Travelling Vegan: Road trippin' through Italy and France

After successful sojourns through Munich and Austria, we hit the road toward France as planned. Before that we were to pass through Italy and camp for a couple of nights.

We drove towards Lake Garda stopping at a charming port town called Limone sul Garda. Limone, gets it's name from the famous Italian lemons and the people living there are proud of their heritage. All the houses have beautiful ceramic lemons adorning the top of the front doors. I read on wikipedia that Limone used to be accesible only by boat until the 1940s and it is now a very popular tourist destination. It also says that people from Limone possess a muted form of a protein that produces more of the good cholesterol and that enables them to live longer. How strange is that! I could not spot the tourists from the mutant humans, but it was worth the stop over to have lunch by the lake, walk through the narrow slopes and get lost in this wonderful commune.

Residents celebrate the lemons with these pretty ceramic pieces

Lemons of Limone

Mini Tomato varieties at a local shop

Gnocchi at a restaurant in Limone

We then ended up in Gorgonzola, Milan. Yes the very land the smelly blue cheese comes from. Our intention was to spend a day around Milan. Milan, much like Munich was a deserted city. But Munich is like that because there are fewer people. Milan was empty because more than 70% of the population was out on summer vacation. Even the restaurants and bars shut shop for the month of August. The ones that are open actually have signs that say 'We are open in August'!

I'm very confident about eating vegan in Italy because of my earlier experiences. This time was no different. I asked for the Pizzas and Pastas without the cheese and had enough gelato that would've otherwise lasted me the year. I tried a new flavour of sorbetto called ACE. ACE is a mix of Orange (arancia), Carrot (carota) and Lemon (limone) Juices named ACE not for the ingredients it is made from, but from the vitamins found in them.

ACE Gelato in Gorgonzola

Tagliatelle with Lemon

Pizza with Arugula and Mushrooms

Milan's famous Grom Gelateria has sorbettos that are vegan

After a brief night in Albenga, Italy we drove towards France. Our original route was to lead us to Provence via the Grand Canyon of Verdon. On our way to the Canyon we decided to stop at Castellane. Castellane is one of those remote ancient villages in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence area. Since it is very close to the river canyon Gorges du Verdon, it is a halt for a few tourists. The town is situated quite high up so the weather was beautiful. The houses and streets had an old world charm as if they were unchanged since the 18th century. Through the narrow cobbled streets was the town's most popular stretch with many restaurants, bars, creperies and shops selling vintage and touristy stuff.

Now in such an old, remote location the last thing I would expect to find would be vegan or vegetarian food. Mostly because I was pretty certain that people had rarely, if not ever, seen Indians there. I got a lot of "where are you from?" and "I love the colour of your skin" type conversations. To add to that we were in France, not a very friendly place for vegetarians. But to my utter disbelief, yes I was overly dramatic when I found this little place, someone had actually set up a cafe that served vegan food. I did three cartwheels in my head when I saw the word 'Végétal' on the menu. (Végétal is vegan in French).

We had dinner there and it was probably the healthiest I had eaten in a while. Healthy, vegan food in a remote town in the middle of nowhere in France! I still can't believe my luck.

Nature Café in Castellane, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence

Assiette Végétal at Nature Café.

Salad Végétal at Nature Café

Onward our journey led us through the gorgeous lavender fields of Provence until we ended up at our last stop on the road trip, Marseille. I managed to find something vegan almost everywhere and even found an Organic store in Marseille selling a lot of vegan, gluten-free stuff. There are a lot of Lactose-free milks in European supermarkets. Most of them are not vegan. I have no idea how they manage to process something that is already so processed, but read labels carefully. Even the gluten-free diet has caught on in Europe and it does not always mean it is vegan because all of the gluten free breads I saw had eggs, except one brand I found in the Bio section.

Lavender fields in Provence

Roasted Aubergine and Salad with Black Olive Tapenade in Marseille

Lima is a famous vegan brand found all over France.

Vegan Sablés (Cookies) that are also gluten-free

As Vegan MoFo is still on in full swing, here are two wonderful bloggers I came across.

Luca from Italy over at The Vegan Kitchen of Dr Caligari is making vegan sweet and savoury cupcakes all this month! You have to see all of them!

Paris Vegan has a lovely recipe for Breton Pancakes that are now popular in Mumbai thanks to a restaurant. Get the recipe and make them since Buckwheat is in season now!

My next post will be about London and all the vegan things I stuffed myself with!

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Travelling Vegan: Camping in Austria

In my last post I wrote about how I "managed" to eat vegan in Bavaria, Germany with my rule of not going out of my way to eat at a vegan restaurant. Even though I made it to Max Pett, a vegan restaurant in Munich, this next part of my trip was not meant to be planned out. It was the five of us, a car full of camping equipment, a huge map, some food and a lot of excitement for the journey ahead.

We took off from Bavaria in the direction of Austria towards the Grossglockner, Austria's highest mountain situated in the Alps. But that was only planned for the next day. Before that we had to find a campsite and camp for the night. This was the very first time three of us had ever camped.

Europeans take camping very seriously. So much so that they pack up the entire family with the dogs in camper vans and drive endlessly during the holidays. Some families had even got their plants along. That is some sort of dedication to camping and gardening. Campsites are abundant around important areas specially close to mountains where they can hike or mountain bike during the day or next to lakes or the sea shore. Campsites are marked on the map and have road signs too - a tent symbolizes a campsite near by.

Before we left India, we had gotten our sleeping bag and tents from a local sporting goods store. After asking the opinion on what to buy from an avid vegan trekker friend, we decided to buy Quechua tents and sleeping bags because they were made from synthetic materials and the sleeping bags did not use any down. I also scoured the supermarket for ready to eat foods that were vegan as a last resort in case I did not find anything. I managed to find a few things that were vegan made by Gits that were suitable for camping. Not the healthiest option, but I did not want to leave much to chance. 

My back-up plan

Our friends bought the camping gas stove and a tiny cylinder along with some very cute fold-able, collapsible camping utensils. All these are available online or can be bought at a sporting goods store wherever you are camping.

We managed to pitch our tent!

The campsite we parked at was the fanciest campsite I've ever seen. It was situated in Zell Am See in Salzburg. We got a good spot by a small pond and they had tables and benches made of wooden logs by the pond that made a perfect dinner setting. We were quite high up altitude-wise so the weather was perfect. With some luck, I found Uncle Ben's Mediterranean Rice. Uncle Ben's is an American company making all kinds of flavoured rice dishes. This particular one was vegan and needed to be cooked for a few minutes with a little water which was perfect camping night dinner. On that first night of camping I made do with the Mediterranean rice under a canopy of stars and two lit candles.

Dinner!

I have to deviate a bit to make a quick mention of what I saw that night and made a point to observe every single night. The night sky has always enthralled me but this was nothing like I have ever seen before. Most of our nights camping we could see the Milky Way (!!!) from where we were. I am going to say this again, but it is NOTHING like I have ever seen before. We miss out so much living in cities with skies masked by pollution. This is something all of you reading this MUST add to your 'To Do' list. It did not strike me to take a picture and may be I did not want to, because it is something you have to see for yourself with your own eyes. The Universe is an amazing place and we are so lucky to be part of it.

The next morning we drove up to the Grossglockner and we were under prepared for the freezing temperatures. Also a landslide meant that we could not hike anywhere around it. We ended up driving around till we found a hiking trail. This is something else the Europeans take seriously. For any country to have so many marked trails for hiking and trekking it really speaks about how much exercise they get when the weather permits. I wish we were as athletic. I struggled on the hike because after freezing at the Grossglockner we were now subject to a harsh afternoon sun and also because I am not athletic. Fine I'm lazy, I admit it. My idea of exercise is no exercise at all. It's mostly because ever since I have gone vegan, my weight has remained constant. Every now and then I meet people who tell me I look skinnier or "healthier" from the last time they saw me but the truth is my weighing scale doesn't think so. From that three-fourths of a hike that I did, the views were amazing.

The Grossglockner

View of the valley from the up high

I'd read up that in Austria the Spar supermarket chain has a few vegan friendly foods. We stopped at a really massive Spar and I was hopeful. Turns out Gwyneth Paltrow is the face of a mostly organic, vegetarian and vegan line of products called Spar Veggie. These are mostly frozen products like burger patties, tofu, and a few ready to eat foods like hummus and curries. The vegan products are clearly marked as vegan so I did not need a translator. I picked up a few burger patties to try and the best out of the lot was the Organic Chilli Patties followed by the Vegetable Patties. I also tried the Spelt patties and did not like them. I managed to find Alpro's soya pudding which was my dessert for a few meals over the next day. It is hard to find stuff that does not need refrigeration but fortunately the patties I bought were "ungekühlt haltbar" or stable without refrigeration.

Spar's Organic Veggie Patties

Alpro's Vegan Chocolate Pudding cups

Camping with a view

A Few (Vegan) Camping Tips:

1. Look for vegan friendly tents and sleeping bags in your country.

2. Always have fruits and nuts handy.

3. If you find vegan energy bars, buy them.

4. Scour the supermarket as if you are memorizing all the ingredients behind every product. You never know what can be accidentally vegan.

5. Look for the "Bio" section in the supermarkets. Bio means organic and usually you will find vegan food there.

6. Vegetarian products are proudly marked as vegetarian, but most often contain eggs apart from milk. So have your translator ready to read the ingredients.

7. If you stop at a supermarket and find something vegan, buy it! You never know when your next stop will happen.

Even if you learn nothing else, camping teaches you how to pack only the most necessary things. I am a changed traveler. 

Vegan MoFo is going on in full swing. Though I am not able to post as often as the other pros are posting, I still manage to look through the amazing stuff people are making. This week I looked up bloggers from Austria and found interesting stuff.

This amazing Pumpkin Tart with Pesto Filling at Cookies and Style makes me want to jump into that picture! I love the addition of Sage in the pesto. Im going to try that next time. Also I love how she shares a picture of her outfit, this is a recipe, DIY and Fashion blog all in one.

Over at Mama Mia, this Alphabet Pasta soup looks so cute. I did not know they made such intricate alphabet pasta like that. Need to find them.

That is about it for the camping story. My next post will be about the rest of our journey through the Alps, eating vegan at random restaurants and how the vegan gods surprised me in a remote commune in France.

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UFO attacked my pasta- How I saved the world one bite at a time

As I was walking down the supermarket aisle I noticed an odd looking pasta shape. I picked it up thinking we could use it for dinner that night and then kept it back because we decided to make our own pasta. But then when I looked at it again I actually noticed what it was. It was UFO shaped pasta! I remember seeing all kinds of unmentionable shapes and colours in Italy. But UFOs?! As weird as it may sound, the pack was filled with the cutest little durum wheat alien vehicles. How could I not pick it up?!

Uncooked UFOs

Cooked UFOs

We ended up making Lasagna for dinner that night, but the next morning our pasta quota wasn't over just as yet. It was almost brunch time till I decided I was going to attempt the American junk classic Macaroni and Cheese. I searched the internet for inspiration and then finally came up with my own version using whatever I had and thought was healthy enough to be added into the sauce.

Here's how it went.

You need:

1 cup whole cashews
1/3rd cup Nutritional Yeast
3 cloves of Garlic
1 small Onion
1 tbsp Corn Starch
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
Salt
Pepper
Water

2 cups Cooked Pasta

Blend the cashews till they are a fine powder. Don't let it get to the butter stage. Add in the nutritional yeast, garlic, onion and blend. It might all clump up together. Add a little water to make it a fine paste.

In a saucepan, mix the corn starch, soy sauce and mustard powder. Add a little water and bring to a boil. Add in the cashew paste and add water little bit at a time till it gets to a nice thick consistency. Add salt, pepper and take it off the stove.

At this stage I added some chopped capsicum but you could leave it out if you want or add any vegetables of your choice.

Mix it with the cooked pasta in a bake proof dish and bake for 10 minutes at 175C till the top browns a bit.

Serve hot.

We're safe now. I ate the last UFO.

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Travelling Vegan- Positano, Italia

The (Postcard) view of Positano from the sea

Positano to Italy is what the Nicobar Islands are to India. It's absolutely stunning, not too many Italians can afford to go there and all the locals are in the tourism business. (I myself have never been to Nicobar and of course Positano has no indigenous tribes that live there)

Wikipedia has the right description for Positano:

"... a relatively poor fishing village during the first half of the 20th century. It began to attract large numbers of tourists in the 1950s, especially after John Steinbeck published his essay about Positano in Harper's Bazaar in May, 1953: "Positano bites deep", Steinbeck wrote. "It is a dream place that isn’t quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone."

I can vouch for that!

Positano is a picture perfect town by the Amalfi Coast. The towns on the Amalfi Coastline are known for their Lemons and they are full of them. Everywhere you go you see Lemons either growing by the hills, on pottery as designs, hanging by store fronts, displayed proudly outside with other produce and also as table settings in restaurants. It's everywhere and they are so proud of it. They should be! Those lemons are absolutely stunning. There is a whiff of it's scent in the air whenever you're close to one and I was always found myself singing 'Lemon Tree' by Fool's Garden.

Hoping just one would fall as we rode by!

Slopes and slopes of lemon plantations

Lemons that are bigger than Oranges!

Lemons that are bigger than Pineapples!!

Pottery from Amalfi

After stuffing myself in Rome, I didn't have much to expect from a sea side coastal town. I knew I'd come across a lot of sea food. And there is also the Limoncello (lemon gelati) made from local lemons. I also read about Almond milk sold locally in a small shop en route to the beach. It was very intense, too sweet for my liking but I drank it nevertheless.

Spaghetti al Pomodoro

Pizza with Tomatoes and Arugula

Aglio Olio

Pizza with Mushrooms and Oregano

Spaghetti with Tomatoes, Black Olives and Basil

Pizza Margherita

Vegetable Soup

Almond Milk

Positano is full of slopes and narrow lanes with walls lined with beautiful Bouganvilleas and lovely Jasmine shrubs. There are pots of tiny blue flowers and you will find lemons and oranges as if they were fallen leaves. By night, Positano turns into a Bond film - everyone puts on their best dresses and dinner coats and steps out of their hotels for dinner. Travelling musicians pull up in their cars, get off and serenade you with Italian songs (and at least two versions of Volare / Nel blu dipinto di blu). One night, to celebrate Positano, we made our own dinner (open sandwiches) using local ingredients and sat by the gorgeous view from our pretty balcony. We got the local lemons, cherry tomatoes, red peppers with some bread from a bakery, mushrooms in olive oil, a piquant black olive pate, acidic red wine vinegar with some mustard. It was a melee of flavours and it all came together wonderfully with some champagne, the silent sea, and faint music playing somewhere below.

Bouganvilleas - pretty in pink!

Jasmine

(Did you know Jasmine and Olives are from the same plant family!)

Prepping Dinner

Nothing beats the views that Positano, Ravello, Amalfi and Capri have to offer and the food is not going to be topmost on your mind when you are here. The coast takes the cake.

Capri's Faraglioni -

that have a species of lizards that are only found on these isolated rocks and no where else in the world!

Positano sizzles and shivers by the night light

A Perfect ending on our last night in Positano

(This picture has not been edited!)

Next stop : Venezia!

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Travelling Vegan - Roma, Italia!

It has been a dream of mine to travel to Italy and eat the food I love the most, made from authentic and not imported ingredients. And my wish was granted in the form of a ten day trip through three cities. If we had more time (and money) we could have disappeared in Italy.

Before going I was scared. Knowing the love for cheese and meat the Italians have, what will a vegan eat? I was even more scared when I saw the shock on the face of a good friend - an Italian restaurateur as I told him about my predicament. But thanks to the internet and thanks to a significant number of lactose intolerant Italians, I must admit, I ate much more than I had prepared for.

Rome is overwhelming. The city reminds me of New York with its small buildings and busy people. The subway system is as confusing as it is if you are travelling through the New York subway for the first time. The only difference architecturally is the grandeur of the Roman Empire and how some parts of the city have just stopped in time. It's a city full of tourists, touts and tour guides.

I must've spent all my free time at home looking up vegan brands in Italy and one name stood out on a few websites - Valsoia. Valsoia is a company that makes everything out of Soia (Soya). They are an Italian based company that makes everything from Soy Milk to Ice Creams to Yogurts out of Soy. The first thing I did when I entered the supermarket in Rome was to head straight to the freezer section. And there it was staring back at me - Soya Ice cream in many different varieties (Cornetto, Ice cream sandwiches, Sticks...). I wanted to take them all! Of course I tried as much as I could and they were great. But since I was in Italy, what interested me more was Gelati. Again with Gelati, there isn't much information out there about what to expect when you go to a Gelateria. The internet gave me a few places in Rome and Venice that had Soy and Rice milk based Gelatis. I was wrong, I underestimated the Italians!

Averaging anywhere from 4 to 6 Gelatis in a day, we devoured every Gelati. Rome is full of

Gelaterias, even if it's a hole in the wall they will put up a freezer and sell it under the guise of a Gelaterie Artigianale. The prices range from €2 t0 €6 depending on the size, cup or waffle cone and flavours. Since we went in June it was summer, all the berries were in season. Frulatis (gelatis made with fruit, ice and sugar) were almost always vegan. The attendants at the stores knew if they had milk or not. Many were even without sugar. They melt in your mouth, the flavours just stay on your tongue and give you the perfect hit. All the gelatos available in India are way too sweet but that's because we have an excessive palate. Everything is either sweet or spicy, there is no in between.

One Gelateria I found online that made soy gelatos was Gelateria Blue Ice. I'd read about it, saved the address but found this by mistake while walking back from the Vatican. I had stuffed myself with a strawberry gelati (their small serving is huge!) from another gelateria and had no inclination of giving myself a brain freeze. But I could not miss this opportunity and I am so glad I didn't. That day they had hazelnut (nocciola) made with soy milk and it was HEAVEN! Everywhere I went I tried to sample a new flavour. Over ten days, I must've eaten strawberry (fragola) the most. But my favourite was and always will be the nocciola. I can give up anything for another bite of that, anything!

Hazelnut and Chocolate Gelato from Blue Ice

*Drool

Wild Berry and Black Berry Gelati

Eating out wasn't trouble at all and one place was on all the vegetarian websites - Il Margutta. A vegetarian restaurant since 1979, Il Margutta is situated at the end of a narrow alley close to Rome's famous Spanish Steps (we had a bit of difficulty finding it). It's a very quaint and charming restaurant with open air and indoor seating. We chose open air, because it was a beautiful evening. In Italy many restaurants have what is called a 'cover charge'. They usually levy a €2 charge per person to cover the cost of their cutlery and table covers. Some restaurants will advertise 'No Cover Charge'. Many restaurants will also charge for water and bread. Il Margutta charged us for everything.

We went into Il Margutta mostly because it was Rome's only vegetarian restaurant that we knew of and I was hoping they would understand vegans better. They have an extensive vegetarian menu with some vegan options. They didn't have a few vegan dishes listed on the menu which I asked for, but we settled for the Risotto with Courgette flowers and a spaghetti with cherry tomatoes. The food was excellent of course, but we would've enjoyed it a little more if we hadn't stuffed ourselves all day. For dessert they had two vegan options and they were nice enough to give us a little bit of both - a carrot cake and a chocolate cake with a serving of soy gelato. The cakes were made with walnut flour and were dense, flavourful and so good! Il Margutta is a bit on the expensive side and I'd suggest eating light the day you plan to eat there. I only wish they were a little more vegan friendly.

Otherwise, I ate Pizza everyday, every single day! Turns out the Italians love their Pizzas even without cheese. Same with the pastas. All the menus had at least two Pizzas without cheese and meat. The Margharita - tomatoes, garlic and fresh basil (tell them to avoid the cheese) was on every menu. Or you can request the pizza or pasta you want without cheese. There are some Indian and Mediterranean restaurants in Rome which would probably be vegetarian friendly, but when in Rome do as the (vegan) Romans do! A very sweet lady at our hotel told us about an Indian restaurant that served very good Samosas near by. But I don't think it would be the same as the ones you get here. They never are.

Pizza Marinara

Spaghetti with Tomato and Basil

There was lots to choose from, no need to starve. Almost anything that is freshly made can be altered to become vegan friendly. You only have to look out for the pastas made with eggs, squid ink pastas which are black in colour, milk and cheese. It helps to learn the key words of any language before going to a country where English is not the first language. And when I say key words I always start with food. A lot of the food in the supermarket is labeled in Italian and it really helped because I knew that 'uovo/a' is 'egg' and 'con latte' is 'with milk'. Bread and Olive oil with Balsamic vinegar is to die for and all the restaurants either greeted you with a free bread basket or asked you if you wanted some. I can eat it every single day.

A million varieties of Pasta and more

Rome is abundant and will surprise you. The food and the grandiose of the architecture will take you to the era of the Roman Empire and back. You will want to preserve every bite of what you see and eat.

Next Stop: Positano!

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