Archive for October, 2007Arriving in Nepal from Iran and the Middle East was like entering another world. Suddenly we were back in Asia, surrounded by rattling green and yellow tuk tuks, women in colourful saris, and cows meandering up and down city streets. We only had five days before we had to be in India, so we decided to visit just two towns and save a trek until next time. Our first stop were the fertile hills (I would call them mountains) ringing the Kathmandu Valley. Next we headed to the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, and instantly stepped in a traveller’s microcosm filled with internet cafes, bars, and all manner of shopping opportunities. Wearing jumpers and feeling rain on our skin felt amazing - you never realise what small pleasures you will miss once you start travelling. But another delight was being back in a country where vegetarian food was plentiful. While vegetarian food is easy to come by in Nepal, vegetarianism seems less common than in India despite Nepal being a Hindu republic (with some Tibetan Buddhism thrown in). It’s less usual to see vegetarian or pure vegetarian restaurants advertised, for example, and talking to Nepalese people I got the impression that there was some flexibility around what was required of practioners. It is, however, sobering to realise that many people in Nepal are vegetarian by necessity. The staple Nepalese dish is dahl bhat served with rice. In many poor households, dahl bhat is the only food that the family can afford to eat.
A highlight of any trip to Nepal is eating momos, Tibetan steamed dumplings stuffed with chopped vegetable and served with a delicious tomato chili sauce. Vegetarian versions are easy to find on almost every restaurant menu and make a great, healthy snack.
Curries are also a common feature of Nepalese food. It’s usual to eat a large amount of rice (to fill you up), supplemented by small curries based around a fresh vegetable ingredient and some spicy pickle or pickles. Some Nepalese restaurants offer thali sets with complementary refills, which are a great way to try different Nepalese food.
We had only a short time in Nepal so unfortunately we could only try a limited amount of Nepalese food. A highlight of our trip was eating at a restaurant called Thamel House in Kathmandu. Thamel House specialises in traditional Nepali and Newari food, including many dishes that you won’t find in other restaurants. The restaurant is in an atmospheric 100 year old house, originally built for a wealthy family. There is a choice of seating areas, but I recommend the top room where you sit on the floor and eat from small wooden tables, nestled under a sloping, cosy wooden roof. Thamel House’s signature meal is a vegetarian (and non-vegetarian) tasting menu, however we found the extensive list of dishes and price too daunting and opted instead to order from the standard menu (you may have to request this). Each dish was delicious. To begin we were given a complementary starter of lightly sauteed fresh mung beans and lentils. The beans had not been fully boiled beforehand, so they were still quite fresh and hard to the bite. We followed up with a lot of smaller dishes, including beautifully steamed momos filled with fresh vegetables, ginger and garlic, a delicious, creamy, black lentil dish called dahl makhini, and sliced mushrooms cooked in a creamy, garlic sauce.
The fried potatoes cooked in traditional spices (Alu Tareko) were one of my favourite dishes, but I also enjoyed  an entree of a green spinach like vegetable quickly cooked with spices.
We finished the meal with some complementary shots of a Nepalese rice wine (similar to saki) and a fragrant rice pudding. Walking through the streets of Kathmandu I saw three or four vegetarian restaurants. I didn’t see one that was Nepalese however - they were all Indian or European-run restaurants serving world food. It struck me that Nepal’s spirituality attracts a lot of people sympathetic to vegetaranism - even if Nepalese people don’t always share this belief. V Rating: VVVVV In Old Jerusalem you witness a religious experience every five seconds. As an atheist I saved my revelation for Village Green, a vegetarian restaurant located just outside the Jaffa Gate in the bustling heart of New Jerusalem. In normal circumstances, Village Green might have left a lesser impression on me. It’s a friendly, brightly lit restaurant with an upmarket cafeteria vibe. Diners select their food from a bain marie of “world food”, with a choice of soups, hot pies, pizzas and quiches, and a wide selection of salads and hot dishes. All food is freshly made, and there are many healthy options.
But times were not normal on the day we visited. After taking a hungry eight hours to cross the 90 km border from Jordan into Israel, and deprived of vegetarian staples like tofu for many months, Village Green was a like a mini miracle.
Andy and I each choose a slice of brown pastry pie - curried vegetable for me and spinach and tofu for Andy - to start our meal. The pastry was delicious although the fillings were a little bland. However, kudos to Village Green for using a vegan pie crust. We also each loaded up a plate with food from the salad bar and hot dishes. I loved the tofu cubes lightly stir fried in soy sauce, but this may have been partly because it was the first hint of soy bean to pass my lips in months. The roast potatoes and fresh brown lentil salad were also highlights. I thought the prices for the hot food and bain marie dishes were steep, (but maybe everything is expensive in Israel). On later trips we tried the vegetable soup and curried Indian soup (I would call it a dahl). Both were light and pleasant, if not super flavoursome. Better to stick with the bain marie food, in my opinion. If by some miracle you aren’t full after your first (or second) course, Village Green has a wide selection of tasty looking cakes and slices. Beer, wine and juices are also available, but the price of the alcoholic drinks is enough to make you think twice. Village Green isn’t trying to break culinary ground, preferring to offer a good spread of reliable world food vegetarian standards. But after months in the Middle East, this may seem innovative enough. Now that Andy and I have left the Middle East and Iran behind it’s time for a confession: we spend four secret days in Israel. One consequence of the tensions in the Middle East is that some countries, such as Syria, Lebanon and Iran, will not allow entry to people with an Israeli stamp in their passport. We managed to enter Israel via Jordan without getting a stamp, but didn’t write about it on our blogs until after we had been to Iran for fear of jeopardising our visa application. Andy was initially unsure about visiting Israel, but I managed to convince him with a singularly compelling argument: Israel is a vegetarian friendly nation.
Judaism has a number of rigorously laid out dietary rules which determine whether food is kosher (i.e. permitted to be eaten). One of the most fundamental rules is that meat and dairy foods may not be eaten together. In many instances this is also interpreted to mean that the same food utensils may not be used to prepare both meat and dairy dishes. Our first stop in Israel was Jerusalem. In a city so redolent with religion, it was hardly surprising that restaurants strictly observed kosher rules. Often when we entered a restaurant we would be met by a waiter, then asked if we would like to sit in the meat or in the dairy section (even better, sometimes we were also given the sub-choice of smoking or non-smoking). The dairy section had a meat and shellfish-free menu, making life very easy for vegetarians, if not vegans. Some restaurants took this a step further by only offering dairy or meat based food. While not always of the best quality, the dairy restaurants at least took the stress out of finding something vegetarian to eat and meant that we had a choice of food for dinner. We spent our last day in Israel in the carefree city of Tel Aviv. While we weren’t there long enough to experience the full range of restaurants, it seemed as though the dairy and meat prohibitions were less frequently observed, with many restaurants not segregating diners.
Another facet of Israel’s vegetarian friendliness is the popularity of felafel. As a devotee of Yummba, the delicious, vegetarian felafel store in Bondi Junction, I couldn’t wait to try the real thing in Jerusalem.
Felafel in Israel is different to felafel in the rest of the Middle East. The felafel balls are a lighter colour and softer to eat. The pita bread is stuffed with different types of delicious pickled vegetables, along with fresh salad (or sometimes instead of it) and hot chips are also added to the roll by default. I tried a couple of different felafel places, but found them disappointing. The felafel balls weren’t as well spiced as Yummba, the bread was not as soft and fresh, the hot chips were a guilty pleasure but are unnecessary when the filling is good, and the dips were not as flavoursome. Perhaps Yummba is not authentic, but if so I think it’s better than the real thing. While we only had a short time in Israel, I thought it was a fascinating country and gave us a welcome opportunity to eat a plethora of vegetarian food. I first heard of Sharjah, Dubai’s neighbour and the cultural capital of the United Arab Emirates, two months ago. I had no burning desire to go there on our world trip, but as Sharjah was the hub for the Middle East’s excellent budget airline, Air Arabia, we had no choice but to stop there for a night on the way to Nepal. One of the great things about visiting a place you didn’t know existed is that you have no preconceptions or expectations. Yet for some so unprepared, we had remarkable good fortune and a good time. Our first stroke of luck was to be befriended at the airport by an Iranian-Canadian woman who had recently moved to Sharjah. She and her husbad kindly offered us a lift to city centre, and when they heard we were vegetarian recommended that we eat at a vegetarian restaurant called Kamat. Coming from the Middle East (and having done no research about Sharjah), we were surprised and delighted that there would be a vegetarian restaurant there. What we hadn’t banked on was the large Indian migrant population. Many people come to Sharjah and Dubai from India and Nepal to earn money to support families back home. Lacking Dubai’s profile, Sharjah has much cheaper housing and so many workers live there and commute to jobs in Dubai. The large Indian population has led to a flourishing Indian restaurant industry. The biggest surprise came when we reached Kamat and drove around the block to find a park. Not only was the area filled with Indian restaurants, the bulk of them were vegetarian. Seeing so many vegetarian signs proudly displayed next to the more typically Middle Eastern kebab stores was like entering a parallel universe.
Kamat was a revelation. The menu was extensive, covering the gamut of South and North Indian vegetarian food. We ordered stuffed tandoori mushrooms and vegetable pakoras for starters, and a palak paneer for mains. The stuffed mushrooms came out first. I was away from the table when they arrived, and I returned to find Andy profusely thanking the bemused waiter and congratulating the restaurant on making the best food of our three month trip. He was right: the mushrooms were divine. They were fresh and barbequed in a succulent, dust red tandoori marinade. Because they were baked the outside baste was not too oily, and crunched lightly with each bite. Inside each mushroom was stuffed with a light, creamy spinach mixture which added flavour to the dish.Â
The vegetable pakoras were also good, with the vegetables still springy beneath the light, deep fried casing. The palak paneer was pleasant, with a brilliant green, thin sauce, but paled a little in contrast the other superb dishes.
At the end of the meal the attentive waiting staff brought us a beautiful tray with mixed sugar coated coriander and aniseed digestion aids. It was a lovely end to one of the best meals of our trip (including the many Indian meals we’ve since had in India!)
Sharjah may not have the glamour of Dubai, but it’s worth considering as an alternative stopover for the amazing food, friendly people and cheaper accommodation options. Kamat details: Address: King Faisal Road, Sharjah By pure coincidence our first day in Iran was also the first day of Ramadan, a month long fast observed by Muslims. I was nervous about travelling in a country where food might not be available during daylight hours because I get Fortunately, ramadan (or ramazan) was not a problem as a Western traveller and certainly no reason to delay a visit to a Muslim country. Ramadan is a month long period during which Muslims fast during daylight hours. Some people are excepted, for example, children, the elderly, pregnant women, the sick, and travellers (if you go over 20 km, so we were told). My apprehension about being in Iran during ramadan was misplaced. As a Westerner and non-Muslim, no-one expected that we would observe ramadan, and people would often go out of their way to slip us food or direct us to a restaurant that served food during the day. However, it was appreciated that we did not eat or drink in public out of respect for those who were fasting. It was also relatively easy to find food during daylight hours in ramadan, at least in the cities that we visited. While restaurants close during the day, most hotels continue to keep their restaurants open for breakfast and lunch. Midrange hotels usually put on a large breakfast buffet from about 7am - 10am. It would not have been difficult to eat enough food at the buffet to fill up all day. Budget hotels also offered their normal breakfast even after the sun came up. The safest bet for lunch was restaurants in hotels. We were surprised to see that they were quite popular, with more Iranians eating there than tourists (I assumed this was under the traveller exception although I was surprised at the number of Iranians we met who were not observing ramadan). Our biggest problem with lunch was not finding somewhere that was open, but finding somewhere that served vegetarian food. This is not a ramadan specific problem! As ramadan began in mid September this year (it’s determined on a lunar calendar so the dates vary), darkness fell by 6.30pm and most restaurants and teahouses would open at this time or by 7pm at the latest. This meant that dinner was always available at a “normal” hour. Something which surprised me about ramadan was that all fresh food stores like fruit sellers, bakeries, bread sellers, sweet shops, butchers and mini-markets remained open throughout the day. This made it very easy for us to buy our own food and eat it back at our hotel. We often took up this option for lunch. We had read that one benefit to being vegetarian during ramadan was that a special vegetable soup called ash was often served on the streets after dark to celebrate the breaking of the fast. Ash is a soup normally eaten at breakfast, although during ramadan it is also served at night. However, our visions of huge soup tureens lining the streets of Iran were repeatedly dashed. The only time we had a confirmed ash sighting was on our last night in Iran (when we were already promised to a vegetarian restaurant). We were also warned that there are multiple types of ash. The vegetarian version is green and has kidney beans and white noodles. It may also be called ash sabzi. I tried a version of this soup at breakfast but it left me disappointed - the flavour was buttery rather than savoury and the ingredients were gloopy. Overall, travelling in ramadan was not a big deal and no reason to delay a visit, but there were a couple of factors that impacted on our trip:
Travelling during ramadan is not difficult or inconvenient and the few additional annoyances are counterbalanced by the opportunity to experience an Islamic country during an important religious period. The real challenge for vegetarians travelling in Iran is finding non-meaty food - ramadan is a breeze by comparison. Our first destination outside of Tehran was Yazd, a small city in central Iran, famous for an old quarter constructed of mud bricks, intricate irrigation system called qanats, and wind towers (bagdhirs). Yazd could also claim the title of “accommodation” capital of Iran, as it has atmospheric hotels set in beautifully renovated mud brick houses which are affordable even on a traveller’s budget. We stayed at one such hotel, called the Silk Road. Despite its open garden terrace and stunning views over the nearby Jameh Mosque, the best part of our sojourn was eating at the fabulous restaurant. The Silk Road serves both Persian and Indian dishes, reflecting the heritage of the hotel’s owners. Perhaps because of the Indian connection, the Silk Road restaurant has a number of vegetarian dishes and it was the only place in Iran where we could find authentic Persian vegetarian food.
One Iranian dish on the menu was a vegetable stew. This was very similar to the stews we were served in traditional Iranian restaurants (except that it didn’t come with meat). Yellow lentil and vegetables were cooked in a tomato base, which had a rich, oily flavour.
The Silk Road also offered the unique opportunity to try ‘cucu’, a traditional Iranian vegetarian dish (apparently they do exist!) Cucu are fried egg patties and at the Silk Road they were served in two varieties, eggplant or potato. While I heard about cucu from Iranians (using trying earnestly to convince me that there is such a thing as Iranian vegetarian food), the Silk Road was the only restaurant I came across that included them on the menu.
Another Iranian dish that we tried only at the Silk Road restaurant was a warm pureed eggplant stew cooked with garlic and served with fresh soft cheese on top. The eggplant tasted as though it had been grilled first, and reminded me a little of baba ghanouj because of its thick texture.
One part of our meal was very typical of our experience in Iran: the rice was half flavoured with saffron, adding a lovely burst of colour.
Fresh, creamy, tart yoghurt, flavoured with mint or shallots, was on every menu in Iran and was lovely eaten as an accompaniement to rice, salad or stew. Aside from Iranian dishes, the Silk Road also has a selection of Indian food, which partly accounts for its good vegetarian karma. We tried the vegetable curry, which had a different base from the Iranian curry and no lentils so it was a suitably different dish and gave the meal variety. This was one of my favourite restaurant and hotel experiences in Iran: it truly is an oasis in the desert! A few months ago, Anthea from Temporary Dwellings wrote a review of the Ananda vegetarian restaurant in Tehran. Run by the Iranian Vegetarian Society, it’s a great resource for vegetarians in a country where vegetarian food rarely makes an appearance on restaurant menus. While Andy and I were in Tehran, we couldn’t pass up the chance to visit a second vegetarian restaurant, run by Iranian Artists Forum. Set in a pretty city park called Honar Garden off Taleghani Ave, the restaurant has a shady terrace and bright and cheerful main room. It’s a great place for people watching as the restaurant is always full of fashionable Iranians who prove that there is much more to Iran than the conservative image promoted in the West (and that the Government mandated hijab can be chic). The food is a mix of Iranian and international vegetarian dishes, including pasta, pizza, a vegetarian stew, felafel and fake meat kebabs.
If you have an appetite, the restaurant offers two “meal deals” called the lotus and gita sets. The smaller of the two, the lotus set, is good value and a fun way to sample Iranian food, coming with rice, salad, soup, stew, yoghurt, pizza slice, dessert and a natural fruit drink (I recommend the pommegranate juice). The salad, stew, rice and dessert change daily, so you can safely order the set (or each dish from the a la carte menu) on consecutive visits.
I enjoyed the ever-changing stew and rice on each of my visits. On my first try the stew was tomato based, with potato, zucchini and paneer. On later visits it had a spinach base, but still had paneer. The rice was never served plain, being either flavoured with saffron or else served as a pulau with dill and butter mixed through it.
The highlight of my meal was always the ice cream. The saffron ice cream was a brilliant yellow hue and infused with flavour. The walnut flavour was equally authentic and tasty, with pieces of walnut mixed through the walnut flavoured base. Vegans should be aware that most of the food on the menu came with dairy products, however I’m sure that the restaurant could accommodate non-dairy food products. The staff at the Artists Forum cafe were very friendly, and the manager (who speaks excellent English) kindly wrote out Farsi translations of the phrases “I am vegetarian” and ” I would like a dish without meat or fish” for me, which were a godsend during the rest of our trip. The restaurant included some information on vegetarianism in Farsi and English, and also recommended a vegetarian store in Tehran called Govinda. The store stocks natural and organic products, TVP and tofu, soy products and pre-made vegetarian food and runs vegetarian cooking classes. The Iranian Artists Forum restaurant makes a great pitstop during a stay in Tehran, offering the rare chance to try Iranian vegetarian food and to sample Iran’s rich alternative and artistic culture. Highly recommended and a Super V in a very V-ware country. Coffee Shop and Veggie Restaurant of Iranian Artists Forum Govinda Vegetarian Store |
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