I am amazed today. I failed to curb my scepticism. And I am amazed. Truly rocked.
I trialed a product today that had been on my radar for a while. The Vegg. A fat free, dairy, soy, gluten, EGG, and animal free substitute. For egg.
What?! I wanted to know more!
What is it made from? Nutritional yeast flakes and a salt, widely used in Indian cooking, named kala namak. It also goes by the name of black salt. It amazingly, mimics eggy flavour with aplomb.
Who masterminded The Vegg?
Was it his background in biology, a love and respect for animals, or an obsession with eggs that drove Rocky Shepheard to spend 6 months, ‘tooling around’ in his kitchen to produce a pretty good and healthy imitation of an egg yolk? Well, I asked him, and it turns out it’s all of the above. Rocky stopped consuming meat in 2003. Seven years ago an ephipany made him switch to a vegan diet. He suddenly came to the full realisation that it was completely unnecessary to harm any living creature, for humans to thrive. He also saw that consuming animal products was actually the main cause of poor health in our society. BUT, some people, though they want to adopt a healthier diet, they sometimes have a sticking point. Rocky’s had been the egg. He loved eggs. Problem - vegans don’t eat eggs. But he concluded he loved chickens more. He began experimenting, for his own uses, but once he’d hit on the answer to perfecting the yolk, he soon realised he could benefit so many, offer a cholesterol- free, and fat-free alternative to the egg, and in doing so help to end animal cruelty.
There are already egg replacers on the market. What is so special about The Vegg?
The Vegg is the only one that is great for those with egg, soy or gluten allergies. Heart-friendly. NO Cholesterol, unlike a real egg. And, to my amazement actually smells and tastes like an egg!
I had to try it.
So, what to make? I decided on a frittata. Enlisted a couple of carnivorous taste testers and set about creating my first Vegg recipe. The website has a ton of recipes but I decided I’d tinker with my own. Starting out with following instructions to first hatch The Vegg. Take 4 tsp of product to 1 cup water. Blended in a blender (this is crucial, a fork won’t do the trick). Not got a blender? Want to take The Vegg on a road trip? A Vegg lover suggested using an empty pop bottle to prepare the mix. Just shake it up. Try it. Let me know if it works.
So today, I gathered all the necessary ingredients and set to work in the kitchen. I’ve been travelling a while, far from my home kitchen. It felt so good to actually be making a new recipe!
Verdict? I was seriously impressed. Shocked actually!
This recipe is amazing and you should make it. I served it with a handful of massaged kale to my waiting and hungry non-vegan friends. They were unanimous. It was DELICIOUS! They concurred they’d never know it wasn’t loaded with eggs.
Spinach, Gourmet Mushroom & Lemon Thyme Frittata
Batter
Creating The Vegg is a simple process.
4 tsp The Vegg, blended with 1 cup water.
1 cup gluten free flour - I used a blend of: garbanzo, fava, potato starch, tapioca starch and sorghum flour. Bob’s Red Mill A great flour, with great flavour. (depending on flour mix you use - some absorb more water than others - you may need to add more water at this point to create a batter like consistency. Incorporate gradually)
1/2 lemon’s juice
Blend
Ingredients
3 cups TOTAL of your choice of mushrooms:
King Oyster
Oyster
Crimini
1 cup of fresh organic spinach
1 medium shallot
1 large clove garlic finely chopped
a few sprigs fresh lemon-thyme
olive oil for frying
lashings of freshly cracked black pepper
Himalyan rock salt - to taste
Let’s Cook!
Wipe clean the mushrooms to remove any dirt and fry them in olive oil in a large, oven proof (no plastic handles) fry pan. Do not overload the pan as the mushrooms will kind of boil rather than fry if they don’t get space.
Remove once turning golden and put aside.
To the same pan, add finely chopped shallot, add a little more oil if needed. Saute.
Add the chopped garlic and sauté lightly.
Add the mushroom back to the pan and add the thyme.
Fry gently for a minute.
Saute the spinach briefly in a separate pan to wilt. If you use frozen (don’t use frozen but if you have to then, ok. gone on) then ensure you squeeze out all the excess water.
Mix spinach with the mushroom ingredients and then pour the The Vegg and flour mix on top.
Cook until you can push the sides from the pan easily with a spatula. The pop the pan under the broiler/grill until it is golden on top and cooked through.
| Watching the broiler/grill. Waiting for the top to turn golden. |
Rocky. What plans do you have for future products?
In July, Bang Publishing are to launch a cookbook of recipes from The Vegg fans from all over the world, together with recipes cooked up in Rocky’s kitchen. Due to be released via Amazon. Stayed tuned. I’ll be reviewing the book, once it is launched and in my hot little hands. Exciting news too, The Vegg is poised to release handy cartons of Scrambled Vegg, once they can find appropriate investors get on board. Vegg mixed with tofu and tasting just like your favourite breakfast food. Eventually a soy free version will also be available. They hope for this to be a reality in a year or so.
Where can I purchase it?
The Vegg is currently sold in 13 countries. Germany Rocky’s number one export, with Australia coming a close second. In the last year sales have risen by 20%!
It is already in 40 stores in the US, mainly focussed on the East & West Coast. I want to get it in Whole Foods, New Leaf and Trader Joes in the US. Contact them. Tell them you want it. Stores to listen to you. Do you want to see it on the shelves in your country? Contact your local grocer and say you want to give the product a go. If the grocer then contacts The Vegg, they will sell the store a dozen packs (with no shipping costs) so they can try it out on their customers (you!). That way you can get to try it without having to pay the shipping costs and hopefully get your store to stock it.
Lots of recipes on the Website. Some include: chocolate fudge cake, custard, ice-cream, fresh pasta, French toast, egg-based sauces, for example hollandaise & sabayon, scramble and binder for ‘breaded’ recipes. The mixed product will store for 2-3 weeks in the fridge.
The Science.
Fascinating use of molecular gastronomy can be used to form an acutal yolk that would fool a hen! Trust me, I only bring you the best products.
A final tip from Rocky. The Vegg is great used as a FAT FREE melted butter substitute. Try it warm, poured over a baked potato.
Have you tried The Vegg? What did you make? Did you like it as much as I did? Let us know. Leave a comment below.
be well. eat well. live well.
India leigh xx
Thank you for a great recipe. my son who is on a medically prescribed low protein diet is eating Frittata for the first time in his life. I used different flours to those that you used as some were not suitable for him, but it still worked fantastic. Thank you for sharing
@Anonymous
Hi anon, thanks so much for writing and letting me know about your son eating frittata. That is awesome. I am so glad he enjoyed it. The Vegg really is a fantastic product. I’ve so many more ideas of way to incorporate it. I wonder what flours you used? Perhaps you could share this as others may have the same difficulties as your son? Thanks so much! India leigh x
Does it matter what flours you use? I have chickpea, rice and AP flour on hand… Does it matter which one/s I use?!
@amymylove
Hello Amy! Thanks for saying hi. If you are not gluten free then you can use ap (all-purpose) flour. Personally, I am gluten free but also I think chickpea adds flavour and protein and less carbs. Sorghum flour is flavourful also and allergen free. If using rice flour then mix it with the chickpea. I wouldn’t suggest using it as a solo flour as it lacks the protein to give a good bind. Let me know how it turns out! india leigh x
I just made (and ate) this recipe and it was really good. Two things: I used all garbanzo flour and it was really thick, like too thick to pour. It turned out fine, but you might want to note that you will need more water if you just use garbanzo flour, or else it won’t get down into all the veggies, but just sit on top.
Second, I thought this was great but I really didn’t taste the Vegg. I spent what seems to me to be a rather ridiculous amount of money on the stuff, but can’t figure out why I shouldn’t just use nutritional yeast. I could smell egginess while I was making the batter, but it just disappeared with all the other flavors.
Anyway, will definitely make this again so thanks for the recipe!
@Katmama
Hey Katmama,
So happy the recipe turned out well for you. I think that garbanzo flour has quite a strong flavour. Perhaps if you used a blend (fava, sorghum, rice) the Vegg may make a stand in the taste dept. The black salt is the element that gives the ”sulphuric” eggy note to the Vegg. You could buy some of this and add a little extra, but I think the blending of the flours could achieve the egginess you seek. Try it and let me know how it turns out. What veggies will you add to it next?
India x