Vegan Festival, Manchester…..

by Mandeep Gaygoat

What a fantastic day, we visited the Northern Vegan Festival in Manchester, http://www.northernveganfestival.com/

There were many stalls supporting animal rights and conservation of the environment.

Now what really attracted me was the free food, unfortunately as we arrived at the venue around 3:30pm most of the free food had disappeared. On entering the hall we found a stall that sold gluten free and vegan cupcakes, they looked delicious so we bought two…….nice to have later with coffee!

Further into the small crowded hall we saw a stall selling bhel puri, bhel puri is a savoury Indian snack, and is also a type of chaat. It is made out of puffed rice, vegetables and a tangy tamarind sauce.
Bhelpuri is often identified with the beaches of Mumbai (Bombay), such as Chowpatty. Bhelpuri is thought to have originated within the Gujarati cafes and street food stalls of Bombay, and the recipe has spread to most parts of India where it has been modified to suit local food availability. The Kolkata variant of Bhelpuri is called Jhaal Muri (meaning “hot puffed rice”). A native Mysore variant of Bhelpuri is known as Churumuri in Bangalore. A dry variant of Bhelpuri popularly known as Bhadang is consumed after garnishing with onions, coriander and lemon juice.

Sangeet had one bhel puri and said it was good. We were both hungry so everything tasted nice!!

There was a very popular Turkish stall which sold vegan Gozleme, Gözleme is a savoury traditional Turkish pastry dish, made of hand-rolled dough that is lightly brushed with butter and eggs, filled with various toppings, sealed, and cooked over a griddle.
The name derives from the Turkish word göz meaning “compartment”, in reference to the pocket of dough in which the various toppings are sealed and cooked. Traditionally, this is done on a saç griddle. stuffing options were Vegan cheese, mushroom, potato or spinach. It looked very popular. I decided to try this later.

Around the corner was Mistry’s Catering where I purchased mogo, also called Cassava, Cassava (Manihot esculenta), also called manioc, yuca, balinghoy, mogo, mandioca, kamoteng kahoy, and manioc root, a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae (spurge family) native to South America, is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy, tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates. It differs from the similarly spelled yucca, an unrelated fruit-bearing shrub in the Asparagaceae family. Cassava, when dried to a starchy, powdery (or pearly) extract is called tapioca, while its fermented, flaky version is named garri. The mogo was fried which is exactly how I like them!

One of the many stalls:

There were many other stalls including Lush, Pudology and a vegan clothes stall……I will not be eating my clothes after wearing them!

It was also great to meet David from Dandelion and Burdock, http://www.dandelionandburdockrestaurant.com/_/home.html
(16 Town hall street, Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire, HX6 2EA) we have been visiting this excellent vegetarian restaurant for a number of years.

I managed to find a stall which sold fake meats, ‘chicken’ burgers and ‘sausage’ the smell was fantastic, therefore, I decided to sample it a number of times!

Waiting for the next batch of burgers!

Ready to sample, even before the owner has put the food on the table!

As we are now going to phase out processed foods I did not buy any burgers.

The venue was small for the number of people and after a while you can really smell the sweat….I am hoping next year the organisers choose a bigger venue!

In the evening we tried the gluten free, vegan cupcakes they were very dry and did not taste quite how we expected….like a real cup cake, I have tasted many gluten free and vegan cupcakes which have tasted amazing, unfortunately for this one I suggest the creators go back into the kitchen and try again!