Vegetarian Star

Charles Haynes on Flickr

Chef Michael Ginor of Hudson Valley Foie Gras in New York and author of Foie Gras: A Passion is weighing in on PETA’s The Fine Faux Gras Challenge appears to have a Gordon Ramsay split personality when it comes to creating a vegetarian version of foie gras and the challenge presented by PETA for chefs to do so.

He thinks it’s a great idea. But no serious chef would do it. It provides another option. But chefs aren’t supposed to make substitutions. An excerpt from The National Post:

I think it’s great. People should always have alternatives. I also think it’s ridiculous in a sense, because you can find substitutes for steak. It’s another vegetarian thing. It’s not going to be foie gras, it’s obviously another PR campaign to try and get people to not eat foie gras. They’re not going to find an alternative to foie gras because there just isn’t one.

Ginor then went on to say that he hasn’t been asked to enter the competition and “no serious high end chef would want to do this.”

No, a faux foie gras chef isn’t a hardcore chef. And chefs have better things to do.

Before you know it, there will be a substitution for quail, a substitution for squab and a substitution for steak. That’s not the point of a restaurant.

We already have substitutes for steak, chicken, pork, and the like. And what’s even more ridiculous is that these are served in restaurants. And prepared by chefs! Not only in vegetarian restaurants, but other dining establishments who recognize the growing number of vegetarians (an estimated 5.7 million U.S. adults in 2000-FindArticles – How many vegetarians are there? A 2003 national Harris Interactive survey question sponsored by The Vegetarian Resource Group
Vegetarian Journal, May-June, 2003) and growing.

Looking forward to hearing his response when he tries the winner’s faux foie gras. We’re sure it will probably be something along the lines of “It tastes the same, but no serious chef should ever admit it.”

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The Gothamist

PETA has thrown down the gauntlet to celebrity chefs. Come up with a vegetarian version of  foie gras and win $10,000.

What the heck is foie gras? Contrary to its spelling, it’s certainly not Astro Turf. Foie gras isn’t fake grass and there’s nothing fake about what geese endure after being so overfed, their livers swell, producing a delicacy that even some meat eaters are hesitant about eating due to the abuse issues.

Amanda Cohen, who recently opened a vegetarian restaurant called Dirt Candy, has a dish nominated by Fork in the Road:

“The portobello mousse at Dirt Candy is rich, earthy and intense, with a silky texture reminiscent of foie gras.”

Cohen was Moby’s first chef at Teany, a vegan restaurant formerly owned by the musician.

Of course, if you think you’re a star vegetarian chef waiting to be discovered, you can submit your recipe as well.

via Gothamist

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Remember Anthony Kiedis’ personal vegan chef, Laura Dakin, he hired last year? She’s now working on the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s “Whale Wars” boat, Steve Irwin.

Laura is the gal who makes sure the crew gets three vegan meals a day while fighting Japanese hunters in the Southern Ocean.

She’s the Chief Cook on board and has held this position since 2005. Guess Anthony’s had to share her vegan food lovin’!

She’s got the seas in her blood-her father was an Australian Naval Officer.

Laura Dakin (Sea Shepherd Conservation Society)

You gotta wonder how poor Anthony gets by in the kitchen when Laura’s performing her duties at sea.

For more information on the rest of the crew, which actress Daryl Hannah joined, visit the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

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Update 1/7/09: Ani actually won 3 categories, as her book, Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen, placed first for best raw vegan book of the year. Woohoo!

Remember that awesome vegan chef, Ani Phyo, who catered Maroon 5’s vegan Halloween party? Who knew that most of the guys in Maroon 5 were vegan before she came along? We sure didn’t!

She’s won two categories in the Best of Raw 2008 poll!

Ani won for Best Raw Chef and Sexiest Raw Vegan Woman (hubba, hubba, giggity, giggity). And although she is sexy, brains are what really count, and she won second place for her intellectual efforts as a Raw Vegan Educator.

Congrats to Ani!

With celebrities like Eva Longoria and Fergie making New Year’s resolutions to eat healthier and raw, Ani just might find herself catering more vegan parties to the stars soon.

via Ani Phyo

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If Newton’s 3rd Law applies to news, then if we bring you the Best Of Veggie 2008, ultimately, we have to discuss the worst. And they’re really bad. But in order of fairness, here goes…

#5: Andre 3000 Is Cheap-After bending over backwards to get him a vegan meal prepared, Andre’s waiter didn’t even get tipped! The carnis already say we’re weird and demanding. Now they’re gonna call us cheap. Thanks Andre.

#4:Amazing Race Sheep Butt Eating Incident-Vegetarian Terence Gerchberg was athletic, smart, and a promising part of the duo Terence and Sarah on Amazing Race this past season. So sad that he got taken out by sheep ass.

#3: Paula Deen’s Ham Delivery-25,000 pounds of pork nastiness delivered in the name of charity. At least we got Heather Mills donating veggie burgers to balance off this Karma.

#2: Gordon Ramsay Vegetarian Children Nightmare-The celebrity chef said his worst fear is one of his children coming home and telling him he or she is a vegetarian. In fact, this would cause Ramsay so much distress, he said he would promptly put them on a fence and electrocute them. Nice.

#1: Sarah Palin Thanksgiving Turkey Slaughter-Palin gave the meaning of “know where your food is coming from” a whole different twist as she did an interview with turkeys getting killed just over her shoulder. Wonder how many converted (to vegetarianism) after seeing this, uh, miracle?

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Hope your New Year’s party plans are coming along well and your crib is stocked full of veggie goodies for the big celebration. Every one’s doing a “best of” list for 2008, so it makes sense for us to bring you a few of our favorites, which were some of the most heavily trafficked posts this year. Drum roll please…

Honorable Mention: 111 Year Old Woman Attributed Long Life To Vegetarianism-Aida May was not a celebrity, per se, but she should be a role model to anyone who wants to unlock the key to a long, healthy life!

#5: Kellie Pickler Turned Vegetarian-With the help of Idol alum Carrie Underwood and PETA queen Pamela Anderson, Miss Pickler is now a part of the Idol veg club. Which is a good thing since Ruben Studdard has fallen off the wagon.

#4: Rachael Ray BOB: Rachael Ray’s newest cookbook, Big Orange Book, has an entire chapter devoted towards vegetarian food. She did this after listening to her fans on the road that demanded more of these recipes.

#3: Anne Hathaway Became A Quitter: After an on again/off again relationship with the veg life, soon after Anne dumped her con ex boyfriend, she picked up tofu again.

#2: Pamela Anderson Tries Vegan KFC: Pammie visited a KFC in her home country of Canada, which now serves a vegan faux chicken patty. It won’t make every one happy, but it is a significant step towards making vegan food available in mainstream restaurants.

#1: Heather Mills Donates A Million Dollars Worth Of Veggie Food To Charity: Because everyone deserves the opportunity to eat vegetarian food, regardless of socio-economic status. Heather did a wonderful deed by donating veggie burgers, veggie dogs, and all sorts of goodies-she even showed up at an event to grill some of it.

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It has been suggested that celebrity chef Nigella Lawson stick to cooking and leave the humor to someone else.

On BBC1 radio’s The One Show, she made a comment that angered many animal rights activist, saying that going into a store and buying a fur coat is a “moment of weakness,” but “if I could go out into the woods and kill a bear myself, I would then wear it proudly as a trophy.”

Is this Sarah Palin of the UK?

The interviewer, Andrian Chiles asked her, “For celebrities who do wear fur, if they started skinning little dogs and strapping those on their backs, would they feel any differently?” Lawson then replied, “I’d love a dog or a cat.”

Her spokesperson later explained that the comment was meant to be a joke, but oh, how others don’t share the same sense of humor.

Viva! deputy director, Justin Kerswell:

“Nigella should stick to making double entendres about puddings. Most fur comes from animals farmed in appalling conditions. Much of it from China where there are no animal welfare laws and horrific cruelty is an everyday occurrence.”

A spokesman for Respect for Animals, an organization which campaigns against the fur trade:

“Her comments were callous and lacked any human decency. It was an astonishing thing to say on live television. If she could see the way in which bears and other animals are killed in the wild, she wouldn’t have been so flippant.”

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals:

“Nigella’s comments were ill-judged and show her in an unattractive light.”

We are starting to get the point.

Finally,  her spokesperson cleared things up:

”She was pointing out that, if you are a meat eater, you need to know where your food is from and the same goes for what people wear.”

via This Is London

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Image: Greg Gayne/FOX

Gordon Ramsay has an on again, off again fondness for vegetarians, and he recently visited a vegan restaurant in Hollywood, Sante La Brea, that was in need of a makeover for an episode of “Kitchen Nightmares” which aired November 20th.

Before we get any further, we’d like point out a serious WTF flaw in the menu. Although they claim to be a vegan restaurant, they serve fish and chicken, something which confused Ramsay, to say the least. Don’t worry Gordon, this confuses us too.

Apparently, the restaurant offers many vegan options on the menu and any entree can be made such by requesting unchicken or tofu. However, there are items with real chicken in tofu sauce, which doesn’t seem to make any sense, but that’s probably one of the reasons why Gordon was there to rescue them.

Here’s the lowdown on what happened:

Gordon is fed a turkey melt, which he is not impressed with and feeds to a dog. Turkey, yuck! Good for him. But he didn’t necessarily have to insult the dog like that.

A plate of tofu with overcooked vegetables and overcooked, lumpy rice does not impress him either. “Shocking. My God!” he exclaimed. Rotten eggplant is just one of the many delightful wonders he finds in the kitchen refrigerator.

Humorous highlights include Ramsay playing a joke on owner Dean Hamoui by having the police handcuff him so he can’t do everyone else’s job, forcing the employees to learn for themselves.

It was a happy ending and Hamoui was quoted in Eater, saying the best thing about working with Ramsay was, “The fact that he fixed things up. There are plenty of problems that I wanted to fix, and when Gordon came he actually put the lid on all those problems—my sons straightened out, Mark [the manager] quit coming with crazy ideas. I needed someone to help me put it back on the map.”

via Reality TV Magazine

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