A Vegan feast of the senses
Roqué’s sister lived in Paris sharing her minimal apartment near Montmartre sometimes with her girl friend and sometimes with her boyfriend – you see she was bi – lingual…
Claire was a tad younger than Roque and a sexually free spirit working the world as a political journalist. She shared the inherited Italian good looks and hearing about Roqué’s love for Wanda had flown to meet them. Wanda was excited not only at the thought of meeting Claire but also the challenge of preparing a vegan feast. Claire had been a vegan for years flying the flag for a diet of only plant based food. She had found great local food and vegan restaurants in Bali, Greece, Majorca, New York and had even visited the giant 
vegan market in Sydney, Australia. She was desperately attracted to visit the melee of harbour side Vegan eateries in Bristol in the South West of England. Although her career took her around the world she had just returned from a fabulous Tui holiday specifically designed for vegans. http://tui.co.uk/
Roqué and Wanda sat across the kitchen table early in the morning. Roque wearing only his boxers and an old tee-shirt and Wanda draped in Roqué’s yesterdays shirt (her very favourite) it smelt of him and her senses swam in excitement for his body. The drinks weren’t a challenge for the planned meals as most soft and alcoholic beverages fell into the vegan idiom. After much discussion a few kisses and… plus with the fantastic help from the chaps at Green Bay Supermarkets in London, www.greenbaysupermarket.co.uk they decided to start with Vegan Sea Cakes. A delicious fusion of Nori (Japanese dried & roasted edible seaweed) red onion, Yutaka Wakame seaweed from http://amazon.co.uk/ garlic, paprika, flax seeds, chickpeas and herbs moulded into little balls. This served with a glass of crisp Gewürztraminer from Alsace in France with its distinctive floral nose, deep colour and perfumed aftertaste.
Claire arrived on time and Roque collected her from the airport. She was beautifully bronzed from the summer sun and the Wearethought printed blue dress she wore clung like a second skin, http://wearethought.com/ topped with a flower embellished sun hat and pale blue 6 inch heeled shoes. They hugged, kissed and chatted on the way home, Claire expressed particular interest in Wanda, what she liked, what she did, how she dressed (or undressed) and how they had met each other.
Wanda had prepared all the ingredients to impress their vegan visitor. After a few glasses Claire produced a photograph of her at a vegan banquet wearing nothing but fruit and vegetables. Wanda was in awe and suggested that they reproduced the image over dinner. Claire willingly agreed. The main course was Portobello mushroom lettuce tacos. Here it is, get on with it!
A Vegan feast of the senses
Spicy Portobello Mushrooms Serves trois
Peel & thickly slice 6 large Portobello mushrooms. In a bowl mix together
1 tbsp spicy harissa paste, 3 tbsps olive oil, 1 tsp ground cumin & 1 tsp onion powder. Add the mushroom slices to the spicy oil, coat them all over & leave to marinate for 20 minutes.
Take 6 large romaine heart leaves as the ‘taco’ shells & arrange 2 on each plate. Slice 6 ripe vine tomatoes, & finely slice 1 medium red onion. Arrange these along the length of the lettuce leaf. Next halve & slice 3 small ripe avocados & add them to the tacos. Season well with salt & freshly ground black pepper. In a small bowl mix 3 tbsps cashew butter with a little salt & enough warm water to make a thick pouring consistency.
Heat a large heavy based frying pan with a little olive oil in it. Add the mushrooms & sautée for 2-3 minutes on each side. Lay the mushrooms along the tacos, pour the cashew butter over, scatter with chopped fresh parsley & serve with wedges of lime.
They feasted from her body, teasing her nipples with the fluffy ends of the carrots and dipped courgettes in and out! Wanda said “if this is how vegans eat – I’m converted…” The fun lasted for a while with Thelonious Monk playing cool jazz ‘Round Midnight’ in the background.
The ‘table’ was cleared and warm cloths smelling of jasmine and ginger wiped the juices from her body. Dessert was a great success, succulent chocolate avocado brownies served with Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey vegan ice cream. http://waitrose.com/
They had left the table and now sat outside in the balmy evening listening to the crickets, chatting and Wanda and Claire were definitely flirting. Roque left to get more wine and caught them kissing on his return. Naughty girls…
There first foray into vegan cuisine had been a great adventure and a great success in all sorts of ways.
The outside candles had burnt low and it was time for them to go the bed. Night-night kisses and Wanda and Roque showed Claire to her room and left.
With the morning came breakfast. Again a culinary challenge to both Wanda and Roque but they had created supreme banana and coconut pancakes. A perfect combination of coconut milk, silky bananas, and the flesh from passion fruit blended with golden caster sugar. Breakfast was good!
As the morning unfolded like the perfect rose they took the Range Rover to Bristol, believed to be the world’s vegan capital. They strolled along the vibrant and buzzing pavements and eventually chose No1 Harbourside for some of the finest vegan dishes. They shared a Vegan Mezze Sharing Board, followed by a Buddha Bowl for Claire, a Vegan Burger for Wanda and a Lamb Shoulder Pappardelle for Roque. www.no1harbourside.co.uk Yummy!
Claire’s UK political itinerary forced her to move on and so Roque dropped her off at the railway station for her next encounter. “Come back soon Claire”, Wanda called as she was lost in the station entrance. Wanda’s thoughts then turned to something firm and meaty to enjoy…
Aphrodite says this is packed with aphrodisiacs from the chocolate, garlic and seaweed to the bananas & passion fruit. Bring it on…
Narrated with love by Paula xx
Full recipes from thekitchentable@redshoes12.co.uk
