Mango & MintArabian, Indian, and North African Inspired Vegan Cuisine
Mango & Mint is a collection of favorite vegan dishes inspired by the foods of Arabia, India, and North Africa. It follows the philosophy of a cuisine free of meat rather than one that emulates it.
Mango & Mint is a collection of favorite vegan dishes inspired by the foods of Arabia, India, and North Africa. It follows the philosophy of a cuisine free of meat rather than one that emulates it. One common thread in these cuisines is that they can be prepared in a buffet style without a centerpiece (historically the kill from the hunt or domesticated herd).
Care has been taken to include sufficient recipes to build a complete buffet or a formal sit-down meal. Traditional recipes for familiar classics such as Humus or Chana Masala are enriched with tips and presentation ideas while established flavors and techniques are brought to bear on new combinations. This collection of recipes leans towards the flavorful with Arabic and North African creations such as Baba Ghannohj, Red Pepper Bulgar, Spinach Pies, Harissa, Donuts in Syrup and Indian favorites such as Apple Soup, Peanut Vada, Chana Masala with green chili, and Mango Rice.
The recipes range from quick and easily created to relatively complex but requiring only basic equipment and rudimentary skill.
A section called “Ganging Up” has ideas and procedures for planning ahead and saving money by maximizing resources. This includes buying in season, getting the most out of a barbeque, freezing, cooking in batches, creating vegetable stocks and base sauces.
The final section “Recycled” has a selection of recipes for normally discarded matter like watermelon rind, leftovers, and wild plants.
Born in Leicestershire, England in 1955, Nicky Garratt is an internationally recognized guitar player and vegetarian chef. In 1977, he released his first recording (live from the infamous Roxy club in London) with his punk rock band UK Subs. Success followed with five nationally charting albums and eight singles. Thirty years later the band won a BBC poll as the world’s best punk rock band beating out the Ramones, the Clash, and the Sex Pistols. A thirteen-year leave of absence from the band saw Garratt building a successful record company (New Red Archives) while moving from New York to California.
Over the past forty years he has been an outspoken advocate for Science and Animal Rights, and is active on the lecture circuit on science advocacy topics. He now spends time between homes in San Francisco and Quedlinburg, Germany.
“The recipes I tried from Nicky’s forthcoming book are exceptional. The Bingun Bartha’s depth of flavor from fire roasting the eggplant is stellar. The Peanut Vada show Nicky’s riff on a classic southern Indian snack food, most folks are probably not that familiar with in the first place. The curry leaf, chilies, asafetida with the toasted peanuts give these Vada an addictively complex flavor I haven’t found in restaurant versions of Vada. The instructions and header are very detailed to help walk you through getting the Vada to come out perfect. The Longan Fruit and Onion Chutney flat out kicks ass! And Mr. Garratt claims he’s not a chef? It takes a creative chef with a mastery of Indian spices to put together such a balanced chutney, I’m stealing this for Millennium!”
—Eric Tucker, author of The Millennium cookbook: Extraordinary Vegetarian Cuisine and The Artful Vegan, Executive Chef, Millennium restaurant, San Francisco 2012
“Nicky’s fire-roasted Baba Ghannohj was absolutely amazing. Without doubt the best I’ve ever tasted.”
—M. Green, General Manager, Blue Table Restaurant (Los Angeles)
‘”Nicky Garratt’s knowledge of Indian/Arabic cuisine, and specifically the spices used in its preparation, is vast indeed.”
—A. McMullan, award-winning chef, San Francisco
“Nicky’s meals inspire the realization that vegetarian food need not be dull to the eye or bland to the palate, and I recommend this excellent cookbook to anyone who wishes make such an agreeable discovery for themselves.”
—Alvin Gibbs, bassist of the UK Subs
“Nicky Garratt served a simply wonderful meal”
—Creetin K-oS – Lead vocalist, Social Unrest, Sacramento, 2012
“If I was Ted Nugent and I tasted Nicky Garratt’s vegetarian cookin’, I’d have to say to wild animals out there in the woods, y’all can stop shiverin’ in fear for a few weeks!”
Knox – Vibrators 2012
“All of the dishes hold unexpected surprises, like a kiss of smoke in the eggplant or a bright acidity in the lentils”.
—Jonah Oakden, Boulevard Restaurant (San Francisco)
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