Vegans with verve
Issue #24
The Post Punk Kitchen mixes it up with vegan eats and punky beats
By Emily McCombs
Published: June 1st, 2005 | 3:56pm
Move over, Emeril. The ladies of The Post Punk Kitchen are cooking up something hip, edgy, and vegetarian.
Now people who like to heat it up in the kitchen but aren’t down with the whole poufy-white-hat thing can watch Isa Moskowitz and Terry Romero, two polka-dotted, wrist-banded hipsterites bake, make vegan sushi, and chill with local punk bands on Brooklyn public-access TV. “I like to think of it as inviting people to come and hang out with us and cook,” Romero says.
Both women went vegetarian in their early teens, but it was two years ago, when Moskowitz decided to dish out $100 for a course to become a certified producer at B-CAT (Brooklyn Community Access Television) that the idea for The Post Punk Kitchen was born. “I was addicted to the Food Network, but it’s kind of hard to watch it if you’re a vegetarian. So I was thinking it would be fun if there was a vegetarian cooking show,” she says. She recruited Romero, who had been working as a professional chef, and The Post Punk Kitchen came kicking and screaming into the world.
Moskowitz and Romero started filming and editing shows on a modest $200 budget. But the lo-fi nature of the production just means the duo is keepin’ it real. “We’re working with real equipment that most people have and the space limitations most people have,” Moskowitz says. “Sometimes the blender doesn’t work or we spill things. We overcook things just like how it might happen in real life.” And people respond to it. Moskowitz has received e-mails from independent music fans, vegetarians, moms with lactose-intolerant kids, and guys who enjoy a little sass with their tofu. That fan base is sure to expand as The PPK spreads to San Francisco, Boston, and Minneapolis in July and Moskowitz’s cookbook, Vegan With a Vengeance, is released in October.
For now, would-be viewers can catch The PPK and its catchy theme song (which includes the line “Soy Milk / Baked Goods / I’d eat them all if I could”) on B-CAT and the Manhattan Neighborhood Network. Those not in the Manhattan area can visit theppk.com to order DVDs and watch streaming videos of punk bands playing in Moskowitz’s cozy living room while the girls bake cupcakes in the kitchen. But don’t expect too much sweetness. “We don’t talk about flowers,” Moskowitz says. “We talk about sex and politics and sex again.”
—
From The Post Punk Kitchen:
FRESH MANGO SUMMER ROLLS
Crisp vegetables and sweet mango make these the perfect treat for a hot summer’s night when the last thing you want to do is turn on the oven. The only thing that requires cooking is the noodles, and they are done in10 minutes. You should be able to find rice noodles and wrappers in the “ethnic” foods section of a well stocked supermarket, at a health food store, or at an Asian grocery.
Ingredients
1 Mango, peeled sliced into thin matchsticks
1 cup Bean sprouts (or seedless cucumber cut into matchsticks)
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
4 oz very thin (bean thread) rice noodles
1/4 cup roasted peanuts, very finely chopped
20 rice paper wrappers (plus extra in case some tear)
Directions
Boil a medium sized pot of water. Turn the heat off and add the noodles, let them soak for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain the noodles and run them under cold water until they feel cold. Transfer them to a bowl and begin your rolls.
Have ready a pie pan or large wide bowl filled with hot water (tap water is fine) and clean counter space or a cutting board. Place rice paper wrappers, 2 at a time, into the water until they are flexible (30 seconds to a minute). Carefully remove from water and lay flat on a clean surface.
In the lower 2/3 of the roll, place a tablespoon of noodles and sprinkle a few of the chopped peanuts (about a teaspoon) over them. On top of that place the 5 or 6 mango strips and on top of that place 6 or 7 mung bean sprouts and 3 or 4 cilantro leaves. Fold the left and right sides over the filling, then take the bottom of the wrapper and begin rolling. It may take a couple of tries to get it right, but keep it up and you’re on your way to summer roll heaven. Keep wrapped and chilled until ready to eat and serve with small fingerbowls of the dipping sauce below.
For the dipping sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 Teaspoon Asian chili oil
1 garlic clove, minced
3 Tablespoons roasted peanuts, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
Mix all the ingredients together and chill until ready to serve.
Comments
Please login to be able to comment on this article.
more