Kelp caviar, books, yeast

First of all I got to apologize for disappearing for a while. Finals (and well, won't lie, couple of non-academic books) is all the distraction it takes to give up regular posting. I'll try to catch up in the next couple of weeks, but cannot promise anything for the summer, since it I will probably be getting around a computer rather irregularly. So today's post is going to be a mixed bunch, with all sort of things that popped up since the last update.

First of all, I'll step away from the self-imposed restrictions and go with another product review. Although I'm avoiding processed foods (and ultimately eliminating all prepackaged foods from my shopping list), I'm greatly curious about novelty products. My own interest mainly manifests itself in form of "how the hell did they come up with that, and how did they make it?!" pondering; my parents however are more pragmatic, and would just buy the thing and try it. Despite all our differences when it comes to food, they are very supportive of my veg*n/green/organic endeavours, thus we rarely end up with things completely inedible. In any case, about a month ago, my dad brought home this: 

I was somewhat nonplussed to see the extent to which imitation products have gone, but if it keeps sturgeons in the water instead of the plate I call it a win. All but one ingredient were of undoubtedly plant origin; the questionable one is the natural flavour; the label reads "sturgeon flavour." Question: can natural sturgeon flavour be produced without any fish involved? This is exactly the question what I emailed the company with, originally intending not to post this until they reply; now, a month and a half later, seeing that the answer have not been granted, I'm posting what I have:

1. Their website, as well as the package, claims that the product is all natural.

2. The package is marked "No Fish Roe," "Seaweed-based caviar imitation," and "Vegetarian."

3. *Disclaimer: this one is a rumour and might be wrong*: my mom recalls coming across the company's product launch about a year ago, and talking to a representative there, who confirmed that the natural flavour is indeed a fish product. 

4. Note that the product is mainly marketed as a more affordable and healthier version of caviar, not its veg*n alternative. A similar product that's been available for a while is Cavi-Art, which IS marketed as being vegetarian.

Although I can't claim with certainty that Kelp Caviar is using fish products, and hoping to be able to post the opposite, I will personally avoid it until accurate information will be available. If you come across any data please post it!

As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, I got a chance to read something not school related; it was, at least partially related to this blog though. One book, which I've mentioned already, is "Animal Ingredients A to Z" by E.G. Smith Collective; the name is rather descriptive: the book is a list of animal ingredients, and some more. In addition to an alphabetical list of the animal products, some having such names that you involuntarily start writing a scrabble cheat-sheet, it has a vegan booze list, as well as a quick "intro to veganism" chapter. The material is not limited to food, but touches on the subjects of health and hygiene products, and my favorite: vegan myths (anything wrong with chewing gum?) The book seems to err slightly on the safe side, as in listing ingredients that can be both plant and animal derived in the "usually of animal origin," while other sources list them as mainly non-animal (see the second paragraph of this earlier post). It would be a good, not intimidating guide for beginners, and a pretty solid reference for everybody.

Another thing I was reading is Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moscowitz and Terry Hope Romero from the Post Punk Kitchen. This one is also beginner-friendly, and has detailed instructions from the most basic things like soaking beans to the fairly complex recipes. Before that, I was mainly looking for the recipes online, but it is rather nice to have a cookbook when in hesitation over what to do with the seemingly disconnected stuff in the fridge. The sauces are certainly a blast! 

By now I figured that I won't be able to post new unveg*n ingredients frequently, because although there is quite a lot of them, relatively few are present in most of the foods, few others in beauty products, etc. In any case, I figured it would make sense to cover the veg*n-friendly ones too, since there is some new ones I only started using in the past couple of weeks. Not that I didn't know about them before, I just didn't know what to do with them, so would always walk right by. Among them are silken tofu (think smoothies, mayo-style dressing, and lots of cake potential), cornmeal (cornbread is ridiculously easy to make and it is grand), and nutritional yeast. The latter was on my mind for a while now, many vegan recipes call for it, and it is generally said to be a reliable source of vitamin B12, about which we're all so paranoid. I never really knew where could I get this yeast, and I rarely end up near a health food store to check (that's where a lot of people claim to get it). In the US the Red Star brand is usually mentioned, but I haven't seen it in Canada. So if you live in Montreal, know: nutritional yeast can be found at the Atwater market, at Douceurs du Marché. The mystery uncovered: this flaky substance makes for great cheesy sauce, and some might find it tasty to eat just by itself. The nutritional information table claimed that 10g (2 teaspoons) give you 570% of the daily value of B12, and some equally ridiculous amounts of some other vitamins (but I don't remember which ones, and the package is gone. Will check next time). So next time somebody starts beetwelving you, just give them the bag of yeast to read! Now, this is not to be confused with the active yeast used for baking, it is a rather different thing, and they have different properties.