Mango Meatball Curry

Are you kidding me, you say? Well, no, I am not. I had one fresh mango and some fake meat. So, I decided to make a very mild panang-style curry. I would usually make this meal with frozen tofu. But alas, I didn’t have enough foresight to have some in the freezer. But, I really still have a meat-eaters mindset about Thai food—I need something with bite as the centerpiece. Maybe it comes from years of ordering the Chicken Blank Blank Curry. I didn’t feel like frying or baking tofu, and I was out of tempeh and I have yet to make seitan, so I pulled out the loaf of fake meat. And, hence, the mango meatball curry. I added finely chopped organic raisins and fresh cilantro to the mini-meatballs, and then served it with fast-pickled red cabbage and brown rice. This was surprising quick and satisfying meal.

Recipe:
Mango Meatball Curry
Begin by making the mini-meatballs. I made them about thumbsized. To form the meatballs, combine and roll into small spheres:
1 cup fake beef
2 T finely minced shallots
2 t finely chopped cilantro

While you brown the meatballs, to make the baby panang curry sauce, combine the following and blend until a fine paste:
1 small dried chilies
3 shallots, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 lemongrass stalks, white part only, sliced and bruised
1 tablespoon chopped galangal
6 cilantro sprigs
2 teaspoons braggs liquid aminos
1 tiny pinch asofoetida

In a skillet, brown
1 cup coconut
1 cup baby panang curry paste

Add the "meatballs". Simmer for 10 minutes.

Add barely steamed vegetables (like cabbage, broccoli, bamboo shoots, etc) and of course, ripe mango. Cook for a few minutes to combine.

A table-side chat with a Pretender or how I ate Chrissie Hynde’s fake chicken

While I have seen famous people periodically, I generally don’t approach them. But this Friday, as we were singing the praises of The VegiTerranean, the owner Chrissie Hynde entered the restaurant. At first, we were fairly confident that it couldn’t possibly be the singer; we were eating dinner in Akron after all. But when we asked our waitress, she said, “oh yeah. I didn’t realize she was in town.” I vacillated about approaching her, but then with support from my fellow diners, I felt compelled to speak to her about the success of her restaurant and her motivations for creating this establishment.

Approaching gingerly at first, I told Ms. Hynde that I wrote a blog, and wondered if I might speak to her. She was gracious and enthusiastic. Of course, she said, because she would like to really do anything that helps her restaurant.

I was very interested and impressed with her involvement with the restaurant. It was clear that her commitment was quite sincere (and of course her commitment to an animal-free diet is well-known.) She said that she began with the concept of the restaurant in part because she wanted some place to eat out when she came to Akron. And, then she met with the chef, Scotty Jones, as she called him. (As I am not a Pretender, I assume I would call him Scott.) He spoke to her about the vegetarian possibilities in Italian food; but she felt at first that “he didn’t get it.”
One of the most striking things about what she said was that as a vegan she felt that other restaurants were “contaminated”. This is something that Hindu and Jain vegetarians and Orthodox Jews have discussed with me. And, it is definitely something parents of children with allergies feel. So, I felt a real connection to this statement; we always fear what sorts of allergens might come into contact with my Belle’s food when eating out.

Scott Jones had a breakthrough and decided that they would create a restaurant that was not just vegetarian but vegan. I think this choice was a brilliant one—it freed the chef from certain veggie clichés but it also allowed his ingenuity to shine. Ms. Hynde, who said she was a “brown rice vegan” for years, believes that a wonderful restaurant and a vegan restaurant are not mutually exclusive; but that would be in part due to planning and understanding your audience. A few vegans have come up to her since its opening to tell her thanks her for meeting their special needs; but they were not her only audience.

And meat substitutes are great for that other audience. Working with the Kosher community, they decided to use Gardein meat. She chose this product because it was just plain tasty—to the meat eater and non-meat eater alike. My friends and I were honest about our apprehension about fake meat. And, when we said, next time we might try it, she told us—no, try it now from my plate. Yes, we ate a piece of fake chicken from Chrissie Hynde’s plate. And, the Gardein was tasty.

While she is clearly a rock-star, Ms. Hynde struck me as being a good business-woman. She had just flown in from London and after a quiet dinner with friends, she still welcomed talking to a nobody about her restaurant. Like many business owners, success depends on believing in your product—and she clearly does. But, ownership is about stewardship, a blended skill of listening and demanding. She clearly expects a fine restaurant but has listened to others about how to accomplish this feat.

The VegiTerranean A Restaurant Review

On Friday we joined friends at The VegiTerranean, a vegan restaurant in Akron. With its rock-star ownership (by Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders) and its hippie motto World Peace Begins in the Kitchen, I entered the establishment with no small reservations. The restaurant is located on the first floor of a mixed-use multi-story space, residing beside some extremely large bridges on the edge of a valley, in a part of town that struck me as being a latter-day town square. While Akron seemed empty on the drive in, this little section of town, with a couple restaurants and a bar, was full.

Many of the vegan and raw food establishments that I have patronized over the years err on the side of crunchy for their decorative scheme. This restaurant chose the other extreme. The design could be called German industrial—concrete floors, stainless steel tables , white walls, and black and white pictures.


Restaurant décor is difficult and almost always feels calculated rather than organic. While the coldness of the materials was jarring at first, the pervasive natural of the aesthetic really gave the diner the sense that this was something wholly different from other restaurants of its ilk; it takes the industrial nature of Akron, the steel of northeast ohio, and dresses it up. In addition, the back wall the restaurant, comprised of glass, looks out at a wide vista (potentially the Cuyahoga Valley?), and softens the industrial nature of the interior. Subtle cues of design—that they use stainless steel coffee pots that match the tables and use single flower arrangements in the women’s restrooms and on the tables, have nothing to do with the food, but they do relate to commitment the management has to a concept. In other words, when everything matches, one should assume that the management team in paying attention and working hard.

The menu was very straightforward—appetizers, salads, pizzas, pastas, entrees and desserts. We began our meal with 2 appetizers—the stuffed peppers and the grilled artichokes on a bed of arugula. The latter had a very Mediterranean approach, highlighting through understanding sophistication rather than overwhelming the flavor of the vegetables; while paired with two fairly subtle dipping sauces—a lemon and a red pepper; this appetizer was basically an exercise in vegetable love. The stuffed peppers were the reformation of a Super Bowl party classic. These peppers were filled with creamy risotto and soy cheese. While tasty, they were on the spicy side for me. Luckily there was focaccia on the table (served with a black bean dip) to alleviate some of the heat.

For our entrée, we all chose to avoid the faux meat. The vast majority of the entrees on the menu were traditional Italian-American fare (marsala, fritto misto) but involving Gardein meat substitutes. I had planned to order the 4 sides as an entrée, but instead chose the special-- Eggplant stuffed with quinoa, escarole, and topped with cashew cream. The stuffing was fantastic—nutty, creamy and complex. The Eggplant was should have been seasoned more strongly, however. Two of my compatriots ordered the pasta—(1) Penne Gratin with Cashew Cream, Leeks, Wild Mushrooms and Asparagus, topped with Toasted Pine Nuts and Rawmesan &(2) Fresh Linguini with Portabella and Wild Mushroom Ragu. Both dishes, particularly the Penne, were layered with textures and flavors. The most lovely dinner was one that we have had at home often this winter—braised root vegetables with pearl couscous. The flavors were so rich and fresh; the plating was not overly complex and instead highlighted the bright colors of the root vegetables. This latter dish really showcased the prowess of the chef; we have had root vegetables but this was really one step above our preparations. In each of these entrees, there was a clear sense of planning to make sure that the diner would have a variety of flavors, textures and mouth-feels. While this is something that is inherent to fine dining, it is particularly important in vegan fine dining where the meat-eating diner is more apt to feel absence, longing, unsatiated.

We ended our meal with dessert; though the portions of the entrée were so large we had to choose to eat half in order to make room for dessert. We ordered the key lime pie and the tart cherry and almond pie. I have just begun my adventures into vegan baking, but I have had enough experiences to appreciate these deserts for their ingenuity—their whipping cream was ridiculously good. But, really, these desserts were beyond being vegan—they were just great.

They encapsulate the meal for me. I was deeply concerned that this restaurant would be every bad cliché about vegan restaurants or star-driven restaurants. Instead, this turned out to be an affordably priced fine-dining establishment that is focused on the flavors of its raw materials—vegetables. Vegan cooking when served by a food-lover requires a sense of creativity. ( Tomato sauce does not have to be complex if served with a rich sausage—but what if you can’t use sausage?) From the dishes we tasted, it would seem that this creativity has really fueled the chef, Scott Jones, to create dishes that transcend veganism. This restaurant is by far one of the best restaurant (of any kind) that I have experienced in Akron.