VEGGY VIRGY — 1st week
Day 01, SAT 05.10
SUPERMARKET AND PLANNING OF THE WEEK
Today I became a vegan. AHAHAHAH really? Yes.
Although this statement seems to me kind of a paradox, I might say that I am really competitive and determined, so I am sure I will succeed during the challenge. Actually, I should admit that now I am quite curious about this world and I would like to explore it during these two weeks.
But now it’s time to be practical. As every Saturday morning my mom asks all the family during the breakfast: ‘I have to go to the supermarket, what are we going to eat during the week? Make a list’. In a family of five, everyone has its own lunch time, the dinner is the only meal we have together and usually, as I love cooking, I am the one who proposes what to eat, so I asked ‘Would anyone of you join me during the vegan challenge?’ but all of them started laughing. ‘So I will think about my lunch and my dinner’ I said a little bit annoyed.
After a quick research on some vegan blogs and websites, I fixed all my meals during the week and made the longest list ever for my mom.
Day 02, SUN 06.10
THE SUNDAY LUNCH BY GRANNY AND RELATIVES SHOCKING
Sunday means granny for me. And usually I am really excited about that because I immediately imagine in my mind all the delicious courses she would make for us: parmigiana, pizzoccheri, fritto misto, polenta e spezzatino, torta di pane, and more and more. But this morning after opening my eyes, I jumped out of my bed and realized this Sunday could have been the worst of my life. How could I explain to my granny that I turned vegan? How could she understand that I would not eat what she made and not because they are disgusting? She would think I am crazy and I hate her cooking, or that I want to become thinner (and that’s like a blasphemy for all the grandmothers).
Fortunately, during the breakfast my mum had the best idea ever. ‘Buy lentils, potatoes and carrots, go to the granny and cook with her’. Lentils are one of the most used proteins in a vegan diet and my granny loves to cook them.
Together with my family, my granny and my aunt we had lunch and I thought it would have been better not to reveal my granny the reason why I made her cooking lentils, but at the end of the meal she came out with a tiramisu. ‘Why don’t you eat it? It was made for you, it’s one of your favourite desserts!’ she said, in order to make me fell guilty as only grandmothers can do. So I had to declare my vegan challenge and the reaction was about misunderstanding and incomprehension as I could expect from a 85 years old women.
Day 03, MON 07.10
RECIPE ALMOST BY ME
Monday is my only free day during the week, because I have no classes at the university, and so I decided it would be the perfect day to start cooking something on my own. The past two breakfasts haven’t been that nice for me, I use to eat a lot of biscuits or a croissant, which made me start in a good way, and an apple and a slice of bread with jam are not so delicious, so I was really missing sweet food. ‘Why don’t I cook a vegan cake?’
For a moment it seemed to me the best idea ever, although I know vegan cakes are not so easy and tastefull. Btw I don’t know if you have ever read a vegan recipe: usually you need ingredients you have never heard about and most of them are more similar to chemical substances than to food. I know they are prejudices, but I decide to invent my own recipe, mixing some ingredients of the list and some in my mind, inventing the doses. I will be honest, I am not saying it is a dessert you should find in Cracco’s restaurant, but, trust me, it is pretty good and tasteful. In this way my ‘plum cake with avocado and dried fruit’ became my ‘good morning friend’.
Day 04, TUE 08.10
’CAUSE CARBS MAKES ME FEEL ALIVE’
I must be grateful, because a vegan diet eliminates meat, fish, eggs, milk and all what is made by other animals, but carbs are safe. And so I am too.
Some years ago my little brother had a gluten intolerance and I remember perfectly how annoyed he was with that: imagine a boy of 10 years old, in the full of his growing, that eats first course, second course and dessert for every meal and imagine how was it difficult in the past to find gluten free food in the grocery. It has been hard and the hardest part was when we, all the family, tried to eat the same. I must tell you, gluten free pasta, is not pasta at all, that’s maybe the reason why we failed after only one week. Fortunately for him, the intolerance was not so strong and so after a year he could eat everything. But I would die if I would have been forced not to eat pasta and so I am quite happy to be vegan.
My first vegan schiscetta (typical Milanese name for the lunch box you prepare at home) was really amazing: mezzepenne with vegetable sauce made with peppers, aubergines, tomatoes, onions and olives. Food can really make me happy, so I have a new personal goal: be a happy vegan and not a person who keeps complaining.
Day 05, WED 09.10
EVERTHING COLOURFUL
*spoiler for professors*
My fridge is completely full of colours: fruits and vegetables create a kind of rainbow. I don’t know why, maybe due to my background as interior designer, but I thought ‘Can I make the kitchen more colourful instead of leaving everything closed inside the fridge?’ and of course the answer was yes.
I immediately brought all the bowls my mum had bought in Ikea and never used, which were abandoned somewhere in the cellar, and started positioning them here and there in the kitchen. Fruits, vegetables and cereals became moodboard elements, that I assembled inside the bowls to create nice corners, like the ‘orange sweetness’ with pumpkin, oranges, carrots, mango and cous cous. My favourite one is the ‘test tube spiced’: some glass container, with a shape similar to a test tube, hanged to the wall thanks to a wooden structure (supplied by Ikea) where I put species, seeds and prepared mix for infusions, which were hidden in the pantry.
Day 06, THU 10.10
BURGERS AND PROTEINS
For the moment I won’t express my opinion on the ethic principles of the vegan diet but consider it just as a diet I will focus on its good and bad consequence towards human body. The worst cons is about the lack of proteins and when I began this challenge I thought it would have been very difficult for me to assume proteins, but this morning I had a surprise.
Starting by the fact that I hate hamburger (is something I can’t really eat), I was very reluctant to try vegan burger, but I discovered I love them! Trust me, they are tasteful and really fast to cook, you take it off the freezer and cook it in the oven for 10 minutes and that’s it. Moreover, there are a lot of types: quinoa burger, soya burger, vegetables burger and legumes burgers, so the best thing to do is to try any of them and choose the best for you. I am sure this will be something I will go on eating after these two weeks.
Day 07, FRI 11.10
ROMANTIC DINNER
If my family doesn’t want to join me during the challenge, my boyfriend is obliged. Usually on Friday nights we like to go out to have dinner together, in order to celebrate the end of the week and think only about plans for the weekend. ‘Why don’t we try a vegan restaurant?’
Of course, my boyfriend wasn’t that happy ‘Well maybe a pizza is better!’
But I didn’t drop off and I started looking for a really nice restaurant in order to convince him (although at the end I’m the boss). I found it: Cardamomo Cucina Vegana in Arona, a nice city near Lago Maggiore.
It has been a perfect experience!
LOCATION: 7\10
You can decide to eat inside or outside, the design is not so curated and modern but reflects the attitude of the owner: simplicity, rusticity and elegance. The best part is the nice spot outside, here furniture is more minimalistic and you can have a romantic dinner by candlelight under a small awning warmed up.
MENU: 9\10
Menu is different each day according to the raw material available, so you can be sure to find on your dish fresh products. What I really appreciate is that it was a ‘honest cuisine’, that’s to say, it wasn’t a mixture of ingredients, but a mindful combination that let you understand what you are eating.
SERVICE: 7\10
The owner and waiter is vegan and so he is the first to judge the chef. They both take part in the ideation of the courses and take care about spreading their philosophy throughout them.
BILL: 8\10
We ate 2 main courses (veggy bowl with hummus and ravioli carbons and zucchini), 2 desserts (raw chocolate cake and the secret garden) and two coffees, with a red wine bottle. We paid 55€ that is pretty honest for the quality and almost comparing to the restaurant of the quartier.
[if you didn’t get the link, watch ‘4 Ristoranti, Alessandro Borghese’.]
