Don Gaines

by pastry chef Carly Sitner
taken from At Both Ends issue no. 10 fall 2009, The End

As if vegans don’t have enough labels to read before we buy or eat anything and, on top of that, it seems that there is always new information coming out to inform us of more products that are not actually vegan. For ages, one of those ingredients well known by any educated vegan to be on the “no” list is sugar. Why does it seem that most vegans look the other way when it comes to this sweetener? Why is it that, of all things, this is an ingredient we consume which causes us to stray from our chosen diets? Why is sugar the one ingredient that seems to fall between the cracks and get into our cereal bowls or pockets of candy? Myself, being a vegan of ten years, the only answer I can come up with for this is pure laziness. I’d like to think that maybe there just isn’t enough education in cyberspace to let everyone know about this unjust ingredient but this is 2009, lack of information is certainly not the problem. The problem is that with all the ingredients we already do not eat it just seems easier to look the other way and enjoy that meat-free, dairy-free sugary drink. Some justify to themselves that sugar not being vegan is an old wives tale and today’s manufactureres have changed their ways to a more modern, just way of processing their white gold.

The fact is that not all manufacturers of sugar follow guidelines that would deem this ingredient vegan. Today, in the United States, there are two types of sugars being produced, beet and cane. Beet sugar accounts for approximately 40% of the world’s sugar with the United States being the third largest producer. The primary distinction between cane and beet sugar, other than being derived from different plants, is the processing method. Unlike beet sugar, cane sugar processing typically takes plate at two locations, the sugar mill and the refinery. during the final purification process cane sugar is filtered through activated carbon which may be of animal, vegetable or mineral origin. This step is unnecessary for beet sugar and therefore is never done.

Over half of the cane refineries in the United States use bone char (charcoal made of animal bones) as their activated carbon source. The bone char is used in this filtering process is so far removed from its animal source that cane sugar processed by this method is deemed kosher pareve, which, according to Jewsih dietary laws, means that it contains no meat or milk in any form as an ingredient. I, and a number of vegans, disagree with this perspective yet the vast majority of vegans look the other way. Why? How can you be so sure that the sugar you’re eating is beet sugar, vegetable processed cane sugar or bone char derived cane? Vegans cannot discern any difference between beet sugar and cane sugar in taste, appearance or use. Beet sugar is frequently not labeled as such, the packaging may just list “sugar.” Cane sugar is more often labeled specifically, but not always. It seems only obvious that vegans must avoid white sugar altogether rather than chance using a product that was filtered through animal bone char.

As a vegan you become educated with the small, sometimes unknown ingredients often hiding in nutritional labels. Whey, lecithin and casein are all products well known to educated vegans as ingredients to stay away from. Whey is the liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained; it is a by-product of dairy, therefore immediately a big no-no on any vegan’s list. Lecithin is a group of yellow-brownish fatty substances occurring in animal tissues and in egg yolks. Casein is a milk protein stemming from cheese and cow’s milk. So what do these common ingredients have in common with sugar? They are all by-products stemming from a completely non-vegan source. They have all started as one thing or another and through processing have come out to be their own product with origins that do not fall within vegan guidelines.

So what should you use instead of white sugar? For baking and cooking it is easy to find replacements for white sugar. one might use organic sugar, unbleached cane sugar or dehydrated and granulated cane juice, all of which are available in natural food stores and are becoming more readily available in conventional grocery stores. Most of these products can replace white sugar measure for measure for general use in recipes. Another option is to purchase granulated natural sweeteners such as maple sugar, granular fruit sweetener, date sugar or use natural liquid sweeteners such as pure maple, agave, malt and brown rice syrups or mixed fruit juice concentrates.

As far as buying products goes, as a vegan it should not be hard to stray away from those sugar Skittles that will never be vegan no matter how hard you try to convince yourself. It should not be difficult to put down those name brand cereals and pick up a box of completely ethical and vegan breakfast treats that are equally as satisfying. The change you make from non-vegan sugar to vegan sweets of all kinds will not only make an impact on your voice as a vegan advocate but on the earth and environment as a whole.

Here is a recipe from my own (Carly Sitner) collection that uses maple syrup instead of white sugar to sweeten this delicious and rich dessert.

Rice Pudding
- 48 oz coconut milk
- 2 cups soymilk (plain or vanilla)
- 2 cups maple syrup
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups arborio rice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 vanilla beans, split down the middle and seeds scraped out

Combine all ingredients (including empty bean pods) in a large pot on the stove over medium/high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 25 minutes or until rice is tender and mixture has thickened. Transfer pudding to a bowl and enjoy hot or refrigerate and let cool for a super thick, pudding-like consistency.

—-end article—-

I have to admit, after reading this I was convinced. I’ve given up main stream sodas, candy and try my hardest to get bread products w/o the sugar (I find this one being the hardest, even your standard tortilla wrap has sugar added!) What do you all think about this? I look at it a bit like global warming, whether or not it’s real it certainly can’t hurt to help where I can. Refined sugar isn’t good for you, so why not cut it out? God knows that corn syrup trash isn’t good for you. I leave you with a song from the straight edge hardcore band Good Clean Fun, it’s called Sweet Tooth.

Good Clean Fun – Sweet Tooth

After I making the switch to veganism chickpeas quickly became a staple of my diet. I was making chickpea spread, hummus, falafel and adding them in any dish I could. However, that got old quick so I went in search of something new. I’d had this delicious chickpea/tofu curry wrap from a restaurant nearby and was looking to duplicate it. I began my search and stumbled upon a few recipes for Indian Chickpea Curry which I’ve formed into my own. Enjoy!

Makes 3-4 servings

chickpeas
I like to buy dry beans in bulk, soak overnight in plenty of water and cook them in a bit of olive oil and salt. That way I know exactly what goes into them. I cook around 1.5 cups of dry chickpeas at a time, using the leftovers for hummus or another dish. At any rate:
- 1.5 dry chickpeas soaked overnight
- a splash of olive oil
- couple dashes of salt
- boiling water
- Cover and let this cook for about an hour (I’ve discovered chickpeas take forever to cook and be soft!)

now let’s curry those chickpeas
spices
- 3-4 shakes of Garam Masala (this stuff can be overpowering so take it easy and add more if needed)
- 1-2 T of yellow curry powder
- 2 shakes of turmeric
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/2 T fresh ginger (diced up small)
- 1-2 seeded and diced chilis (I leave a few seeds for spice, also you can use cayenne pepper flakes)
- 1/2 T cumin seeds
- 2 T cumin
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 T lemon juice
- 1/4 cup water
- olive oil and/or Earth Balance buttery spread
- salt to taste

substantial ingredients
- 1/2 large yellow onion or 1 small onion sliced (i like them kind of thick for this dish)
- 1 28oz can of tomatoes (this is tricky, i’m using canned tomatoes from my Dad but I believe it’s 28oz. alternatively I’d use 2-3 tomatoes pureed in a food processor with another 2-3 freshly chopped, you want this to be real tomatoe-y!)
- 2 carrots (chopped, diced, sliced, julienned, however you like)
- 1 cup of your cooked chickpeas

In a cast iron skillet (or your choice of pot) begin to saute your onions in olive oil. After a few minutes throw in the cumin seeds to get them nice and toasted. Once they’re clear throw in your garlic, ginger and chilis. At this point I also add a bit of Earth Balance spread (Indian food often uses a drawn butter called ghee that gives it a very unique flavor. However, ghee’s not very vegan so I make up for that with the Earth Balance). Let this saute for a few minutes then throw in the rest of your spices (except the lemon juice). Wait about 1 minute then add 1/4 cup water to mix the spices up and off the pan. Add your tomatoes and carrots. Throw a lid on this and let simmer for 5-7 minutes, enough to get the tomatoes heated up and started thickening. Add your chickpeas, lemon juice and if you like some more cumin and curry powder. Cover this, let simmer for about 10-15 minutes on a low-mid heat until it starts to thicken. In the meantime you can cook up some basmati rice or prepare some vegan naan if you like. After about 15 minutes the you should sit and eat. Nom!