VEGAN KITCHEN – The Greatest thing since Sliced Bread !

 

IMG_0481

VEGAN KITCHEN – The Greatest thing since Sliced Bread ! 

There was once something so ful-filling , so spiritual in a fresh loaf of bread, the staple food basis of all civilizations since the raising of the pyramids, yet today as appetising as eating a roll of kleenex !

Bread is an unmitigated disaster in the UK these day’s, a tasteless grey misery, an ascetic’s dream and pitiful example of how far austerity had taken hold in abstinence from the normal pleasures of life, and sucking out all satisfaction all nourishment from the pantry.

What nightmare is this laid out before me in the local superstore ? Bread of every description, hundreds upon hundreds of loaves sitting like bricks on a wall of endless shelf life,. white bricks and brown bricks in the supermarket bakery showcase isle,  all seemingly with one thing , apart from being bread, in common, they are all loaded with bulking agents and eternally product preserving chemical warfare not to forget to mention an ethics ecological disaster, unseen by the grey stony eyed shoppers who shuffle from white to brown checking prices, picking up putting down, picking up again….

putting down..

the endless, brainwashed consumer walking dead,. bricks of tasteless cardboard…to satisfy grey unthinking unfeeling palettes….

We found EVERY bread except the “Polish Bakery” (http://www.thepolishbakery.co.uk/bread-and-rolls/) breads had the usual bad boy “Palm Oil” packed in them. Yes, Palm Oil in varying types, (so called) sustainable, non sustainable, palm fats, endless palm derived rehashes and along with those, a supporting cast in the horrific theatre of the bland, a ghastly selection of additives, such as calcium propionate, amylase, chlorine dioxide, fats, bleach and L-cysteine hydrochloride are all now crammed packed into our daily bread.

Whats the problem with Palm Oil ? check the link…https://www.fishinaboxrecords.com/palm-oil-how-can-a-product-that-harms-animals-be-called-vegan/)

Polish Bakery, though blessingly Palm Oil free, do still use Mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids, pretty standard these days though we are dubious of as the origin of added Mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids E471 as it still is not 100% clear and so it doesn’t meet our vegan standard for the day, we are going back to baking basics …

Monoglycerides and diglycerides are both naturally present in various seed oils, however their concentration is usually low. In industrial production it blows the low levels out of the window by a chemical reaction between the fats and oils and glycerol. (Lud turns in his grave !) Whether the original oils are animal or vegetable is often hard to decipher. Basically it just ain’t going to be guaranteed to be vegan without constant fixed supply confirmed as vegetable based (non palm) from the manufacturer, and that is not something that is jumping out on the reviews website or ingredients lists out there..

The switch in turning bread into a food processing nightmare started to happen in the 1960’s and the additives have been growing since in number and health risk, lighter yet tasteless long lasting breads, all come at a price, and that price is your health.

What’s in your average supermarket loaf ?

FAT
Keeps it standing up and looking like “bread” when its a long way towards the sell buy date.

FLOUR TREATMENT AGENT
L-ascorbic acid (E300) makes a loaf look bigger than it actually is by retaining gas in the dough !

BLEACH
Chlorine dioxide gas, your white flour just got “whiter” !

REDUCING AGENT
L-cysteine hydrochloride (E920), comes from animal hair and feathers, that’s not vegan but bread should be !

SOYA FLOUR
Well that sounds better  right ? soya flour basically helps the production process allowing more water to be added and retained in the dough and as such increasing the size of the bread above expectations. sounds like a consumer scam ?

EMULSIFIERS
lets the dough to hold more gas and therefore grow bigger and make the crumb softer, everyone needs more gas right ?

PRESERVATIVES
Calcium propionate makes bread look ok when left on the shelf for sale for ever basically

Find out more about the commercial Bread scam:

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/the-shocking-truth-about-bread-413156.html

What should be in a loaf of bread ?

Well your basics are: Flour, yeast, water and salt. If you want something more “artisan”, then add seeds ,pesto (vegan version), sun dried tomatoes etc to get a real rustic loaf in any healthy combination that takes your fancy. Shelf life is not a problem with any of these home baked breads we made as they did’nt last 15 minutes after baking.

We took a walk out the supermarket door with a pack of organic wholemeal bread flour yeast and some healthy goodies to bake with and left the commercial palm oil stocked loaves on the shelf.

Whats in our Strong organic bread Flour ? Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin). That’s about as clean as you are going to get for baking so we are going with that.

A history of AWFUL Bread: http://www.theoldfoodie.com/2011/03/sawdust-bread.html

GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD….Let us turn our backs on darkness and let’s get baking

500g as a rough guide of organic strong bread flour . We tend to mix any quantity and go by the consistency of the dough for baking, but you can use 500g as a guide.then add your oil, we used flavoured oil that had been soaking in Sun dried tomatoes, or Jerusalem artichokes, chilli’s or peppers, anyone will do that add flavour, 4 table spooks on a 500g should do it and throw in a handful of seeds. We used pumpkin seeds.

IMG_0746 IMG_0748

To make a began dream bread, add b12 and flavour again we use engevita b12 flakes,. then add the sundried tomates and a FULL 10g pack of yeast. Most bread recipes say add 7g but you are baking without all the treatment agents and emulsifiers so add the full 10g yeast pack.

IMG_0749 IMG_0750

Mix in water and turn until consistency is sticky, on a 500g that’s about a cup full of water, you can also replace water with aquafaba which gives it more lift again but it’s not necessary. salt, pepper and Tumeric.

Why Tumeric ?

It has powerful anti-inflammatory effects and is strong antioxidant, all good stuff, nice and natural too, throw it into the mix. mix it up and drop it in the bread maker on a large wholemeal loaf setting. If you want you can roll it out , add patterns , cut to shape and bake it in the oven (its a 4 hour bake !!) but as far as we are concerned, jobs done so get it in the bread maker and clean up.

IMG_0753 IMG_0754 IMG_0755 IMG_0756IMG_0471IMG_0484IMG_0744IMG_0745

While you are waiting for the Bread to Bake. Here are some great quotes on Bread to keep you busy

“The smell of good bread baking, like the sound of lightly flowing water, is indescribable in its evocation of innocence and delight… ― Mary Francis Kennedy Fisher

“All sorrows are less with bread. ” ― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

“How can a nation be called great if its bread tastes like kleenex?” ― Julia Child

“There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.” ― Mahatma Gandhi

“The need of the immaterial is the most deeply rooted of all needs. One must have bread; but before bread, one must have the ideal.” ― Victor Hugo

“The Lion and the Unicorn were fighting for the crown: The Lion beat the Unicorn all around the town.
Some gave them white bread, some gave them brown: Some gave them plum-cake and drummed them out of town.” ― Lewis Carroll

Ecclesiastes 9:7

NOTE:

We will skip the “wine”in the bible quote and expansion below and focus on the bread only as “wine” these days is mostly filtered using fish guts (gross !) and fails to meet the vegan standard.

#Giveusthisdayourdailybread

GO EAT YOUR BREAD

So there we have it,. enjoy baking people,. don’t accept the lowest common denominator in what you eat,. strive for something more !

Leave the ranks of the Walking Dead and get VEGAN baking now !

DISCLAIMER: Links to information on sites other than those operated by FISHINABOX RECORDS are for your convenience only and are not an endorsement or recommendation of those sites. FISHINABOX RECORDS does not control or provide any content or information at these sites, makes no representation or warranty of any kind with respect to these sites or their content, and does not maintain, operate, or take responsibility for information provided. FISHINABOX RECORDS does not endorse and is not responsible for the accuracy or reliability of such content or information and any use thereof is solely at the user’s risk.

LOBSTER LIBERATION – Take Action at a fish shop near you – LIVE EXPORT CRIMES

0000100000

LOBSTER LIBERATION – Take Action at a fish shop near you – LIVE EXPORT CRIMES

00002

That moment, when you walk into a Chip shop, Fish restaurant, or counter because something doesn’t look right from the window and a live export crime is being committed on the sea or store front.

Lobsters, mostly imported from Canada and the US find themselves in shop fronts in the UK. After rough transport, claw clamped and starved , they are set, hungry, on ice that burns and forces there muscles to stiffen horribly. There are kept among the rotting decaying gutted corpses of shrimps and fish. Their gills are kept wet so that they remain alive.

You know what has to be done,. they need out and back to the Sea. Obviously this specific rescue photographed is fully within the realms of the Law in order for it to be featured on the site, though there are many ways to get Lobsters out of a fish shop and it’s not for us to tell you how to get the”fish in a box”, but one thing is very important, however you get them out, you do need a wet box to transport them.

A Simple heavy duty cardboard box, plastic lined (bottom only) with a closing lid (not plastic must breathe) and full of thickened (wet or means of wetting it) paper (not tissue paper) to cover the lobsters in during transport back to the sea, you also need water and sea salt (one tea spoon of sea salt a pint) for wetting, tap water without sea salt will damage them.

Quite often a fish shop, on “losing” a lobster will just buy in another and the question begs, whats the point if they will just restock ? Can you do it every day ? probably not, but the day or days that you do, those lobsters live, they are individuals, they are sentient beings in their own rights and each one freed is one less tortured and destroyed.

When a lobster is cooked, it cannot “pass out”, it lives boiling in it’s own skin until the final a moment before death, boiled alive. I have heard people say “it’s OK when they “scream” as it’s just air escaping from their bodies”,. put yourself in their place (empathy, the first rule of veganism, the second is compassion and the third is action) put yourself in your minds eye, in boiling water, and imagine the same thing, the excruciating pain, the screaming…suddenly the importance of liberation becomes clear.

Why take action over Lobsters ?

The transport, treatment of Live Lobster under export along with the method of killing is extremely cruel.

The liberation of Lobsters is relatively simple compared to other abused animals as its on the shop front.

Several methods are used for killing lobsters. The most common way of killing lobsters is by placing them live in boiling water, sometimes after having been placed in a freezer for a period of time which burns then and immobilises them.

Another method is to split the lobster or sever the body in half lengthwise. Lobsters may also be killed or rendered insensate immediately before boiling by a stab into the brain (pithing), in the belief that this will stop suffering. However, a lobster’s brain operates from not one but several ganglia and disabling only the frontal ganglion does not usually result in death therefore suffering continues to the end.

The boiling method is illegal in some places, such as in Reggio Emilia, Italy, where offenders can be fined €495.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) summarized that the killing methods most likely to cause pain and distress as below:

Any procedures whereby the abdomen is separated from the thorax
The removal of tissue, flesh, or limbs while the crustacean is alive and fully conscious
Placing crustaceans in slowly heated water to the boiling point
Placing crustaceans directly into boiling water
Placing marine crustaceans in fresh water
Unfocused microwaving of the body as opposed to focal application to the head
A device called the CrustaStun has been invented to electrocute shellfish such as lobsters, crabs, and crayfish  before cooking. The device works by applying a 110-volt, 2 to 5 amp electrical charge to the animal. The CrustaStun renders the shellfish unconscious in 0.3 seconds and kills the animal in 5 to 10 seconds, compared to 3 minutes to kill a lobster by boiling. But of course ass we all know , killing any healthy sentient being is never humane and is always, without question wrong.

This post is basically a simple step guide on how to successfully, and as stress freely, return a lobster to the sea. You cannot return them to their point of origin most likely, but they do travel and travel far and will home once back in the ocean.

00003

Leave some “breathing” room in, around, and through the wet box, To keep lobsters alive before and after transport. Do not heat up or cool down too quickly; Keep cool and moist, Never use tap water, mixing sea salt with tap water (half a tea spoon a pint most accurately duplicates sea water for the purpose of transport; and Never use a small container of seawater, you will wake them up during the journey and its extremely messy, only ever wet the paper with sea salted water.

Thinking of feeding them first ? The recommendation is not too as they vomit in transit but if you do, they eat small crabs, mussels, clams, starfish, sea urchins and various marine worms. They also catch fast moving animals like shrimp, amphipods (also known as “sand fleas”) and even small fish. My recommendation is just get them to the sea and let them find food after being returned to the water.

0000400004.5 00004.4 00008.600005

Don’t rush them back into the water, you MUST acclimatise them before release. Bear in mind lobsters are starved 2-3 days before shipping and not fed after. They are hungry and tired. The ice they are put on in store fronts, burns them and can cause their limbs to drop off, (the limbs can grow back with the next molt), they need time to adjust and get their legs working and take on the temperature of the water. Let them sit on the surf in the sand and wet them as they adjust until they become animated.

00006 00006.500007.5 00007 00008.5  0000800009000010000012.5000013000012000014000015000016000017

LOBSTERS: further reading and information on the trade

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/16/should-killing-lobsters-i_n_236095.html

http://www.viva.org.uk/resources/campaign-materials/fact-sheets/lobster-fact-sheet

http://www.animalaid.org.uk/h/n/CAMPAIGNS/vegetarianism/ALL/522/

http://www.debate.org/opinions/should-the-cooking-of-living-lobster-and-crab-be-banned

Lobsters and Crabs Used for Food

 

 

 

000016.5

What does the Law say about returning a live lobster to the sea :

Rightly or Wrongly , there are of course laws the operate around live exports, ownership rights, and live animals as “property” in the UK. If you remove a live lobster from a business, office or place or resale without permission from the owner you are committing theft and may be subject to prosecution. If the owner gives up the Lobster under threat of “direct action” to protect himself or property, you are then again at risk of prosecution, do approach any Lobster liberation with a clear level head and ensure you have the required equipment detailed above for safe transportation back to the sea.

If the owner of the “property” i.e. the Lobster, gives up the Lobsters freely to you (discuss, negotiate, guilt trip, etc and yes they can be persuaded) or is remunerated in some way (pay for a life) then you are effectively the “owner of the Lobster” and within your “rights” to return them to the Sea as long as the Lobster is alive at the time of the return. Alive? Yes indeed,. Sounds bizarre but there is case, all be it very slim, for a council to prosecute a “return” under littering and pollution but only if the animal is deceased and dumped in the water,. they also have to be able to present the “deceased” as evidence against you which is extremely difficult to secure.

Who is taking action ? LLF Actions (Lobster Liberation Front)

The Lobster Liberation Front (LLF) is an animal rights campaign which first appeared on the coasts of Dorset in 2004, later spreading to Wales, Scotland, and some European countries. Their methods include releasing lobsters from live storage and sabotaging lobster pots or fishing boats and businesses who partake in profiteering from this cruel trade.

http://www.thejournal.ie/free-the-lobsters-2095498-May2015/

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/animal-rights-protest-over-boiled-lobsters-1082069.html

FINAL NOTE:

If you see Live Lobsters in the store fronts, don’t just walk on by, prepare for transporting the Lobsters  then go back , challenge the sellers, agree to take them and get those Lobsters back into the Sea. Make a difference today, save a life. teach your children and friends and family, involve them, discuss the practice of this animal abuse with them, engage them and send back a clear message.

This is not an acceptable trade, animal abuse should never be normalised on the store front, leaving sentient beings to suffer and die while punters “umm” and “ahh” over what type of destruction that want to sate their oral obsession on. It is thoroughly ,morally base and wrong. In the same way that the meat and fish isles in supermarkets desensitise children and disconnect them from the abuse and destruction that puts meat and fish in the freezers as another cheap and completely unnecessary product for the brainwashed consumers head under the loose misdemeanor of so called “choice” .

DISCLAIMER: Links to information on sites other than those operated by FISHINABOX RECORDS are for your convenience only and are not an endorsement or recommendation of those sites. FISHINABOX RECORDS does not control or provide any content or information at these sites, makes no representation or warranty of any kind with respect to these sites or their content, and does not maintain, operate, or take responsibility for information provided. FISHINABOX RECORDS does not endorse and is not responsible for the accuracy or reliability of such content or information and any use thereof is solely at the user’s risk.

VEGAN KITCHEN – Super Simple Shepherd’s Lie (Shepard’s Pie)

COVER

VEGAN KITCHEN – Super Simple Shepherd’s Lie (Shepard’s Pie)

We have been getting a bunch of messages in asking for more quick and easy meal planners. With that in mind we have added another belly filler, this one will get you snoozing all afternoon.  A Big meal for rainy days.

The History –

The first mention of the Shepherds or Cottage Pie was in 1791, by the Rev. James Woodford. Originally, a pie made with any kind of minced meat and mashed potato was called a “cottage pie”. In modern English, the dish is usually called “cottage pie” though the Irish also lay claim to it’s origin calling the dish a “Shepherd’s Pie”.

The argument has never been resolved though the majority ruling is that if it was made in days gone by with minced beef (R.I.P) it was usually an English dish, and it was made with minced lamb (R.I.P) it was usually an Irish dish.

Since the late 19th Century both pies were common place in both England and Ireland. Early cookery writers did not use the terms “cottage pie” and “shepherd’s pie” and the terms did not appear in recipe books until the late part of the 19th century. From that time, the terms have been used interchangeably.

It was called a “shepherd’s pie” because a shepherd looks after sheep and the Shepherd when tired with or bored with looking after the sheep , decided to slaughter them and mince up there worst bits of their corpses for use as left overs in a pie.

The foundation of all meat pies is that they are the ground discards of the slaughtered and innocent.

Gone are the days where we can be fooled in to believing that meat is necessary to make a dish, we have learned and now know better. These days we are able to evolve on archaic cooking traditions such as cottage or shepherds pie by replacing pound for pound with Soya mince, as it’s meat free we called it the”Shepherds Lie”.

Soya – Cheap , lean, clean and just all round excellent culinary evolution to meat. No death, no Bad Karma no Coronary heart disease and much better flavour. #GoVegan #GoMeatFree

So, here we have it, the fastest most simple Vegan Shepherds Pie ever, A cheat dish using soya mince (89 pence  – £1.00 from Corner shops, usually stocked in Tamil / Indian and sometimes Turkish Global Food stores / corner shops, ask form mince NOT chunks) or if you haven’t got a decent global foods corner store near you then you can get a Linda McCartney Soya mince in main supermarkets.

boil up your potatoes to make the mash top and when ready mash with Soya or Hemp Milk (Good hemp milk can be found in the long life section in Tescos). Whilst they are boiling make up the base o the “pie”.

IMG_0395

A simple mix,

Pre-Boiled: diced carrots and peas get these boiled.

Pan-fried in vegetable oil:  The soya mince and diced onion until browned.

Once both those small steps are completed mix both the pre-boiled and pan friend ingredients with some brown sauce (HFCS free) a tin of baked beans, yes baked beans and you have your Shepherds Lie base.

As most Baked Beans are loaded with Glucose Fructose Corn Syrup (HCFS) we opt for either the Tesco’s or Sainsbury’s own brand as (at the time of writing this – and ingredients may change) both own brands do not contain the dreaded High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) (also called glucose-fructose, isoglucose and glucose-fructose syrup).

glucose fructosse

What’s the problem with HFCS ? watch the below and get up to speed on the “bitter truth about sugar poisoning” and get this insidious poison out of your diet #justsaynotoglucosefructosecornsyrup 

Mix up the base and get it into the glass baking tray. As soon as the potatoes are soft, drain off the excess water and mash then with Hemp milk and put over the base.

IMG_0396 IMG_0399

bake in the oven at 200 degrees until the top is crisp and browning (around 25-30 minutes) then serve. job done.

IMG_0401 IMG_0402

DISCLAIMER: Links to information on sites other than those operated by FISHINABOX RECORDS are for your convenience only and are not an endorsement or recommendation of those sites. FISHINABOX RECORDS does not control or provide any content or information at these sites, makes no representation or warranty of any kind with respect to these sites or their content, and does not maintain, operate, or take responsibility for information provided. FISHINABOX RECORDS does not endorse and is not responsible for the accuracy or reliability of such content or information and any use thereof is solely at the user’s risk.

 

VEGAN KITCHEN – Plantain Mash – Fire Pit Feasting 02

IMG_0529

VEGAN KITCHEN – Plantain Mash – Fire Pit Feasting 02

A chance opportunity to pick up a job lot of plantains form the supermarket at 10 pence each and a scorcher of a summer day worked like a dream ticket to cooking up this meal. Nothing beats cooking on an open outdoor fire, always take the option if you can get it, whether a full meal or to use as part of the cooking process. the scents and odoriferous signatures of a fire pit permeate all levels of the cooking experience. Embrace it.

IMG_0524 IMG_0525 IMG_0526 IMG_0527 IMG_0528 IMG_0529

Green plantains have a dry, starchy texture and mild taste, while yellow and black plantains are sweeter and less starchy, we picked up a load of “dying” yellow plaintains for 10p each in Tesco’s and made the most of them.

The usual way to grill Plantain is to split it down the middle and grill each side in the skin we just wanted to cook through the plantain whole to pick up the flavour of smoke and fire and shorted the preparation time in the pan when making the mash. We cooked the plantain till black in the skins, opened then and then sliced for the mash mix

The origins and story of the Plantain 

http://www.raw-food-health.net/Plantains.html

http://www.africanfoods.co.uk/history-of-plantain.html

IMG_0534

Machuquillo (Plantain Mash) High Potassium, high energy meal, low cost, gluten free. Usually served as a side for Meat, we obviously dropped that and made a plantain mash that’s stands alone, is fully loaded and a one stop smokey barbecue shop mish mash meal.

Ingredients: Plaintan, pre-cooked on an open fire sliced, one sliced onion, 5 cloves of garlic sliced, black pepper, salt, soya milk, engevita b12 yeast flakes, vegtable gravy stock granules, liquid vegetable stock (water from steamed carrots, broccoli, cabbage, soya beans – serve those steamed vegetables with the mash) and boil it down and reduce it.

IMG_0560 IMG_0561 IMG_0562 IMG_0563 IMG_0564 IMG_0566IMG_0567

Once that’s done, simply mash it and serve.

IMG_0568 IMG_0569 IMG_0570

Add the steamed vegetables that we cooked to create the liquid stock and “BOOM” there it is !! The ultimate plantain smash mash monster meal.

IMG_0571

DISCLAIMER: Links to information on sites other than those operated by FISHINABOX RECORDS are for your convenience only and are not an endorsement or recommendation of those sites. FISHINABOX RECORDS does not control or provide any content or information at these sites, makes no representation or warranty of any kind with respect to these sites or their content, and does not maintain, operate, or take responsibility for information provided. FISHINABOX RECORDS does not endorse and is not responsible for the accuracy or reliability of such content or information and any use thereof is solely at the user’s risk.

VEGAN KITCHEN – Topsy Turvy Turnover – Fire Pit Feasting 01

IMG_0642

Baked Apple Sultana Topsy Turvy Turnover – Fire Pit Feasting 01

This was one of the most popular  desserts we put out there and two slabs lasted no longer than four minutes between four of us,  a feverish feasting on a par with the freakishly named “Sweet but Rotting Banana Bread”.

So what is so special about An apple turnover ? Not a lot actually, It is a sort of small, typically English individual pie or pasty, in which the filling is placed on one side of a piece of rolled-out pastry and the other side is then turned over’ to cover it. The term “turnover” is first recorded at the end of the eighteenth century: an old woman preparing her turnovers, commonly called apple-pies’ and finding that the problem of the filling just pissing out as the pastry rises all over the baking tray could be solved by “turning the apple pie over” (Sporting Magazine, 1798).  A sweet spicy fruit filling is the norm.

What makes the Topsy Turvy Turnover so special is the ingredients and the method of preparation. Firstly, It’s all Vegan… obviously, secondly the apples are not cooked in the pie, they are baked on an open fire until absolute mush, then mixed with other filling ingredients to build flavour. Why cook the apples seperatly and then add them to the pastry ? Simple, to get a fast bake crisp crust on the pasty we cook it shorter (about 15 minutes? and on a higher gas mark so that the pastry crisps faster (260 degree). We do not need to wait for the filling to cook through as it is already baked, we just want the ingredients to mix in the pie.

Fancy a go at the Topsy Turvy Turnover ? the most simplest of simple baking..

First up , get a fire pit going and bake those apples. Choose large sweet cooking apples (they mush fast) wrap in foil twisting the top to stop juice leaking out, stoke the fire pit and burn the foil black.

IMG_0530 IMG_0531 IMG_0532 IMG_0538

To the spyful watchfuls, yes there are other interesting things cooking at the same time as the Apples on our fire, those are for other “fire peat feasting” recipes. see other posts.

Let the Apples cool completely and empty into a bowl over night in the fridge to allow the juice to separate ( this will mix with coconut and cocoa flakes in the ingredients mix.

One Day/Night later – 

Empty the apple juice into a glass mixing tray and add the sultanas, cranberries (dried) coconut flakes, cocoa powder, vanilla essence, we borrowed a bottle of essence from a Starbucks (most kind  – share in the community baking), sugar mix then add the apples in. top with more cocoa, coconut and sugar and put to one side.

IMG_0617 IMG_0618 IMG_0619

Add after putting through the blender, the liquid contents (aquafaba) of one time of chick peas (in plain water NOT salted water) now spun white to 400g self raising flower, salt. Then roll out pastry.

IMG_0622 IMG_0623IMG_0620IMG_0625IMG_0624IMG_0627

Add the filling in long oblong block shapes and fold the pastry parcels. the put a baking trap on top and flip over so that the pastry is “turned over” and pierce the top of the turnover to allow the pastry to breathe during cooking.

IMG_0628 IMG_0629 IMG_0630 IMG_0631

Brush paint the top and sides with Soya milk to brown the crust then pop it in the oven and go do something less interesting instead for 15 minutes. gas at 260. If you want to gild the lily, you can sprinkle cinnamon and sugar along the top, we don’t but that does’nt mean you should’nt…

IMG_0634  IMG_0637

15 minutes later,. go back to the oven and hey presto it’s ready. Slice and serve with vegan dairy free and palm oil free ice cream, we found a Coconut everything free ice cream in Marks and Spencer’s food hall of all places.

IMG_0638 IMG_0642

First Helpings…

IMG_0639 IMG_0640 IMG_0641

Ooh Ooh, someone going back for more…

IMG_0643 IMG_0644

 

 

 

 

 

PALM OIL – How can a product that harms animals be called VEGAN ?

web palm oil banner

PALM OIL – How can a product that harms animals be called VEGAN ?

The Question forms the answer, we would expect that no product whatever its origin, plant or animal derived that directly and deliberately causes harm to animals, drives hunting, fuels climate change, can ever be Vegan.

Where do you draw the line ? cash crops, biofuel diesel… Is the world stacked so highly against ethics to render all products at some level or another non vegan ? Does following a planet based diet and working for animal rights against exploitation constitute enough depth to be Vegan ? the debate rages..

Palm oil is everywhere, it’s in everything, corporations and large scaling Vegan food distribution and supply love it. New Converts to veganism appear to be dependent on it and defend it as a corner stone of there new found cruelty free epiphany even questioning vegan ethics and practices within the established community.

VEGANISM Modern root and definition

In November 1944, Donald Watson along with five other non-dairy vegetarians, including Elsie Shrigley, defined and drew up the founding basis for a modernised clear evolution of non-dairy vegetarianism and created the word Vegan to define practice and lifestyle. “Vegan” is built from the first three and last two letters of ‘vegetarian’. In the words of Donald Watson, it marked “the beginning and end of vegetarianism.”

Veganism was defined as “the principle of the emancipation of animals from exploitation by man, and to seek an end to the use of animals by man for food, commodities, work, hunting, vivisection, and by all other uses involving exploitation of animal life by man”.

The supporting Slogans for the expanding Vegan movement have since been further clarified by five rules of mindfulness and  practice. the five rules are:

Image1

01 – For Compassion (Empathy and care in lifestyle choices)

02 – Non-Violence (pacifism for all species “thou shall not kill”)

03 – For People (With best Health and social responsibility in resource management considered)

04 – For the Planet (Free of greed and with the impact of animal agriculture on climate change carefully weighed )

05 – For the Animals (At all times in the best interests of the animal kingdom)

Palm oil, oil from the fruit of a palm tree might sound very vegan but when you compare the industry against the founding definition of Veganism and the core rules of mindfulness, we cannot see how it can ever be.

A slew of Vegetarian meddling in Vegan ethics has lead to extensive confusion as to how “Vegan” Palm oil can or could be.

As the fashionability of being “Vegan” grows so too does dilution of the practicing values of the vegan movement.

Vegans , becoming more and more frustrated with this dilution “authorising” the consumption of products that challenge the principles of Veganism simply because commercial globalised food manufacturing lace it in all processed foods. This and the normalising of cruelty have coined the term “apologetic vegan”.

The term “Apologetic Vegan” though is probably also wrong. Someone who does not follow the definition of Veganism can be challenged as simply being not Vegan. There are no options for the Vegan, like Honey on Sunday or a bit of Horse riding wont do any harm. There are no, I can’t check the ingredients, it wont hurt once or twice, so I will have it anyway etc…These are the principles of a vegetarian NOT the Vegan.

Who’s Who  in the grey area between “Vegetarian” /”Vegan” ? 

http://www.veganpeace.com/veganism/vegan.htm

http://www.enkivillage.com/difference-between-vegan-and-vegetarian.html

Palm oil and the consumption of it, though plant based cannot in any stretch of the imagination be Vegan as it conflicts directly with 4 of the 5 rules of mindfulness. Though Palm oil is as Vegan as a Monsanto sweet corn GM crop, it is plant based, though when taken in isolation back to the definition of Vegan, it does not make the grade.

As Vegans we must at all times look to the root definition of Veganism and check products in isolation against that definition and where any question lies in to the ethics of a product, seek an alternative or do without.

The point is that we do not live in a vegan world, and until we do we cannot be wholly vegan , what we must do though is to at all times strive to be as close to the pure root and meaning of veganism as is possible. Palm Oil is a clearly obvious non ethical product and the expectation is that all modern vegans would refuse to consume it.

Let’s look at Palm oil itself – Yes its plant based and it’s freely used in processed foods, makeup, household cleaners, toiletries, bio-diesel, but it carries a huge price that challenges the founding ethics of the modern vegan movement, concerns over deforestation, habitat destruction, loss of biodiversity, species extinction (Orangutans), and a slew of human rights violations in the devastation or deforestation clearings that Palm oil production leaves behind it on the ecological battlefield.

The impact of Palm oil production on its habitat has always been well known by the commercial producers, though it was not until Biruté Galdikas, one of the greatest scientists and primatologists of the 20th century, and founder of the Orangutan foundation international in 1986 voiced concerns over the impact of exploding Palm oil production that the issue started to gain Main press.

Biruté Mary Galdikas has spent more than 40 years living and studying the behaviour of orangutans inside the once pristine rainforest of Borneo, Indonesia.

The rainforests threatened by palm oil production are uniquely lush and diverse, housing over half of the world’s species of flora and fauna. In recent years, conflict palm oil harvesting has become the leading contributor to rainforest destruction.

Not only are wild orangutans displaced in the name of palm oil, but they are also killed as pests when they return to what’s left of their habitat. In addition to the environmental concerns, palm oil carries serious health implications.

According to the documentary Sumatra Burning, an estimated 60,000 locals suffer from breathing complications due to smog caused by deforestation. Palm oil laborers are compensated with next-to-nothing wages. Many native communities have tried to stand up to these exploitative corporations, only to be forced out of the discussion.

Unfortunately, it appears that many ethical vegan companies are not immune from corporate mal-governance. By using ingredients as destructive as palm oil, these businesses are essentially standing for profit above all else.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tadzio-mac-gregor/birute-galdikas-if-orangu_b_6055924.html

Palm oil companies do not have a good record of wthical conduct, offering financial remuneration of 100$ a head for the shooting of orangutans despite this being illegal under Malaysian  and Indonesian laws of governance with regard to Palm Oil. Sign the below petition to stop this practice:

https://www.rainforest-rescue.org/petitions/815/tell-the-palm-oil-industry-orangutans-are-no-pests

web palm oil poster

https://orangutan.org/rainforest/the-effects-of-palm-oil/

The Vegan Community often opens discussion on comparison between palm oil and commercial vegetable and grain crops, in the sense that the globalised scale production of any crop also falls in to the category of “vegetarian” not “vegan”and brings into question any farming that is not a small holding or organic. Certainly the impact of pesticides and harvesting GM anti insect crops are not vegan.

Whether or not globalised farming is or is not vegan does not change the non ethical status of Palm Oil in any way. To justify classing Palm Oil as vegan on the basis that other industries also require scrutiny and where to draw the line is an aside to the actual issue of Palm oil in itself vis-a-vis the Vegan ethic.

Where the Vegan encounters globalised farming he/she is faced with, in the pure vegan ethic, a potential need to set up and manage a small holding or work with local produce groups to exchange and barter for non pesticide cash crop farming, sounds harder than it actually is.

Please see the below links to find out whether there is any traction in barter and tradein the UK and whether you are actually able to barter and trade small holding produce within the (UK) law:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3179329/Swap-shop-Britons-turn-to-bartering.html

https://www.organiclea.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/sellingallotmentproduce.pdf

The extend in which Palm oil has been rolled in to product has been, to a large extent, concealed by using over 200 different names for Palm oil on ingredients to mask the extent of it’s usage and to trick consumers who concerned over its bad rep may overlook ingredients that have been “re-branded”.

Many food products have Palm Oil listed as ‘vegetable oil’ and in non food products, there is at last count over 200 alternate names for palm oil.

There is money in Palm oil, big money, enough to direct western governments to stop subsidizing local vegetable oils and to import foreign palm oils instead.

The Palm oil Conspiracy (greed, profiteering and driving unethical consumption of palm dervied products)

http://www.palmoilinvestigations.org/names-for-palm-oil

http://www.ran.org/palm_oil_s_dirty_secret_the_many_ingredient_names_for_palm_oil

So to conclude, Palm oil cannot be Vegan, It is certainly Vegetarian, it is definitely Plant Based but it’s not Vegan when taken in isolation against the definition of Veganism as it does not satisfy or meet the definition or practicing code of Veganism.

palm oil poster4

DISCLAIMER: Links to information on sites other than those operated by FISHINABOX RECORDS are for your convenience only and are not an endorsement or recommendation of those sites. FISHINABOX RECORDS does not control or provide any content or information at these sites, makes no representation or warranty of any kind with respect to these sites or their content, and does not maintain, operate, or take responsibility for information provided. FISHINABOX RECORDS does not endorse and is not responsible for the accuracy or reliability of such content or information and any use thereof is solely at the user’s risk.