2018 Boston Vegetarian Food Festival

Zygote Nation was there! ... At the 2018 Boston Vegetarian Food Festival at the Reggie Lewis Athletic Center in downtown Bean Town on Oct. 20, 2018.

This event was the best vegetarian food show I've attended thus far in 2018. Turnout was great and I enjoyed this show.

Numerous products were new to me; some were pleasant surprises, as I discuss below.

Here is my list of the show's notable vendors and items:

Aahana's

Aahana’s of Ashland, Massachusetts, caught my eye by offering something I had not seen before and found to be refreshingly different: khichdi cups. Khichdi is an Indian dish usually containing rice and lentils, but with variations. Aahana’s khichdi comes in four varieties: Masala, Sprouted Millet, Spouted Mung Beans, and Sprouted Quinoa. The cups feature organic grains and pulses (i.e., dry, edible seeds of the legume family), along with herbs and spices, all freeze-dried to retain nutrients, colors, and flavors, according to the company. Each cup offers an easy-to-digest, complete vegan protein, states the product labelling. To prepare the khichdi, one simply adds five ounces of boiling water to the contents of the cup. The khichdo I tasted at Aahana’s table was excellent. The company also sells chutneys.

Freshiez Organic Food

Screenshot captured from freshiez.com website

Freshiez Organic Foods of Casco, Maine, northwest of Portland, has a line of USDA-certified organic vegan burgers and other meat alternatives that are free of gluten, nuts, and soy. These products include the Super Burger and Super Sliders, along with Diggity Dogs, Hearty Chili, Herb-Crusted Filet, Meaty Ballz, Sweet Sausage, and Tasty Taco Crumbles. They are all based around the core ingredients of organic mushrooms, organic potatoes, organic onions, organic black beans, organic olive oil, organic oats, organic garlic, sea salt, organic black pepper, and organic smoked paprika. This combination has more protein, iron, fiber, and potassium than ground beef, according to Frieshiez’s website. Depending on the product, it may contain additional ingredients. For example, the taco crumbles have the addition of organic cumin, while the faux meat balls have locust bean gum, konjac root, and some different spices. I had a slider sandwich at the festival and it was delicious. I give Freshiez much credit for creating quality meat alternatives that are not laden with soy, wheat gluten, or canola oil.

Vicuña Chocolate

Vicuña Chocolate of Peterborough, New Hampshire, west of Manchester, sells artisanal chocolate bars with heirloom cacao from Central America and South America. It currently offers eight bars: Amaro Gayo Coffee Bean, Bolivia (single origin), Cocao Nibs, Dominican Republic (single origin), Ginger Honey, Guatemala (single origin), Maras Salt, and Yellow Chili. The bars are based on the heirloom cacao and organic cane sugar; they contain no lecithin, cacao butter, or added flavors, according the company’s website. For example, I tried the Maras Salt bar, which was delicious. The only additional ingredient in this bar is salt from Peru’s Sacred Valley, southeast of the ancient Incan city of Machu Picchu. Vicuña Chocolate ethically sources its ingredients from local farmers and works to ensure a fair and transparent supply chain, according to the website. Many of the ingredients across the bar varieties bear fair trade and organic certifications, states the website. The company also markets cacao beans, cacao nibs, and cacao tea. I like supporting chocolate companies that use heirloom cacao and help to preserve the indigenous cacao varieties.

Waku

Waku of Wellesley, Massachusetts, markets wellness teas based on an ancient recipe for “horchata lojana” from the indigenous communities of Ecuador’s Andean region. These teas, which come in four varieties (i.e., Original, Unsweetened, Ginger and Lemon, Passion Fruit), support digestive health, according to the company. I tried the Original and the Lemon and Ginger and liked them both; they had full, rich flavors that pleasantly lingered in the mouth. Both have nine grams of sugar per 10.14-fluid-ounce bottle. The company uses a mix of more than 20 medicinal herbs and aromatic flowers—all organic and sourced from independent farmers in that southern region of Ecuador—in the teas, states its website. That herb-and-flower mix includes: apple geranium, black basil, burnet, carnation, chamomile, cogona, escancel, fennel, flax seed, lemon balm, lemon grass, lemon verbena, malva escense, mint, red root amaranth, roses, spearmint, starflower, sweet oregano, violet, white basil, and white malva. For those wondering, “waku” is a word in the Quechua language of the peoples of that region in Ecuador that means “together” in English, according to the company.

UPrise Foods

UPrise Foods of Quincy, Massachusetts, south of Boston, offers a vegan, cashew-based grated “cheeze” called “Nooch It!” (Henceforth, I will refer to it as “Nooch It” without the exclamation mark to avoid grammatical issues in this entry.) This product really impressed me. I have run across faux nut-based grated cheeses before and have found most to be mediocre in taste and texture. Not Nooch It. It actually was much better than I thought it would be. I tried it both at the festival and later on pasta and steamed brussels sprouts. It’s really tasty and that taste nicely shines through when on top of a meal. Nooch It is gluten-free. In addition to organic cashews, it contains organic nutritional yeast, organic brown rice powder, organic garlic powder, organic hemp seeds, and sea salt. The company is working towards USDA organic certification of Nooch It, according to the company’s website. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts already has approved all of the ingredients’ USDA organic certifications, states the website.

Tamim Teas

Tamim Teas of Arlington, Massachusetts, sells hand-crafted, loose-leaf medicinal-mushroom herbal teas. The company uses freshly dried, sustainably sourced mushrooms (i.e., chaga, lion’s mane, maitake, reishi, and shiitake) from organic family farms in New England, according to its website. It pairs the respective mushroom(s) with organic herbs and spices to create each of Tamim Teas’ seven blends (all caffeine-free). That lineup includes: Chaga Chai (recharge-strengthen-perform), with turmeric and chai spices; Lion’s Spice (clarity-support-balance), with turmeric and spice; Lion-Maitake Clarity (focus-balance-repair), with cinnamon, ginger, and tulsi; Maitake Bloom (invigorate-protect-replenish), astragalus, ginger, and goji berries; Reishi Delight (restore-protect-soothe), with cinnamin and orange; Reishi-Chaga Boost (protect-invigorate-revive), with carob, elderberries, and rooibos; and Shiitake Uplift (renew-freshen-support), with ginger, lemon peel, lemongrass, and rooibos. Depending on the blend, the teas are available in reusable canisters or in pouches.

Bauman's Best Botanicals

Boston-based Bauman’s Best Botanicals markets small-batch shrubs (a.k.a. drinking vinegars) in five flavors: Berry & Herb, Spicy Pineapple, Tangerine & Lavender, Cucumber & Spice, and Nectarine & Spice. The company uses apple cider vinegar as the base in the first three blends and champagne vinegar as the base in the last two. One can drink a shot of the shrubs straight-up in the morning to stimulate the digestive system or after a meal as a digestive aid or to settle the stomach, states the company’s website. One can also add the shrubs to sparkling or flat water for a lively drink, use them (with or without oil) as salad dressings, substitute them for vinegar in recipes, or create a cocktail by mixing them with one’s favorite alcohol, it states. I tried the Berry & Herb and Spicy Pineapple and liked them much. Both tasted fresh and nicely fruity and neither had an overbearing taste of vinegar at all.

Jonathan’s Sprouts

Jonathan’s Sprouts of Rochester, Massachusetts, sells a line of USDA-certified organic salad dressings made in small batches and featuring cold-pressed, unrefined oil. I first came across this business a few years ago, so I was familiar with the dressing, which comes in three flavors: Asian Ginger, Garlic Paprika Vinaigrette, and Sweet Mustard. My favorite is the Garlic Paprika Vinaigrette; I think it is outstanding. Its ingredients are: organic gold flax oil, filtered water, organic apple cider vinegar, organic maple syrup, organic garlic powder, organic paprika powder, Himalayan pink salt, organic mustard powder, and organic black pepper. Among its other offerings, Jonathan’s Sprouts has a line of organic sprouts (e.g., alfalfa, broccoli, kale, spicy radish) as well as body-care products (e.g., deodorant, firming cream, lip balm, soap) featuring broccoli sprout extract.

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