April 7, 2009 Literary Arts

The ironic chef

Vegan cookbook battles bitchin’ kitchen

by Ginger CoonsStephanie Laleggia

Bitchin’ Kitchen Cookbook
Nadia Giosia
Skirt!
December 2008
224 pp
$19.95

Vegan a Go-Go
Sarah Kramer
Arsenal Pulp Press
September 2008
256 pp
$17.95

Go-Go is so-so

The first cookbook I bought after going vegan was Sarah Kramer and Tanya Barnard’s How It All Vegan in 2002. It taught me the wonders of nutritional yeast, Bragg’s and tamari sauce. It actually managed to make veganism seem easy and tasty, not just an uphill battle for the sake of morals and health.

Her latest follow-up is Vegan a Go-Go.

Vegan a Go-Go is a little, bitty vegan travel cookbook. I had high hopes.

It’s small enough to fit into a large pocket and looks just as adorable as all her previous works. While the aesthetics are nice, there’s a problem with the premise.

Being vegan at home takes some preparation, lots of fresh food and at least a little cooking space. Being the vegan when all your friends go to a restaurant is even more difficult. It’s sometimes awkward asking the server picky questions and hoping the kitchen staff don’t resent leaving the cheese off the pizza. Being vegan in a city you don’t know well is even harder.

I started with Vegan a Go-Go at home. Leafing through, I noticed that the majority of the recipes are pulled from Kramer’s previous cookbooks, like that of an absolutely spectacular mushroom soup—it’s well worth making, even if it isn’t new. Granted, there were a few new recipes, but not nearly enough.

Of course, the worth of a travel book can’t be judged at home, so I took it on the road. Vegan a Go-Go got tossed into the back of the car in anticipation of a roadtrip off-island—unfortunately, it stayed in the backseat the whole trip.

Vegan a Go-Go is, sadly, not a practical book for travel. Almost every recipe requires access to a properly equipped kitchen. If there isn’t a stove close at hand, you’ll be out of luck.

Save yourself some trouble: If you want to eat vegan on the road, head to happycow.net and scope out the vegan restaurants in whichever city you’re headed to. If you want a vegan cookbook, pick up a copy of How It All Vegan. It’s got way better mileage than Vegan a Go-Go.

- Ginger Coons

Bitchin’ in the Kitchen and in life

Nadia G’s Bitchin’ Kitchen Cookbook leaves you hot and speechless... or is that sex?

This 28-year-old Italian-Canadian from our own hometown of Montreal manages to integrate food and sex—and I don’t mean the corny 1990s strawberry-covered chocolate-before-foreplay routine.

Her cookbook is one that all single and relationship-scarred ladies should have, not only in their kitchen to gratify every craving and awkward one-night-stands, but on their bedsides to boost them up when they’re down.

Nadia G seems to have a recipe for every kind of man problem you could think of. From “One-Night-Stand Breakfasts” to “Break-up Bonanza” to “Impress the In-laws,” this Montrealer has a chapter to deal with your every issue. Confront problems with delicious home-cooked meals instead of yelling and throwing slippers.

She refers to her Italian mother’s “witchcraft cooking”; never using a measuring cup, using instead what God gave her. Not only is her book full of seductive and mouth-watering dishes (trust me on this one), but chockful of life lessons and the kind of cutthroat truth you would normally only get from your Sicilian grandmother.

Like every Italian, Nadia G doesn’t believe in margarine or the idea that you can’t put Parmesan cheese on seafood pasta. What she does believe in is good quality meat and the different types of salt you can (and can’t?) have on a dish.

Though it may not be apparent from her very sexy photos, Nadia G has values, ones that most Italians can relate to. Although she believes one-night stands and morning-after breakfasts are necessary, she knows that when your “mudder” has a bad feeling about the guy you’re bringing to Christmas dinner, out the door he goes; family is more important.

- Stephanie Laleggia