The vegan chef

Marie Itchon Gonzalez is sautéing some white kidney beans on a pan filled with chopped tomatoes, garlic, onions and sprigs of thyme. The vegetables and herbs dance on the bed of olive oil, filling the room with a heavenly scent. Marie is the founder of Kitchen Revolution, a company that specializes in vegan food and she is the first one to admit that being a vegan can be synonymous to being a lone wolf in the Philippines.

Marie explains that veganism is not so much a cuisine as a lifestyle because it goes beyond diet or food and into a philosophy and a way of life. People who practice veganism do not believe in the unnecessary use, harm and killing of animals for one’s existence or enjoyment. She furthers that vegans abstain from using animals and animal products for food, clothing and entertainment. In terms of food, vegans do not eat meat, poultry, seafood, dairy and eggs. In terms of clothing, vegans do not wear or use leather, silk, wool, fur and pearls. In terms of entertainment, vegans do not go to zoos, aqua parks and circuses that involve animals. This would also include purchasing or breeding animals for pets — vegans prefer to rescue or adopt existing animals.

Marie says that it may sound like such a limiting lifestyle to the reader, but it actually is quite enjoyable and liberating. For example, she adds, when you don’t eat animals and animal products, you open up your world to grains, beans, legumes, fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, herbs and spices. Marie also notes that we are lucky to live in a world that has good affordable alternatives to leather and other animal-based clothing materials.

Marie’s journey into the vegan lifestyle began as a New Year’s resolution in 2008. “I’ve always been interested in food, whether cooking it, talking about it, reading about it and watching cooking shows on TV. I used to cook a mean roasted leg of lamb with gravy.” She continues, “In May 2007, I started to exercise more and lost some weight. I then started to eat more healthfully — less refined food, less rice, more vegetables, but I still ate meat. I also started to read up on food politics — where our food comes from, organic vs. conventional, and of course, the animal agriculture industry. Watching PETA’s Meet your Meat, reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan, and listening to vegetarian-themed podcasts such as Vegan Freak and Vegetarian Food for Thought convinced me that I had to do something about how my food choices impacted the lives of animals and the environment. I decided then that I couldn’t participate in the institutionalized animal cruelty and decided to boycott the meat, poultry and seafood industry by becoming vegetarian in October. And let me tell you, it was so rewarding and empowering to make that simple choice.”

Sauteed beans over polenta and spinach.

Marie didn’t immediately become vegan because she wasn’t ready to give up desserts! And back then (October to December 2007), she knew nothing about baking without dairy and eggs. Her best friend gave her a vegan cookbook with a good selection of dessert recipes for Christmas, and that really pushed her to give veganism a go. She became vegan on New Year’s Eve and never looked back.

“Filipinos think vegan cuisine is boring because Filipino food is quite meat and seafood-heavy. We’ve grown up in a culture where you need meat or seafood on the table for a meal to be considered a meal. We put so much emphasis on meat, seafood and rice, and that vegetables are just an afterthought (or that vegetables are peasant food). Meat is actually an elitist food — our ancestors used to eat a more vegetable-heavy diet with meat or seafood as an accompaniment, before the onset of the industrial revolution and more modern animal farming practices,” she says.

Marie laments that people have the misconception that vegan food of only leaves is “rabbit food.” “This is so far from the truth. Since becoming vegan, I have eaten the most interesting and the most flavorful food. Vegan cuisine is full of color and flavor. They get color from fruits and vegetables. Meat dishes are usually brown, black or tan. Vegetarian? Reds, oranges, yellows, greens, purples. When you cook vegetarian, you learn early on to coax flavor using nuts, seeds, herbs, spices and mushrooms. We get creaminess using nuts, soy and coconut milk. We get umami-ness from miso, mushrooms, garlic and tomatoes.”

 What do vegans eat, when you take out meat, poultry and seafood out of the equation? Marie’s answer: Beans, grains, soy products, nuts, herbs, seeds, spices, mushrooms, fruit, vegetables and sea vegetables.

After graduating from cooking school, Marie trained at Pure Food and Wine, a raw vegan restaurant near Union Square in New York City. Working in a professional vegan kitchen, raw at that, was an eye opener. The quality and variety of produce available to New York kitchens is amazing. The restaurant used coconut meat, nuts and herbs differently from what she had originally been familiar with. Marie learned how to make raw ravioli using coconut meat and flax, “cheese” using nuts, and “bacon” using portobello mushrooms and lapsang souchong (smoked black tea).

Marie also trained at Dirt Candy, a quaint vegetarian restaurant in the East Village. The kitchen was tiny and the staff was made up of the executive chef / owner, one sous chef, one prep cook and one dishwasher. It is in Dirty Candy that she learned how to refine her knife skills (try slicing celery so paper-thin that the slices are translucent) and make fancy carrot buns (siopao) at $13 a pop!

So how does Marie continue the vegan tradition in the Philippines? “Right now, I am focused on Kitchen Revolution, which is an Alabang-based gourmet food business that specializes in holistic, whole food, plant-based cooking. We provide catering, group and private cooking classes, cooking demonstrations, and consulting services to restaurants and food companies,” she explains.

Her cooking classes demystify myths that vegetarian food is bland and boring. It’s a great way to learn how to incorporate more healthful food into your diet, whether you’re an omnivore who wants to eat more vegetables or a vegetarian who wants to learn new tricks. Currently she conducts private cooking lessons in the comfort of her clients’ homes or group classes in Alabang. In her classes, you get to learn how to cook whole grains like quinoa, millet, brown rice and polenta, and vegetarian protein such as lentils, beans, tofu and soy products. You’ll learn how to make cream sauces out of nuts and sausages out of vital wheat gluten. You’ll discover that desserts without using dairy and eggs aren’t only possible, but taste fantastic! She also does catering and this service is quite different from others because the food she serves is vegan and uses more whole grains and alternative sweeteners.

Marie plates the polenta, spinach and beans for the shoot. Ten minutes after the last shot, the entrée is half-eaten and wholly enjoyed. Who would have thought that vegan food could taste this glorious?     

(For more information on Kitchen Revolution, call 0917-8945086 or e-mail kitchenrevolution@yahoo.com.)