this blog entry by: eliza

Gap year, and I was off to visit Southern Africa and volunteer for over two months with the Back To School Foundation.  I resigned myself to the fact that, as a vegan, I would only be able to eat the plainest of foods while traveling and would probably lose several kilos. I watched a documentary about Malawi, the country where I would be spending most of my time, and was definitely not expecting any exciting culinary experiences. It showed school children eating a grey substance resembling liquid concrete but was apparently some kind of maize porridge...

Happily, vegan eating in Africa turned out to be a pleasant surprise. In fact, it was so easy that my normally omnivorous travelling partner lasted the whole time (around 4 months) without eating animal products! Even the maize-based meals I’d been dreading turned out to be enjoyable. The Malawian staple food is ‘nsima’ (aka nshima or mealie pap), a maize flour boiled until it becomes a white semi-solid (very similar to polenta) and it was quite good. All the Malawian restaurants we visited didn't seem to have set menus and getting a vegan meal was simply a matter of asking what they could do. The most readily available vegan dish, available for the equivalent $1- $3AUD, was nsima and vegetables (usually ‘mustard’ or the unfortunately named ‘rape’ which are both somewhat like spinach) with tomato and onion. This dish was normally served with sauce, that for some reason, was known as ‘soup’. It was eaten by breaking off some nsima with one hand, rolling it, then using it to pick up the vegetables and sauce. Many restaurants also had the option of rice with vegies or hot chips with vegies and some even had beans available. Bigger towns in Malawi had more expensive restaurants (though still incredibly cheap compared to Australian prices) with Western-type food, but we didn't check these out.

Much of the local street food was also vegan. ‘Mandazi’ were deep-fried balls of dough (generally made from maize flour, sugar and water, though some sellers add milk so it is best to check) sold in markets and on the streets. Hot chips, deep-fried sweet potato, rice and potato samosas and chapattis (generally cooked in soy bean or vegetable oil) and little bags of salted peanuts were also widely available.

It required some effort to explain to restaurant staff and street vendors that you do not want animal products. As we knew virtually no Chichewa, we relied entirely upon their grasp of English, which, luckily for us, was usually good. One problem we encountered when we asked ‘Does this have milk or egg in it?’ our server would immediately assume we wanted this to be the case and nod enthusiastically. When we then declined the food, saying we did not eat animal products, they would then say it didn't have animal ingredients. To ensure they were lying in the first incidence and not the second, I would sometimes resort to saying I would get very sick if I accidentally ate milk or egg. But generally, people were only too happy to answer questions and some restaurant staff specially cooked vegetables for us.

      
                          Meal with students at Back to School Foundation                                    Self-catered meal in Hostel


If we had relied on restaurant food all the time, we may have become bored with the limited options, but we mainly self-catered in the accommodation provided by the Back to School Foundation. The market in Monkey Bay (the town where we spent our volunteer time) had various kinds of fresh fruit and vegetables as well as peanuts, dried beans, spices, soy pieces and many other healthy vegan options. The local supermarkets also had a surprisingly large variety of vegan foods, including many delicious dairy and egg-free biscuits and even some vegan chocolate. Soy milk was available but very expensive (600 kwacha per litre, around $6 AUD) as it was imported from South Africa. One thing we had to be careful of was processed fruit juice which often had milk products added to it. Overall, being vegan in Malawi is easy because, with the exception of fish from the Lake, animal products are too expensive for the average family to have regularly. But, the fact that we could afford the ‘luxury’ of meat and yet didn’t eat it sparked some curiosity and generally my explanation, that I could live healthily without causing suffering to animals and therefore felt I should, was met with a look that clearly said “Okaayy, she’s nuts!”

                        
                            Soy section in supermarket, Zambia                                                 Soy piece bag

Cruelty to animals was not as widespread as I had expected, but we did see goats strapped to bikes or motorbikes and being lifted by their legs with no regard for their feelings. We also found two horribly neglected dogs, but compassion and respect for animals were visible, as shown by the readiness of a local animal charity to rescue these dogs.

After we left Malawi, we went to Zambia, which had very similar foods to Malawi. One surprising street food was ‘African polony’, a mock meat made from peanuts and maize meal. We were also recommended a delicious Zambian and Zimbabwean dish made with spinach or ’rape’ boiled until soft then fried with peanut butter.

After a six day truck tour from Livingstone in Zambia, through Botswana, to Johannesburg, with Acacia Africa (which did a good job of vegan catering), we were able to enjoy some of the more luxurious vegan options available in South Africa. South Africa was much like Australia in that most restaurants had at least one vegan option and prices were reasonable. Backpackers’ hostels often had vegan options on their menus as well as self-catering kitchens. In Simon’s Town (near Cape Town) we even found a totally vegan cafe where we had yummy banana pancakes for breakfast!

So if you’re heading to Southern Africa any time soon you can be sure that your appreciation of the breathtaking scenery, beautiful wildlife and amazing cultures will not be dulled by a lack of vegan food!

This blog entry by: Jo

 

 

I was rather excited recently to hear about the arrival of vegan condensed milk in Australia.  Yes... I know it's probably sad to get excited about a little tin of sweet thick soy milk, but it had me dreaming of fudge (which always takes me back to childhood holidays in Cornwall), banoffee pie, toffee, caramel slices and much much more!

Eager to try out a few recipes I logged on to the Cruelty Free Shop, only to find I obviously wasn't the only one keen to sample this product as they'd already sold out! (but you'll be pleased to know it's back in store now).  After a quick search I found Vegan Perfection also stocked it - and had it in store, perfect!

A couple of days later the tins of  gooey wickedness landed on my doorstep.  The next problem faced was what to cook with it - oh so many choices!  Fudge - for reasons mentioned before - was an obvious choice, and after much contemplation I decided what is more Aussie than a slice - so a caramel slice it was to be!

After reading through traditional recipes for both of these I devised the two vegan versions below.  Both were incredibly easy to make, so why not give them a try.  Be warned you certainly need a sweet tooth for these ones!

The following recipe makes a basic creamy vanilla fudge.  You could, if you fancied, add your own flavourings, ones that spring to mind are rum and raisin, chocolate or pistachio, but let your imagination run wild!


Creamy vanilla fudge
makes about 25 pieces

1 x 310g can vegan condensed milk 
¾ cup soft brown sugar
80g vegan margarine 
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp golden syrup
140g vegan white chocolate (I used Sweet William White Chocolate Chips, but you could use the White Delight Bar chopped into pieces instead)

Line a 20x20cm tin with aluminium foil.

Melt the vegan margarine in a saucepan,  Add sugar, condensed milk, vanilla extract and golden syrup and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and cook, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes.  Remove the saucepan from heat and stir in the white 'chocolate'.  Once the chocolate has melted pour the mixture into the prepared tin.  Leave to cool to room temperature then place in the fridge.

Once completely cool, peel off foil and cut into squares. 

It is best to keep the fudge in the fridge otherwise it quickly becomes soft.

 

 

Caramel Slice
makes 9 slices

The main thing to remember when making these slices, is to cut into squares before the chocolate sets.  If you forget and leave it until the chocolate is cooled it will crack when you cut it and become a bit of a sticky mess (albeit a tasty one)!

1¼ cup plain flour
120g vegan margarine
50g caster sugar

1 x 310g can vegan condensed milk
100g vegan margarine
1½ tbsp golden syrup

For the top you will need 200g vegan chocolate.  You can use your favourite variety (for example Dark Chocolate or Sweet William Milk Chocolate).  I used 100g dark chocolate and 100g Sweet William White Choclate melted together.

You can make the base by hand by rubbing the margarine into the flour then mixing in the sugar.  Or you can place the flour, margarine and sugar in a food processor, you should end up with a mixture that resembles breadcrumbs. 

Press this mixture into a 20 x 20cm tin and bake at 180C for approximately 20 minutes (until golden brown).  Leave to cool.

To make the filling, place the condensed milk, margarine and syrup in a saucepan.  Bring to the boil then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.  Pour over the base and refrigerate for about 4 hours.

Once the filling has set, melt the chocolate and spread evenly over the caramel layer.  Leave it to cool enough to allow you to cut into square, but not set completely.  Once you have cut into squares place back in fridge and chill until completely set.

 

 

Make your own!

If you want to have a try at making your own condensed milk then the following is a recipe that someone kindly sent me.  I haven't tried it out yet but for those of you interested here it is...  If you do make it and want to try it in the above recipes, simply measure out 310g of the finished product!