Vivera Vegan Steak: A Review.

May 25, 2018June 3, 2018 / Frankie Mouche / 4 Comments

Ever since this product was launched, there have been Instagram pictures of vegans across the UK holding up a packet of plant based steak awkwardly in Tesco.

I managed to get hold of some today in probably the biggest Tesco in South Wales. They had Vivera’s whole range, but honestly all I had time for was the steak. I’ve had all the other stuff before in various forms from multiple brands. Vegan steaks are a rarer find although this is not the first vegan steak to grace UK shelves. Let’s not forget the mighty Mheat and Vegusto, brands which have never managed to get a supermarket distributor, but are still delicious.

There were two considerable chunks of rehydrated soya and wheat protein which resembled a fillet steak in each pack and for £2.99 I didn’t think that was too bad. (Vegan brands love to rip us off, in case you hadn’t noticed.)

I followed the cooking instructions exactly for the first pack.

“Perfectly pink every time!” as described on the packet, is not what I got from gently frying each steak for 2.5 minutes on each side. There was none of this infamous beetroot blood either.

I served with some creamy cauliflower and thyme puree.

The puree really complimented the meatiness of the steak, even if it was slightly over cooked. It wasn’t chewy like well done cow’s flesh, but soft like a burger with a beefy undertone.

I decided to have another go. This time I went with 1.5 minutes on each side on a high heat.

They came out less cooked but still not pink and still not bloody. These had a completely different texture from the first batch though. In places it was perfect and in others it was mushy. I finished them off in the microwave for 30 seconds.

I served this batch with sweet potato wedges, roasted vegetables and cauliflower puree.

Funnily enough when I microwaved them, there was a little bit of blood on the surface like a resting piece of flesh.

Now here’s crunch time!

I didn’t go vegan because I didn’t like the taste of meat. I went vegan because it was the morally right thing to do. I love all this fake meat shit. This almost hits the mark, almost. Maybe I need to play around with it a bit more, maybe this is just as good as it gets right now. I’ll definitely be buying more………

If you don’t like fake meats: DON’T BUY THIS.

The end.

Amy’s Breakfast Sandwich: A Product Review

October 2, 2014 / Frankie Mouche / Leave a comment

I was scrolling through Facebook as you do and I came across a picture of this breakfast sandwich. Hallelujah! A lovely big juicy breakfast muffin with tons of flavour and certainly enough to fill you up. It turns out that I was deceived by clever marketing. The box is very well designed and about the size you’d expect a breakfast muffin box to be.

We don’t have a microwave in our house because we have no need for one so I followed the oven cooking instructions to the letter on the reverse of the pack. It came out like this:

It was absolutely tiny! I think my little sister might even struggle with that as a snack let alone a full breakfast. So it tasted amazing right? Nope!

The bread was chewy, the tofu flavourless and the sausage patty did not have nearly enough meatiness to it. There wasn’t even really that much sauce with it. It’s a good job I made a breakfast hash to go with it otherwise I’d have been starving!

I’ve seen some people raving about this new product and don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great that one is now on the market. It’s just a shame I think it tastes like cardboard and so will any non-vegan who tries it. Good try though Amy’s. I look forward to trying your other new products soon.

Whilst I personally didn’t enjoy it, people have different tastes. Try it and let me know what you think!

Score? 2/5

Tesco Value Vegetable Sausages. (Product Review)

September 28, 2014 / Frankie Mouche / Leave a comment

This is hardly going to be an exceptional blog post with lots of pretty pictures. The Tesco Value range does what it says on the tin. It’s cheap and it’s cheerful. These six sausages come in at £1. I know what all you UK vegans are thinking. You can get the meaty Linda McCartney sausages for a quid in most cheap supermarkets like Lidl, but here me out. These are really quite savoury considering they are basically vegetables in a tube and they might come in handy if you are struggling to get kids to eat vegetables. They are also lower in calories than the meaty versions. Have a look below:

I served them up with herby mashed potato and broccoli. They were incredibly filling. I guess all I can say is, I’d probably buy them again just for something different. They are cheap and they are cheerful.

Solkiki Chocolates – The best vegan chocolate!

April 15, 2014 / Frankie Mouche / 2 Comments

As some of you may know, Mykey and I are gamers. We play lots of different things but at the moment a lot of our time revolves around a game called Clash of Clans. It’s a base build and defense game. You can also join clans of people with similar views. Imagine our delight that we found a clan full of vegans called, “Vegan Assault.” There is a great mix of people in there from abolitionists, to hardcore gamers and indeed one very handy chocolate maker from Canada.

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Mykey got talking to her and it turns out she can deliver to the UK for a very reasonable price. We very rarely eat anything like that, but we thought we’d give it a go.

They were the most milky and creamiest vegan chocolates I’ve ever had. The clan soon caught on and now we often see, “OMG THOSE CHOCOLATES!!!!!” appear in the chat.

They are vegan owned and run, create artisan chocolates by hand and they have great customer service. Please support vegan businesses where you can and especially chocolate based ones with Easter just around the corner. 🙂

The Vegan Kind: A Product Review

December 15, 2013 / Frankie Mouche / Leave a comment

I’ve been meaning to do a review of The Vegan Kind subscription box for a while but I’ve been having problems with my camera and my life. 😦 Anyway, enough of that.

The Vegan Kind subscription box costs £10 a month with £2.95 post and packaging charge. I’ve been signed up for two months now. You get a range of stuff each month including recipes, a newsletter, accessories, cosmetics, food stuffs and cleaning products. Some of it is sample size and other stuff is full size.

The packaging is also great outreach. It has vegan and the website in bold letters on the outside so plenty of post people see it on it’s way to you. The box is really sturdy so your stuff isn’t going to get mangled by those dumb fucks at Royal Mail.

Let’s have a look at what I had in the first box:

My only issue was that The Vegg is made in a factory that handles shellfish. I wouldn’t care if it was anything else, but I’m severely allergic to shellfish. So I had to put that in a draw somewhere until I can find someone to give it to.

Box number two came with a few more food related items which is always appreciated. However this is where my camera fucked up. 😦

All of the stuff I’ve received so far has been high quality and in good condition when I’ve received it.

I’m certainly not going to cancel my subscription any time soon. 9/10 – more food stuffs please! 😛

Queer Vegan

Food, fitness and culture from a queer, vegan, metal head.

Product Reviews