2019 Boston Vegetarian Food Festival
Zygote Nation was there! … At the 2019 Boston Vegetarian Food Festival on Oct. 19, 2019, at the Reggie Lewis Athletic Center in downtown Boston.
This was the second consecutive year I have attended this event. As was the case in 2018, I came across a nice selection of products that were new to me.
Here is my list of the festival’s notable vendors and products:
Bixby & Co.
Photo by Michael Sirak
Bixby & Co. of Rockland, Maine, sells U.S. Department of Agriculture organic-certified chocolates featuring ethically sourced cacao. The company is Maine’s first bean-to-bar chocolate maker, according to the chocolatier’s website. Its single-origin cacao bars caught my eye. I tried six varieties: the 20 Karat Bar, Organic Belize 70% Dark Chocolate Bar, Organic Dominican Republic 70% Dark Chocolate Bar, Organic Guatemalan 70% Dark Chocolate Bar, Organic Haitian 70% Dark Chocolate Bar, and Reserve 100% Dark Chocolate Bar (with organic Guatemalan cacao beans). The bars with 70 percent cacao content also contain organic cane sugar. All these bars were excellent, with rich flavor. My favorite was the 20 Karat Bar (ingredients: organic cacao beans, organic cane sugar, almonds, rosemary, crushed red pepper, salt, and black pepper). This bar is based on a recipe for a roasted rosemary almond snack usually served with drinks and cocktails, according to the bar’s packaging. Bixby and Co. also sells a Rock City Guatemala Coffee Bar (organic 70% organic Guatemalan cacao beans, organic cane sugar, single-origin Guatemalan coffee) and a Split Rock Bar (organic 70% single-origin Dominican Republic cacao beans, organic cane sugar, organic Bourbon whiskey). Among its other products, the company markets baking chips, bonbons, cacao nibs, candy snack bars, caramels, drinking chocolates, and vegan white chocolate (i.e., coconut milk-based) bars.
Photo by Michael Sirak
Lost Art Cultured Foods
Photo by Michael Sirak
Lost Art Cultured Foods of Cranston, Rhode Island, next to Providence, offers a line of hand-crafted, USDA organic-certified sauerkrauts and cultured vegetables. There are five varieties, each sold in 16-ounce jars: Beet-Kraut, Caraway & Cabbage, Chipotle-Kraut, Fennel & Cabbage, and Kraut-Chi. A product handout states that the company uses “traditional lacto-fermentation techniques to create flavorful, crunchy products full of beneficial live cultures.” Each batch is hand-mixed, using “the traditional method of massaging sea salt” into the vegetables, and the krauts are raw and never heated, states the company’s website. I tried the Fennel & Cabbage and Kraut-Chi varieties. I found them to have a vibrant, fresh taste and liked them much. Had I been able to fly home with a jar or two in my carry-on bag, I would have brought some back with me. Lost Art Cultured Foods uses vegetables, Atlantic sea salt, naturally occurring wild yeast, and spices, and nothing more (e.g., free of vinegar and preservatives) in these products; it sources its produce from local, small farms in New England, states the website. Like other fermented foods, these krauts promote digestive health, states the website.
Photo by Michael Sirak
Dan’s Power Plant
Photo by Michael Sirak
Dan’s Power Plant of Holyoke, Massachusetts, north of Springfield, offers a line of Fauxmaggio dairy-free, tree nut cheeses that contain active probiotics. The varieties include Aged Coconut Ash and Aged Rainbow Peppercorn as well as four spreads: Garlic & Herb, Green Onion & Chive, Pepper Jack, and Smoked Paprika & Garlic. I tried the Garlic & Herb and the Pepper Jack at the show and really enjoyed them—so much so that I bought a tub of Pepper Jack for my trip home. I ate the entire tub of chilled Pepper Jack at the airport with some crackers before boarding my flight. The Pepper Jack was pleasantly creamy and had a nice full flavor. The ingredients for this variety are: raw cashews, lemon juice, organic olive oil, raw macademia nuts, organic dehydrated red & green bell pepper, nutritional yeast, vinegar, organic arrowroot powder, sea salt, smoked salt, habanero, serrano, cayenne, dairy-free acidophilus, and citrus pectin (lemon, orange, grapefruit peels/pulp). Unlike other nut cheeses I have tried, the Fauxmaggio did not have a strong taste of nutritional yeast or texture of it. Dan’s Power Plant also sells vegan pesto as well as raw crackers, but it did not have them on display at the festival. The crackers come in two varieties: Kale Pesto and Garlic & Rosemary.
Photo by Michael Sirak
Liberated State
Photo by Michael Sirak
Liberated State of Derry, New Hampshire, southeast of Manchester, claims to be the first company to offer USDA organic-certified Laphet So, which is fermented, edible tea leaf reportedly savored by Burmese royalty since ancient times. “Laphet So serves as the culinary main event for entrees, cheeses, hors d’oeuvre, sushi, or any creative dish you wish to adorn,” states the company’s website. The tea grows at high elevation in northcentral Myanmar near Namhsan, an area that produces “the country’s highest quality teas,” states the website. The tea is then brought to New Hampshire, where organic extra virgin olive oil, garlic, and spices are massaged into the tea by hand, creating the Laphet So, according to the website. Cultured Tea Leaf sells this product in eight-ounce jars in three varieties: Original, Ginger, and Spicy Red Chili. I am intrigued by Laphet So, but I was unable to try it at the show. The company also sells Namhsan-origin, organic-certified green and red drinking teas as well as black and green teas that grow on the slopes of the Mauna Loa volcano and Hamakua Coastal Cliff, respectively, on the island of Hawaii.
Photo by Michael Sirak
Evergreen
Photo by Michael Sirak
Evergreen, a Canadian company from northeast Toronto, sells USDA organic-certified frozen wheatgrass juice. Available in packages of 15 individual one-fluid-ounce servings, this juice comes from wheatgrass that grows in fields outdoors for more than 90 days, soaking in sunlight, according to the company. This approach allows the wheatgrass to develop a deeper root structure and its sugars to mature into complex carbohydrates, states Evergreen’s website. I found the juice, as the company boasts, to taste smooth and mild, with no aftertaste. Evergreen contrasts its juice with wheatgrass juice derived from wheatgrass sprouts that grow indoors in trays for about a week under artificial light and carries with it a higher risk of mold. “Indoor grass has a high level of simple sugars which explains the syrupy taste and quick burst of energy that users sometimes experience right after drinking the juice. There can be a nasty, bitter aftertaste and many have instantaneous headaches and nausea within seconds,” states the company’s website. If you live in the United States and do not see Evergreen’s wheatgrass juice in your local health food store, the company does ship the juice in eco-conscious, biodegradable coolers to customers in the eastern third of the country (see map).
Photo by Michael Sirak
Photo by Michael Sirak
