Vegeance is a noun meaning 'an act of harming or punishing someone in return for what they have done to you', i'm assuming or rather hoping that 'Vegan with a vengeance' by Isa Chandra Moskowitz is refering to the second definition in my dictionary which is 'with great intensity'. And it is quite intense: mostly in a good drag you along with enthusiasm but it is described as 'quirky' on the back. I bet its also 'zany' and 'wacky'. Grrrr. The author is also defined as 'chatty' and if that was me and the best anyone could come up with, on the back of my cookbook, was 'chatty', i would be ever so slightly pissed off.
I picked this up for a very reasonable 50p from the local library thinking i could whip up a little something for the lovely vegan in my life, but...it's actually quite scary for someone unused to vegan ways, i mean seitan? nuttritional yeast? I can't even spell it so how am i supposed to find it?
The main issue i have with this book is the recipe titles are sideways. Sideways! Meaning you look a bit like a confused baby owl trying to veganise a vole. But other than that the cakes are damn good and it has a very helpful bit on replacing eggs in baking even if it does come over a bit Gillian Mckeith with it's flaxseeds, evil little beetle looking thingies that they are.
There are no pictures, which would be helpful if only so you could visualise what some of the recipes would look like, i know i've mentioned it before but seitan? What the hell is it? Bean Curd? A vegatable? Some sort of vegan egg? I'm not even going to Google it, i prefer to live with whats in my imagination.
Nevertheless having spoken to actual vegans and discovering they like this book, i remain bemused, if incredibly fond of the cakes.
