Hi guys,
Today I'm reviewing the vegan cookbook that you have requested most of all: The Official
Thug Kitchen Cookbook.
To be honest, I've held off on this one NOT because I didn't want to dive into this book
full of beautiful pictures of tantalizing vegan dishes, but because I wanted to learn
more about the controversy that arose when the book was released.
Thug Kitchen is a blog full of salty language written from the perspective of a dude with
a vegan girlfried. Using the conversational writing style of what I thought was just like
14 year old me.
Yes, that's right, I used to use a swear for every other word and sometimes in between
syllables. I never associated this style of speech particularly with hiphop before, though
now I can see the connection. And I thought thug was just a word for people who acted
bad. But bad as in cool. And that older, bitter adults used it to label kids who hung around
skateparks and malls. Because that's the context that I personally heard it in.
I was oblivious to the fact that many Black americans are hearing the word thug in a much
different, more serious context, and that this is reflective of a society that still
disporportionately persecutes Black individuals.
The fact that I didn't initally grasp this is alarming to me. When racism is invisible
to us, we can't help. Only when we acknowledge a problem can we take action to change.
I'm putting a few links in the description box below to share some of the articles that
really made me think about the gap between where we are now and equality.
I believe the intent behind the language use in this book was a good one; bringing humour
to vegan cooking, making it fun, making people laugh and more open to trying plant based
meals. I'm begining to understand that our actual effect is also important, not just
our intent.
So with that said, let's get into the recipes!
The first recipe I tried was for Cornmeal Waffles and Strawberry Syrup. It just looked
so good in the photo that I had to try it. That's one thing I really like about this
book. Lots of photos and wonderfully composed at that which really excites you into making
the thing.
The recipe itself was very simple. For the syrup just combine strawberries and stuff
and let it simmer on the stove.
For the waffles, as long as you know how to measure stuff, you'll get it. Mix the dry
ingredients, add in the wet stuff, stir.
They came out as I believe they were intended to. Quite fluffy, nice looking although I
know my waffle maker heats a bit unevenly so we have the super crispy middle and softer
edges.
Tastewise though..well..I think that if you really like cornbread and enjoy that slightly
gritty texture, you'll love these. But they aren't really my style of breakfast waffles.
I thought they'd do better with something savory like vegan chili. And now, as I record
this voice over, I'm craving a good vegan chili.
The strawberry sauce was good though I am a biased Canadian and really believe that
pure maple syrup is THE superior breakfast syrup and everything else is just never going
to be as good. mmkay
Later, I tried the Spiced Chickpea Wraps. They are supposed to capture the smoky flavour
of a falafel without all the *ahem* work.
First, we make a tahini dressing. This is the kind of recipe I love. Everything in the
blender. Boom done. Love it. The taste is garlicky, lemony and delicious and the consistency
is creamy and perfect.
Then, we heat the chickpeas on the stove with oil. Add some sour, sweet and salty in the
form of lemon juice, maple syrup and soy sauce. And then some spices.
Less than 10 minutes later, yea..those chickpeas were pretty tasty.
I put that on some spinach and mixed veggies, with the tahini sauce and wrapped it up.
Now for the taste test. I did get the falafel-ness from the cumin in the chickpeas and the tahini
sauce was really tasty. My boyfriend said it was awesome. I'll definitely make this
for him again, though for me it just made me crave actual falafel.
Next up, we have vegetable pad thai. Now, I've had a lot of pad thai in my hometown
of Vancouver, BC and really love the dish. Every restaurant always made it a little bit
differently and even the worst pad thai I've ever had was still really delicious to me.
So we're cooking up shallots and brocolli here and adding in cooked noodles and the
pad thai sauce from the recipe.
Everything looks and smells so good at this point.
But on the first taste test to adjust the seasonings, I began to have my doubts.
The noodles tasted a bit plain, which was the expectation since we're supposed to add
more sauce. But already the tang from the lime was overpowering the dish.
Maybe my limes were particularly acidic? I'm not sure. I added a bit more sauce and attempted
to balance the tang with more sweetness and salt.
Instead of the plain dry fried tofu in the recipe, I used some leftover spicy peanut
tofu and folded in some scallions, leaving out the cilantro for my cilantro adverse partner.
Time to plate up.
A helping of steaming noodles, some greens, and some fresh mung bean sprouts.
And for the taste test...well..yup. It really doesn't taste any pad thai that I've had before.
The boyfriend said something along the lines of "eh..it tastes weird."
I also tried the tofu scramble tacos and roasted sriracha cauliflower bites with peanut sauce
which I didn't film but they were kind of the same thing. OK, not gross, but needed
some adjustment to go from ok to great.
So overall, it was hit and miss. The pictures were so awesome and the recipe names were
so interesting to me with lots of international flavours. So...
but it seemed to fall short. There's also a lot of guidelines
for people who might be new to cooking which I can totally get behind. And it's all delivered
in a wise-cracking, swear word heavy, humourous way.
So that's my opinion on the recipes I've tried so far. Let me know your thoughts in the comments
below. Have you tried any of the recipes? What did you think?
Thanks for watching this video and don't forget to leave your cookbook review requests for
next time.
Bye for now!