Books and bagels November 30, 2007

Yesterday I didn’t do any proper cooking because I went to Amsterdam straight out of uni to go to the book festival. It’ll be in Rotterdam in two months, but I’m a bit impatient with things like that.
Because I’d not bothered to get any bread the day before I had little to eat in the evening. Which is why I was eating rye bread for lunch today (yum!).
It wasn’t really a problem, since I could easily get me some food on the way.
First I stopped by Eendrachtsplein for my weekly bag of oliebollen. Most places put milk in theirs, but these people don’t so I frequently pay them a visit in November and December.

Then, because I had to switch trains in Leiden, I stopped by Shakies (Dutch site) for a nice shake and maybe something to eat. For some reason they no longer sell the samosa (haven’t been able to get my hands on one in a while, though it’s still listed on their site), but they have added a vegan bagel topping. And quite a tasty one, as well.
It’s an artichoke tapenade with a bit of rucola.
Unfortunately only the white bagels are vegan, though the girl behind the counter very kindly and very correctly assumed I’d prefer a whole-meal one.

Of course, I did also get their one vegan shake. Though I wouldn’t mind a bit of variety (they could maybe bring back that cherry shake they had for a few months), the berry shake is most tasty and I don’t end up on a station with a Shakies all that often anyway so I won’t get bored with it.

The Shakies food was much more satisfying than the oliebollen. Probably a good bit healthier as well.

The book festival itself was, as always, a lot of fun. I didn’t find that many interesting veggie cookbooks, though. Initially I really liked a book about healthy Jewish food, but when I went through my pile of maybe-books to figure out what my final selection would be, I realised it was far from vegan so I put in on the return table. Because I didn’t want to go home without a veggie cookbook, I gave Rose Elliot’s Veggie Chic another chance. I’d put it on the return table because it was a vegetarian rather than a vegan cookbook and I’m generally not into chic anything. I’d assumed chic food would be mostly elaborate nouveau cuisine-like dishes which require expensive ingredients and obscure utensils, take ages to prepare, and aren’t quite as filling as a decent meal should be.

However, upon further inspection Rose Elliot’s idea of chic food is slightly different from what I’d expected.
Though a few of the ingredients might be a little on the pricey side and found in specialty shops, most are basic, easy-to-find fruits, vegetables, and seasonings. She also seems to think food should be fun and easy to prepare so you can get on with enjoying the eating and social bits of the evening. Most of the recipes are simple dishes requiring only a handful (or two) of basic ingredients, and have this little twist that makes them just that bit different from what you’d usually eat.
And while it’s a vegetarian cookbook, a good many recipes are vegan (and labelled as such) and she provides information to help you veganise most of the rest. Usually only one or two of the ingredients are non-vegan anyway, and for most are decent substitutions.

Though I’ve yet to make anything from it (and, given my record with cookbooks, there’s a decent chance I never will), I had a lot of fun going through that book and seeing how easily one could make a fancy-looking dish which would impress others.