Chicken Isn't Vegan?!

This post is in memory of the two years where I couldnt leave the house without someone screaming "chicken isn't vegan?"  at me*



*maybe a slight exageration, but if you havnt seen Scoot Pilgrim VS The World then you need to :p


I recently read a blog post about things you would expect to be vegan but are not, im not disputing this post at all, but for example the sugar, is something that (luckily) doesn't apply to us here in the UK. 

Now I just also want to say that I find being a vegan a positive experience, yes occasionally i'm out with friends and im 'forced' to eat a baked potato with beans and no butter when they have the full choice of the menu, but in the grand scheme of things its not really the end of the world. I do think articles such as this, although they may make some people more aware can be damaging with regards to promoting veganism as a whole. It is easier than people think to go vegan, no I don't live on lettuce (I rarely eat it!) This is just a collection of my thoughts and irritations about simple items which really shouldn't require an animal to give up its life for us to have a certain product. Here's a couple of things that bug the hell out of me

So first on the list, one that seasoned vegans know quite well but often surprises omnis and veggies...

Red Wine

Red wine can often contain parts of fish, milk and eggs. I was veggie for well over  a year before a random drunk in a pub informed me of the existence of isinglass (fish swim bladder) I think most people are now aware that some beers contain 'fish guts' but many non vegans are surprised to hear that it can also contain egg white and milk. These things have been used as finings, because people generally dont like to get to the bottom of a glass of wine and find sediment. Luckily now things like seaweed and natural clay are used more frequently creating more vegan option. 

So how do I know if my wine is vegan? Not many manufacturers aside from supermarket own brands label their wine as vegan. We do however have the amazing Barnivore on our side. We used to also have Veggie Wines though this is currently redirecting to a facebook page. Personally I have memorised the ones I like which are vegan or I head straight for Marks and Spencer, their wines and beers are far superior to any other supermarket in my honest opinion.

Fabric Softener

The offending item in fabric softener is cationic surfactant which can often be made from animal fat. I say often because it isnt always, but annoyingly this isnt usually differentiated on packaging.

The Vegan Womble has an excellent post about laundry detergents and updates this often. Personally I stick to Co-op because there is one close to my house and its cheap, two big factors in most of my purchasing decisions!

Washing Up Liquid

There's various nasties hiding in washing up liquid, easiest to spot is 'left over' milk products such as whey. With household items its generally better to assume its not vegan unless it clearly says it is on the label, the majority of the big brands will test on animals or be owned by a parent company that does. Supermarkets are your friend again here, Asda and Co-op label vegan but my personal favourite is Astonish which is available at waitrose, Ocado, poundshops and those amazing little treasure trove style local hardware shops that sell paint, nails, cupcake cases, bits of wood and stuff. Its also worth looking out for their chocolate orange handwash, which is mildly addictive

Something not everyone considers.....

Lactose free and dairy free are different. The lactose free milk and cheese that seems to be everywhere is not vegan and still uses cruel dairly products. Flora has recently brought out a new dairy free spread, however its isnt the one that says '100% of oils in Flora are from plants' because buttermilk isnt an oil. Flora is owned by animal testing arent company Unilever so better off spending your money elsewhere.

Berlin!

March 2016 I surprised the Mr with a trip to Berlin, these are some of the things I ate and places I drank in...............

Berlin is known for being super vegan friendly, I spent literally months reading Happy Cow reviews and adding places I wanted to eat to my Google Map. As it turned out we ended up doing a lot more touristy things than I thought we would, and although there is vegan food available in the tourist areas, the real gems that everyone raves about are mostly a little out of the centre. Obviously this means I will have to return to Berlin to do more eating!

I found that most central cafes had something vegan on offer, and there is a wider understanding of the word vegan than I find locally, that said, Hummus And Friends had a big sign outside saying 'We Are Vegan' yet my friends hummus came with half a boiled egg on the top.... so as always its best to translate menus (the Google translate app now has a fab feature where you take a photo and it translates the text in the photo, perfect for menus)

The are also 'Bio Company' stores dotted about, like a huge Holland and Barrett but with a meat counter at the back. These stores do sell meat and dairy but have a really big range of vegan cheese, Wheaty products, fake meats etc. I wish I had been able to do a huge shop of chilled goods to bring back to the UK but sadly my flight home was too early. This store did save me having to spend a lot of time searching for food, I carried round a pack of sliced cheese, crackers and Wheaty seitan slices in my bag. Travelling in March the weather was cool enough for the cheese to not completely melt in my bag!

So what else did I eat?

Lets start with the obvious... 

Currywurst! Currywurst is basically a sausage, covered in ketchup mixed with curry powder, as far as I can tell. Currywurst is everywhere in Berlin, I dont know if locals actually eat it or if its a tourist thing, but Berlin even has a museum dedicated to this delicacy. Not all the currywurst stands have a vegan option but the ones that do are clearly labeled. To be honest I was a little drunk by this point (wurst for wear?!) I found it enjoyable but not sure ill be building a museum for it any time soon....

Yellow Sunshine however does need its own museum, or church or maybe just everyone needs to go there and eat all the things. We went there pretty much as soon as we had cheked into the hotel, its a short train ride from Alexanderplatz. The approach was a bit hairy, i can honestly say ive never been offered so much weed in such a short amount of time but anyway.... Yellow Sunshine is a small diner cafe type place, serving fast food and bottled beer (allegedly they also sold soft drinks) Im a bit of a lover of burgers so on this visit I just asked them which was the best, and they told me the Lapland Burger, the Mr had the sChicken burger. Two burgers with fries and two bottled beers came to €20

This place was my favourite find of the weekend, so much so that when we had met up with our friends who joined us in Berlin I made all 8 of us eat there, the group was mostly comprised of omnis, with one veggie and me and everyone absolutely loved their food. 

On the second visit I skipped the fries and just went for two burgers instead! I had the seitan cheese burger and the bacon hamburger. 

Then accidental cake happened too. 

Not all the food here is vegan, a small percentage is veggie, but its clear which is which.

The other cake I tried was at the Ramones Museum. The Ramones Museum is again pretty central, a short tram ride from the Alexanderplatz if you are feeling lazy. Its €3 to get in or €5 with a beer, you get given a badge and its lifetime membership so if you go back, you don't pay to get in again. Its worth a visit even if you are not a Ramones fan, if you don't like music then maybe not, but if you don't like music I cant imagine you find much enjoyment anywhere. The museum itself is small but packed full of memorabilia and newspaper clippings, at the front is a cafe bar, and we drank there a couple of times but it does close early so don't leave it too late. 

So back to the cake, on my first visit I had a tiramisu cupcake with my beers, and on the second visit I had a peanut choc chip cupcake, personally I preferred the tiramisu but both were tasty.

Places We Drank.... 

Beer is everywhere in Berlin. Berliner Pilsner seems to be the most widely available lager on tap (vom fass in German) and it also happens to be vegan, Europe seems to be ahead of the UK on the filtration game and most real ale bars we visited could tell us which beers were vegan. This wasn't a drinking holiday but obviously we visited a fair few drinking establishments, ones worth mentioning (that I can remember) are 

The Last Cathedral, an underground themed late night bar/club playing rock and metal, they charge you to get in but it keeps the dickheads out, you can smoke inside in Germany and this was one of the smokier bars we drank in.

Rockcafe Halford a whole bar dedicated to Rob Halford? Why the hell not. We got table service here, not sure if that is the norm, the guy serving us was hilarious and really friendly, the music was quite a mix, all i really remember was realising i'd never seen the video to Twisted Sister's I Wanna Rock before, some of those images will stay with me for life.

HASE Red Rabbit Bar initially playing exclusively Depeche Mode (Im not complaining) this bar was cheap! about €2.50 for half a litre of Berliner Pilsner. We only had one beer here before heading for dinner at the Indian restaurant over the road (they can make any veggie dish vegan but you must specify vegan)

Fairytale Bar This place isn't for everyone, its about 3/4 tram stops up from Alexanderplatz, it was near our hotel. The menus are old books repurposed and when you open it a (paper) butterfly flies out, cocktails start at €10 each and are neat alcohol.... its beautiful and decadent and way too posh for the likes of me

So to round up, I need to go back, maybe when its warmer, now Ive done the touristy bits like the wall, the Brandenburg Gate, the hotel where Michael Jackson dangled his baby out of the window etc and just have a weekend of meandering looking for cool graffiti to Instagram while testing out just how far the elastic in my leggings will stretch, but I would definitely recommend Berlin to vegans, metallers, beer drinks and anyone who will listen