I once wrote a book entitled "Voyaging on a Small Income" and the parts about provisioning and cooking proved very popular. "The Voyaging Vegetarian" would have followed, but so few people were then vegetarians that I thought no-one would publish it. Now many more people realise that eating dead animals is unkind and bad for the planet. I hope a blog, which I can update with new recipes, will work better than a book for liveaboards and aspiring voyagers, and those living simply in small spaces.
Back in the 80s, I wrote a book called "Voyaging on a Small Income", which was published and sold astonishingly well. It’s become almost a “classic” and is probably why you’ve found this site!
I’ve been living aboard and sailing since the 70s. Nine different boats have been home, sometimes for several months, sometimes for many years. I love the way of life, the small footprint and being close to Nature. I’m a great fan of junk rig and having extensive experience with both gaff and bermudian rig, I wouldn’t have any other sail on my boat. It’s ideal as a voyaging rig, but also perfect for the coastal sailing that I now do. I’d rather stay in New Zealand, not having to keep saying goodbye to friends, than go voyaging, these days.
Between 2015 and 2021, I built the 26ft "FanShi", the boat I now call home. For the last 45 years or so, my diet of choice has been vegetarian and is now almost vegan. I love cooking and particularly enjoy having only myself to please. I am combining all these interests (apart, perhaps, from junk rig!) in this blog. I hope you enjoy it. I also have other blogs: www.anniehill.blogspot.com and http://fanshiwanderingandwondering.wordpress.com
Perhaps
this isn’t exactly a basic recipe, but it’s a lovely one
to have in your repertoire. Typically, it’s served with fresh fish
such as salmon, but it also goes superbly with fresh asparagus, which
is anyway such a luxury, that it deserves the best of treatment.
It’s also very popular poured over poached eggs on toast.
If
you’re unacquainted with this sauce, the best way to describe it’s
like hot mayonnaise, but somehow, even richer. I haven’t tried
making a vegan version of this.
Serves 2
1½
tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp water
1 egg
50 g (2 oz)/4 tbsp butter
Method:
Boil
water in a small saucepan and then take it off the stove.
Find
a bowl that will sit comfortably over the pan, but not so deeply as
to displace the hot water.
Put
the lemon juice, water,salt and pepper in the bowl.
Beat
in the egg, with a wire whisk and then add a quarter of the butter.
Continue whisking until the butter has melted. By now the sauce
should be starting to thicken.
Add
the rest of the butter a quarter at a time, whisking all the time.
Taste.
Add a little more lemon juice if you like.
The
sauce should be served immediately, but it will keep warm if you
leave the bowl over the hot water.
If you
find that the water has cooled down too quickly, you can put it back
over a very low flame on a flame tamer. The water must not boil
because it will then effectively scramble the egg, which will ruin
the sauce.
For many years, I lived with a man who detested cheese and because money was in short supply, I hardly ever bought this treat for myself. I missed it, but its lack was tolerable, although I really enjoyed eating it when I had a chance. Then I lived with someone who loved cheese and, moreover, we had a little more money, so we generally had it on board.
When I decided to live on my own in New Zealand, I could finally eat exactly how I wanted to. However, my budget was again pretty limited and I found that New Zealand, in spite of being awash in dairy cows, has no tradition of its own cheese. Most of the affordable cheese made here, is a pastiche of Camembert or Brie, of Gouda and Edam and of course, the ubiquitous so-called Cheddar. I had hoped for so much more, remembering the open markets of my English youth, where I could buy several different versions of my local cheese. While there is some superb artisan cheese in this country, not only is most of it beyond my financial means, but most of it is beyond my physical means, only being sold in the major cities. Over recent years, the plight of dairy cattle (particularly calves) and of the planet overall, has inexorably inched me towards veganism. However, I still succumbed to the lure of Parmesan or Pecorino cheese. It was a very happy day, therefore, that I stumbled across a vegan alternative on the Internet.
Not only is vegan "Parmesan" a genuinely acceptable alternative to the real thing, it even emulates it sufficiently accurately, that friends have tipped generous amounts of the food I've served them, without even noticing that it's not the 'real thing'. Often what you taste is what you expect!
Many people use cashew nuts: I prefer Brazil nuts. (In this blog I am not generally going to discuss the various ethical pros and cons of one nut/grain/legume over another. Suffice it to say that the worst of them is probably less unethical than most animal products.) You will need a blender or good mouli-grinder to make this.
Brazil nuts are one of those that tend to go stale quite quickly - like walnuts - so I have assumed that the 'cheese' would also lose its flavour and freshness quickly. I therefore limit its production to 1/4 cup at a time. The recipe is so simple that it's extremely easy to make larger quantities. However, I do find that a small jar will keep happily for at least two or three weeks without refrigeration, which is another of its great virtues.
1/4 cup Brazil nuts
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt
Method:
Roughly chop the Brazil nuts into about 1cm pieces
Put the chopped nuts, the nutritional yeastand the salt into your blender or mouli and process until you get the consistency of finely grated cheese.
Serve over pasta, etc, as you would Parmesan cheese.
