit drink, and can also be read as pulling for a meat-free lifestyle.

YES!

SaM.

My kind of medicine!

2010-04-06T04:05:00.000-07:00

So I'm sick in bed with the flu. Or at least I think it's the flu... Whatever it is, it's miserable and I've lost my voice completely.

Whenever I used to get sick as a child, my mother would whip up some good ol' Jewish penicillin: chicken soup. Yesterday, I made my own vegan version, which was just as effective! Fortunately, I had just gone out to Privos, the big, outdoor market in Odessa, and purchased plenty of vegetables.

Here's the recipe Iused...

Ingredients

1/2 head of cauliflower, chopped
3 medium white potatoes, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium parsnips, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup parsley
1 tsp olive oil
1 cube vegan bullion
1 teaspoon celery flakes, (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Chop all of the vegetables and put them in a large pot. Add enough water until the vegetables are just covered. Add the bullion and olive oil.

Boil the vegetables until the potatoes and cauliflower are soft (about 20 mins)

Turn off the heat. Add salt, pepper, and parsley.

Serve with a baguette and soy margarine... Or, better yet, a large salad.

YUMMMMMMM

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 30 mins

The salad I made was basically just diced veggies (cauliflower, tomato, onion, cucumber), romaine lettuce and a couple carrot-stuffed cabbage rolls that I bought at Privos. I drizzled it with a simple oil/balsamic vinegar dressing.

If all those vitamins don't kick this bug then I don't know what will! Well... maybe penicillin, but I'm not even gonna go there.

SaM.

LENT!

2010-04-02T06:05:00.000-07:00

Lent ends tomorrow and I'm devastated.

I know, you're probably thinking: What's a nice, Jewish girl worrying about Lent for? Well, I'll tell you. According to Russian Orthodox tradition, Lent means giving up all animal products and basically adopting vegan diet for almost two months out of the year. So what does that have to do with me? Well, since many Ukrainians keep Lent, and many restaurants don't want to exclude much of their customer base during these strict fasts, a good number of these restaurants offer "Lent menus" in the weeks leading up to Easter. These special menus offer 100% vegan food! That means no asking servers if dishes are cooked with butter, no walking out of restaurants after realizing that the only vegan option they have is french fries, and best of all, no special ordering meals, a practice that is sometimes frowned upon in this part of the world.

Though some restaurants offer a pretty limited Lent menu, with a few dishes and maybe a soup or salad, most restaurants really step up and get creative with their vegan dishes. Since lent ends this weekend, I thought I'd make a post all about the best Lent dishes that I've ordered over the past month and a half.

I'll start of with one of the fanciest dinners I ate during the Lent season. A few weeks ago, Melissa, our friend Dave and I went out for dinner at this restaurant called Three Bulgarians on Ekatarinskaya. They offer a mix of Italian, Greek, and Ukrainian cuisines. Their lent menu was pretty extensive and included soup, salad, full entree, and dessert options.

I ordered a Greek salad with tofu "feta cheese" and fresh vegetables...

and the most amazing lasagna layered with spinach and tofu, topped with homemade tomato sauce.

Another one of my favorite places to eat, Kompot on Daribosovskaya, also offered a great variety of vegan options on their lent menu. This soviet-kitsch themed restaurant offers home-style Russian/Ukrainian dishes just like babushka used to make.

Doesn't it look just like a Russian grandmother's kitchen? Notice the large jars sitting on the table? The one on the far right is full of sour cream. Oh well, not everyone keeps Lent! Luckily when I order off the lent menu, servers know to "hold the sour cream."

Here's a vinaigrette, my favorite salad at Kompot. A vinaigrette includes diced beets, carrots, potatoes, pickles and onions. Delish!

Here are some potato pancakes stuffed with grilled mushrooms and a side of boiled cabbage. It doesn't look like much, but it sure is tasty.

Kompot is named after the signature Central and Eastern European drink, kompot, which is most often made of dried or fresh fruit (cherries, strawberries, apricots, etc.) boiled in water with sugar and left to cool and infuse

The best part about kompot is that you can eat the marinated fruit afterward.

So what was my favorite lent food that I've come across? Vegan strudel. Although I do enjoy baking cookies, I've never been much of a dessert person. This dish changed my mind. In Gorsad, or City Park, there's a cozy little cafe with great coffee and a warm atmosphere. Though their Lent menu wasn't too impressive, offering some potato dishes and vereniki, or ravioli-style stuffed pasta pockets, they boasted some amazing dessert options.
Pictured here are their warm strudels, apple and cherry, topped with a raspberry glaze and powdered sugar. Seriously.

Look at these happy faces!

Warm apple strudel and cafe americano? I can deal with that.

Unfortunately, not every restaurant in Odessa embraces the Lenten season. Here's a statue of a cow painted like cuts of meat in front of Steakhaus, one of Odessa's most well known steak restaurants...
And, yes, that is a picture of a flower with meat-petals. Sick!
Apparently March is meat month for Steakhaus.

On a less disturbing note, the one Lent offering that I will probably miss the most is not a fancy lasagna, nor is it a warm dessert or even a fresh spring salad.

Its a roll.

Offered in a local supermarket just down the street, these vegan rolls are stuffed with either cabbage and onion or mashed potatoes. At about 30 cents a piece, these rolls have been great, fast options for breakfast and midday snacks.

Little Lenten rolls, you will be missed.

SaM.

What makes this night different from all other nights?

2010-03-31T01:18:00.000-07:00

Two nights ago I had my first Ukrainian seder. Seder, meaning "order" in Hebrew, is the ritual Passover meal held on the first two nights of the holiday. During a seder, we retell the Exodus story of the Jews leaving Egypt, eat traditional Passover food, drink four cups of wine (or in Ukraine, a minimum of four; no maximum), and sing songs in Hebrew, Aramaic, and in the case of this year's seder, Russian as well.

So what about that traditional Passover food? I've been doing a lot of thinking lately regarding my place as vegan in a ritual meal where much of the important, symbolic foods are, not surprisingly, made of animal products. Before going any further, let me break down the foods than can traditionally be found on a seder plate:

We have, moving clockwise from the top, khazeret, or Romaine lettuce; z'roa, or a roasted lamb shank, symbolizing the korban pesach, or Passover sacrifice at the Holy Temple in Jerusalem; charoset, or fruit and nut paste, which symbolizes the morter that the Hebrew slaves used to build Egyptian storehouses; marror, or bitter herbs, symbolizing the bitterness of slavery under the Egyptians; karpas, or leafy green (usually parsley), that we dip into salt water, symbolizing the tears of the Hebrew slaves; and lastly, beitza, or an egg, symbolizing korban chagiga, or festival sacrifice at the Temple on Passover. In some vegetarian Haggadot (guides to the ritual meal), such as The Liberated Lamb, a beet replaces the shank bone. Some Jews also include an orange on their seder plate, a ritual startedby feminist scholar Susannah Heschel. The exact origin of this ritual is debated. Some claim that the ritual began when, during one of Heschel's lecures in Miami, an elderly Rabbi stood up and said that a woman belongs on the bimah just as an orange belongs on the seder plate. To others, the orange on the seder plate simply represents the fullness and fruitfulness of Judaism once all marginalized peoples are included, particularly queer Jews.

As a guest, I was unable to "customize" my own seder plate this year, and had to simply remove the egg and bone (or a chicken leg, in this case) from my plate. Taking these symbolic items from my plate at this sacred meal was much different than ordering pizza without cheese at a restaurant or telling a server to "hold the sour cream." When I chose not to partake of the egg or meat on the seder plate, I wasn't just making a decision as a person who eats alone, but distinguishing myself from those around me. Meals and ritual, table fellowship and familial bonds are part of every recorded human history. To give up these foods is to give up more than just their taste and goes well beyond the crude, fleeting feeling of pleasure on the palate. So how do I justify giving up meat and animal products during a ritual meal in which those foods play a central role?

I just recently finished reading Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals, in which he discusses at length what it means for him to adopt a meat-free lifestyle when most of his family memories revolve around meat-based meals:

Some of my fondest memories are of weekly sushi dinners with my best friend, and eating my dad's turkey burgers with mustard and grilled onion at backyard celebrations, and tasting the salty gefilte fish at my grandmother's house every Passover. These occasions simply aren't the same without those foods--and that matters... Changing what we eat and letting tastes fade from memory create a kind of cultural loss, a forgetting. But perhaps this kind of forgetfulness is worth accepting--even worth cultivating. To remember animals and my concern for their well-being, I may need to lose certain tastes and find other handles for the memories that they once helped me carry. Remembering and forgetting are part of the same mental process. To write down one detail of an event is to not write down another (unless you keep writing forever). To remember one thing is to let another slip from remembrance. There is ethical as well as violent forgetting. We can't hold on to everything we've known so far. So the question is not whether we forget but what, or whom we forget--not whether our diets change, but how. Recently my friend and I started eating veggie sushi and going to the Italian restaurant next door. Instead of the turkey burgers my dad grilled, my children will remember me burning veggie burgers in the backyard. At our last Passover, gefilte fish held a less central place, but we did tell stories of the Exodus--that grandest of stories about the weak prevailing over the strong in the most unexpected of ways--new stories of the weak and strong were added. The point of eating those special foods with those special people at those special times was that we were being deliberate, separating those meals out from the others. Adding another layer of deliberateness has been enriching. I'm all for compromising tradition for a good cause, but perhaps in these situations tradition wasn't compromised so much as fulfilled.

Sitting at my place in the seder meal, talking about the weak Hebrew slaves somehow triumphing over the strong, Egyptian civilization, I couldn't help but look down at the plate of chicken and eggs and remember that many living creatures, humans and animals alike, are still living in slavery. How could I eat an animal who was killed so that I may remember the bonds of slavery to which the Hebrew people were subjected under the Egyptians? At this year's seder, my first vegan seder, I chose not to let one form of exploitation and slavery help me to remember another.

So what did I eat this Passover?

Here is a picture of the basic plate setting that each person was served: a chicken leg, an egg, a boiled potato, carrot, horseradish, onion, parsley, charoset and of course, lots of matzo.

Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of my full plate, sans chicken and egg, but I was able to keep the other items, as they were all vegan, as well as add some boiled cabbage and even some PICKLES, my favorite snack. :)

For such a small congregation, the place was packed!

Two rabbinical students from Hebrew Union College in the US visited and helped run the seder. During their year-long study abroad in Israel, HUC students can also visit congregations in the former Soviet Union and take part in the Passover meal. They were really nice guys, and it was nice to meet some other fellow Americans on such a celebratory holiday.

But BEWARE! In Ukraine, shank bones and eggs are no match for the danger and sheer abundance of mayonnaise-laden salads. Not only are they definitely not vegan-friendly, but I imagine that one bite of this would go straight to the arteries, haha. One babushka insisted that I try some, telling me that it was a "health food."

There's Arthur! He was born in Odessa, but lived in Israel for almost 20 years. I met him at the synagogue when I first came to Ukraine and we've been meeting every week since for a Hebrew-English language exchange. He's really a great guy. :)

This was definitely the most fun and interesting seder I have ever attended. Everyone was so warm and welcoming. I feel so thankful that we found such an inviting congregation in this city we call home.

SaM.

Krakow, Poland: Delicious!

2010-03-29T01:05:00.000-07:00

Since I always planned on staying in Odessa until the end of the summer, I knew that eventually I would need a Ukrainian Visa. Foreigners without visas are only allowed to stay in the country for 90 out of 180 days without any special documents. This wasn't always the case. A few months ago, American citizens could just cross the nearest border (in my case, to Moldova), stay for a few days, then come back to Ukraine, and the "90 day period" would start all over again. Unfortunately for me, the Ukrainian border authorities have cracked down on this practice.

In order to apply for a Ukrainian visa, I needed to leave the country and visit a Ukrainian consulate in a nearby country. I heard that the best consulate to visit was in Krakow, Poland, and decided not to take my chances by visiting the closer consulate in Chisinau, Moldova. So off to Krakow I went! To be honest, never before had I ever considered visiting Krakow. Not that I wasn't interested! I just never imagined myself planning a trip to Poland. I can now honestly say, having returned from Krakow about a week ago, that it is one of the most amazing cities I have ever visited. Although most of the country was decimated in WWII, Krakow was relatively untouched, making it one of the Poland's few completely preserved medieval cities. Nowadays, Krakow is mostly a College town, as 80% of its population are university students. This mix of beautiful architecture, young population and lively atmosphere made this city an ideal spot for a week-long "escape" from daily life in Odessa. Since the theme of this blog is, of course, living vegan in Eastern Europe, I will tell all about my trip to this wonderful city that, in fact, turned out to be more vegan-friendly than I ever imagined.

On Saturday, March 13, Melissa and I headed to the train station to catch our train to Krakow. This ride turned out to be the longest train ride I had ever taken, at 22 hours. To be fair, 3+ hours were spent at the border changing rail gauges, as the former Soviet Union runs on a different rail gauge from that of the rest of Europe (surprise, surprise).

Knowing that we'd be on a train for such a long period of time, we made sure to pack enough food to get us there. We even stopped by our favorite pizza place on the way to take some dinner to-go. Luckily, we had an entire coupe to ourselves and were able to relax and enjoy the ride.

Cheeseless, hand-tossed pizza with tomatoes, onions, mushrooms and pineapples. Who knew that pizza on a train could be so fun?
The next morning, we had some dried fruit and cereal. Fortunately, we had access to unlimited hot water, because I'd brought a few bags of mint tea just in case.

I really enjoy traveling by train: swaying and bumping along the tracks; the modular coupes with their retractable tables and hidden mirrors; packing everything we need for our 22-hour lives in the same bag.
For lunch I packed an avocado and two rolls. This made for a simple, delicious sandwich.
We also brought some bacon Pringles. But don't worry...
... They're vegan! Hahaha.
I don't know how that's possible, and it actually frightens me a bit.

Although it was technically spring, the view out our window proved otherwise. Thankfully, the 22-hour train ride ended and we arrived safely in Krakow! We were both too tired to do any real sight-seeing, but we did explore a little bit in the main Market Square, where our hostel was located.

That night, we asked the woman at the front desk of our hostel if she knew of any vegan-friendly restaurants in the area. To our surprise, she told us that there were in fact a few vegetarian restaurants in the area (which is basically unheard of in Ukraine). She also said that most restaurants offer vegetarian and vegan options on the menu. Nevertheless, we decided to head over to one of the restaurants she recommended, Vega.

The restaurant was basically cafeteria-style where you order a plate at the register and then seat yourself. I ordered some vegan goulash with mashed potatoes and Melissa had chickpea "cutlets" with a salad. They also had a great selection of juices, so we ordered blackberry juice and apple cider spiced with cinnamon, cloves and ginger.

After dinner, we passed out for the rest of the night. Even though we technically "slept" on the train, we both felt as if we'd stayed up all night and were in dire need of some real sleep.

Every morning, the hostel offered free breakfast which went well beyond the expected toast and jam. We never had to go out for breakfast once the entire trip, which was much appreciated. Although the breakfasts centered on ham and cheese, we were able to get by just fine with bread, vegetables, jam, margarine, cereal, and soy milk that we bought at a near-by supermarket. We were thrilled to be able to find soy milk so close to the hostel, seeing as how in Odessa, we have to travel at least 30 minutes by bus to a German supermarket outside of town whenever we want soy milk!

The first full day in Krakow, I went to the Ukrainian consulate and applied for a business visa, which was ready for pick-up the same day! Thankfully, I didn't have to worry about that anymore for the rest of the trip and was able to enjoy my vacation.

These pretzel/bagel stands were all over the place. They provided a quick, cheap snack whenever we needed a little pick-me-up during a day of sight-seeing.
Our favorite part of the city was probably Kazimiers, the historic Jewish district of Krakow (not to be confused with the Jewish Ghetto of Krakow which we unfortunately were unable to visit).

While in Kazimierz, we visited Medieval and Renaissance period synagogues as well as numerous museums, cafes, craft stores, and vintage/specialty clothing shops. I could go on forever about the amazing feel of this part of town and the exciting new progressive forms of Judaism that seem to be developing in this area. In spite of these details, I was constantly reminded of the devastation of an entire Jewish community no more than 70 years ago. Before WWII, Krakow's Jews numbered 60,000, or about 25% of the population. There are less than 200 living in the city today. The attitude in Poland, however, seems to be overall optimistic. With eyes to the future, Poles can boast that they live in one of the only growing countries in the EU in this current economic crisis. Shops, restaurants, museums, art galleries are everywhere in Krakow, and they are faring quite well. In fact, Krakow (from what I hear) has the highest concentration of restaurants and bars in Europe, and we were never without things to do during our week stay.

One of the most enjoyable places we visited was found by accident. During a tour of Kazimierz, we came upon a tea house that Melissa recognized as the same as one she'd visited in Burlington, Vermont. Apparently, there are only a few of its kind in the world, and most of them are located in Eastern and Central Europe. We just happened to find one down a little street in Krakow.

This tea house specializes in rare, exotic teas. The menu is as thick as a novel, and the cafe's staff are specially trained in the art of tea blending and steeping. They even send each staff member on tea retreats around the world, allowing them to see every step in the tea making process, from growing to brewing.

We drank red and green teas, snacking on hummus, baba ganoush and candied ginger.
Another one of our favorite parts of Krakow was the Wawel castle, a medieval castle situated right on the banks of the Vistula river.

According to legend, the castle even had a fire breathing dragon who terrorized the people of Krakow.
This photograph below is a view of the Krakow skyline from one of the castle's courtyards.
If I had to pick my favorite place to eat in Krakow, I would probably choose Momo's, a bright, casual restaurant just outside of the Kazimierz district, with friendly staff and a mostly vegan menu.

I ordered a crepe-style dish filled with roasted potatoes, spicy peanut sauce and a savory vegetable soup.

Melissa ordered momo, or vegan dumplings stuffed with roasted vegetables and ground spices, served with a spicy dipping sauce. I love the peas on top. They actually fly off if you squeeze the momo too hard.

Even more amazing, Momo's offered a wide range of vegan cakes and pies. Melissa went with a chocolate carrot cake topped with fudge and pumpkin seeds...

... And I opted for the apple cake.

Since nothing like this exists in Odessa, we came to Momo's for our last full meal in Krakow and absolutely pigged out... Check out all those empty plates! Whatever, I regret nothing.

Unfortunately, our time in Krakow, like all things, had to come to an end. We packed our bags and left for Odessa, remembering to pack some Polish-style bagels and chocolate soy milk for the train ride home, of course.

All in all, I have to say that Krakow, aside from being one of the most beautiful and interesting cities I have ever visited, was also one of the most vegan-friendly.

SaM.

Purim: My First Vegan Hamantaschen

2010-03-08T08:19:00.000-08:00

Last week was the Jewish holiday Purim, which commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people from the hands of the ancient Persians, as narrated in the biblical Book of Ester. According to this book, Haman, the King's adviser, plots to have all the Jews annihilated. I won't recount the entire story in this post (though the Book of Ester may be found here), so to make a long story short, his plan is thwarted by Jewish heroes Mordechai and Ester and the Persian Jews are saved from Haman's evil decree.

According to Jewish custom, we do the following every Purim:

1) Chant the Book of Ester aloud in synagogue and make lots of noise whenever Haman's name is read.
2) Dress up in costumes and drink until we "can't tell the difference between cursing Haman and blessing Mordechai."
3) Give gifts or money to charity.
4) Eat hamantaschen

What is a hamantaschen?

It's a triangular-shaped cookie (symbolizing Haman's triangular hat) filled with jelly.

This year, Melissa and I went to the small synagogue we have been attending lately for Friday night services. The children of the synagogue had made masks for everyone in Sunday School and were selling them at the door for two gryvnas (25 cents) a piece.

Surprisingly, they read the Book of Ester in Russian, not Hebrew, and although I didn't understand most of what was read, I had no trouble recognizing Haman's name and booing/stomping my feet.

This is the blessing over the megilla (scroll) of Ester... Note the transliteration in Cyrillic!

Afterward, there was a little party in the next room,which had been stocked with plenty of food, booze, and of course, hamantaschen.
"Come, come" said the President of the synagogue, a short, older man who says everything on his mind, "we have plenty of vodka, cognac, wine, and beer. There's something for every one's taste!"

Unfortunately, aside from the alcohol, there were few vegan options available: The table was set with traditional Ukrainian-Jewish fare such as dried fish and butter on black bread, roasted chicken legs, cabbage and mayonnaise salad, assorted candies and caviar, fruit, nuts, and of course hamantaschen. Melissa and I ate mostly peanuts and fruit, as even hamantaschen are made with eggs and butter.

Returning home that night, mostly unsatisfied, I decided to take a crack at my first vegan hamantaschen. I found a no-egg recipe online, modified it slightly, and put our little toaster oven to work.

Hamantaschen, No Egg
Source: Adapted from "Bakin' Without Eggs"
Yield: About 10 Small Cookies

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup margarine, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/8 cup orange juice

In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt, margarine, sugar, water, and vanilla.

Chill in the refrigerator for about an hour.

Preheat (toaster) oven to 375°F. Lightly grease 1 cookie sheet.

Roll out dough to 1/4" thickness. Cut out 3" circles with cookie cutters.

Place spoonfuls of desired filling into center of each circle and fold into triangular shape.

Bake for 10 minutes or until slightly browned.

Remove from pans and cool on wire racks. Baking time may vary depending on your oven.

They turned out pretty good!

SaM.

Vegan in Ukraine

2010-03-01T02:01:00.000-08:00

2010 has been a year of great change.

Having graduated college this past May, I decided to take some time off and travel. From August until January, I lived on Kibbutz Ein Gev in Northern Israel, volunteering and learning Hebrew. While in Israel, I decided to give up eating and buying all animal products and adopt a vegan lifestyle. I had already been vegetarian for some time, and had been curious about going completely vegan. Using my move to an entirely new country as momentum for change, I vowed to give up dairy, eggs, honey, and of course meat.

Anyone who has visited Israel can confirm when I say that it might be one of the most convenient countries for someone living a vegan lifestyle. Living on a kibbutz, there was never any shortage of fresh vegetables and fruits, as well as nuts, beans, hummus, breads and all sorts of wonderful, nutritious foods. The local supermarket even had soy milk and tofu on hand! Because a kibbutz is a socialistic community, most meals were provided by the communal chadar okhel, or dining hall (which was where I volunteered during my stay). Not only were there vegetarian and vegan options available, but meat and vegetarian foods were served on separate carts, and there was always a non-meat entree option available for lunch, the heaviest meal. Also, when I decided to leave the Kibbutz and venture to Jerusalem or Tiberias, it was certain that I would at least be able to buy some falafel from a street vendor should I have difficulty finding a vegan-friendly restaurant. All in all, my vegan lifestyle in Israel was pretty sustainable, but I knew that come January, my life would change completely.

After finishing my time in Israel, I packed my things and left to go live with my girlfriend, Melissa, in Ukraine. Having also graduated this past spring, Melissa left for Odessa to conduct research on a US Fulbright grant. Before I left for Israel, we both agreed that I would come and live with her in mid-January. A long-time vegetarian, she decided to switch to a vegan lifestyle with me upon my arrival to the country. Since arriving in Odessa, I have begun teaching English at a language school in the city center and am also learning Russian. It has taken me a few weeks to find my bearings here, but Odessa has shown itself to be a wonderful city and I can't wait to explore all the culture, language, and of course good food that it has to offer.

Unlike my experience in Israel, being vegan in Ukraine is not so easy. Most traditional foods are made with some sort of meat, or at least with butter and eggs. Many meals are started with a piece of black bread and pig sallow (salted fat). Borscht, perhaps the most famous Ukrainian dish, is a beet soup with a pork-broth base (although I have found a vegan borscht, but more on that later), and I feel like I am constantly telling servers at restaurants to "hold the sour cream," Ukraine's favorite meal topper.

I decided to start this blog in order to document my experiences of being vegan in Ukraine. I will post pictures and recipes, stories and anecdotes, recording all the obstacles as well as pleasant surprises that I experience during my time here.

За здоровье!!!

SaM.