On Saturday the Ahmed Shawki museum hosted the launch of Egypt’s first environmental event of its kind: the Veggie Fest Cairo. “My friend and I thought that we were the only vegetarians in Egypt. Surprisingly, more than ninety people showed up today,” said Aya Mostafa, one of the organizers.
Veggie Fest Cairo is a vegetarian evening but non-vegetarians were welcome to participate and bring their favorite meatless dishes. The purpose of the event, according to Mostafa, is to gather vegetarians together and open non-vegetarian eyes to the benefits of vegetarianism as a way of life. “I am not vegetarian, but was interested in attending this innovative event. I enjoyed tasting new kinds of food and having fun with my friends,” said Hanya Yassin.
Attendees were asked to bring musical instruments for the live music jam, as well as to express their vegetarian ideas through mural painting. “Since it is a festival, we want to add some excitement and activities to get to know each other. We aim to establish a community, not just a gathering,” said May, an organizer.
Environmentalist Ahmed al-Dorghamy inaugurated the event with an awareness speech about the 360 degree effect of food choices on the environment. In his speech, al-Dorghamy pointed out the best daily food routine and its numerous health benefits.
Some participants danced to the tunes of various musical instruments including the guitar and tabla. Drawings of vegetables and fruit alongside quotes reading “Meat is a murder” and “Vegan and proud” were painted on the mural wall.
Maria-Constanza Garrido, head of the event, spoke about the idea of the festival. “We (vegetarians) thought we were really left out. So a batch of my friends and I took the initiative to establish a Facebook page for the festival in an attempt to reach as many vegetarians as possible,” said Garrido. “We are willing to repeat the idea next year since a lot of people embrace it.”
Jennifer Stadt Miller, a participant, gave Al-Masry Al-Youm one of her favourite recipes, a vegan Egyptian “meat” pie (rou’ak). Those interested in more delicious vegetarian food can check out her blog.
For the broth mix:
4 cups of water
1 vegetable bouillon cube
½ cup non-dairy milk (we used soy)
salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup non-dairy butter (or samna nebety)
½ kilo rou’ak crackers (1 package)
For the filling:
2 ½ cups of textured vegetable protein (TVP)
2 ¼ cups of water
2 large onions
1 tablespoon non-dairy butter (samna nebety will work)
1 cup water
2 vegetable bouillon cubes, crumbled
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 teaspoon pepper
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C, or gas mark 5).
To prepare the Textured Vegetable Protein:
1. Soak the dried TVP in 2 ¼ cups of water for about 5 minutes.
To prepare the filling:
2. Finely chop the onion and fry it in the nondairy butter (or samna nebety) until translucent.
3. Add the TVP and fry for a few minutes until the TVP starts to brown slightly.
4. Add the bouillon cubes, soy sauce and pepper. Cook about 2 minutes.
5. Add 1 cup of water and continue frying until the water is absorbed.
Prepare the broth mix:
6. Heat 4 cups of water and the bouillon cube. Add the non-dairy milk, salt, pepper and only 2 tablespoons of non-dairy butter.
Prepare the pie:
7. Melt the rest of the nondairy butter and coast the bottom of a circular pan.
8. Working one sheet of rou’ak at a time, place one sheet in the bottom of the pan. Pour a bit of the broth mix enough to wet the sheet. Sprinkle a bit of the melted non-dairy butter on top.
9. Add another sheet. Pour in a bit of broth mix. Sprinkle on a bit of non-dairy butter. Continue until you have used up half the package of rou’ak (about 5 sheets).
10. Spread the filling mix on top of the stacked sheets.
11. Top the filling with another sheet of rou’ak. Wet with the broth, sprinkle with the non-dairy butter. Continue until you have used all the sheets (about 5 more sheets).
12. When the pie is complete, sprinkle the top with some more melted non-dairy butter.
13. Bake for about 30 minutes, then serve.
