The cat’s been out of the bag for over a we
ek now, so I’ll say it here. While attending the Boston Natural Expo East (helping a friend in the name of vegan research) I received a tweet from VegNew’s editors in San Francisco to call the next free moment. In between nibbling seaweed crackers, inhaling geranium scented air at the laboratory-style oxygen bar and foraging for vegan chocolate I broke free of this demanding schedule and got the exciting news.
Admittedly I was giddy. Viva Vegan! was quite the project when I first strapped myself in over 2 years ago and I was clueless as to what kind of response it would receive. I had no idea that the notion of meatless, dairy-free Latin cuisine would seem anything less than insane to avid cookbook readers and kitchen enthusiasts, not just the vegan population at large. Yet it has made an impression beyond anything expected. I’m happy and hopeful Viva Vegan! will continue to serve the palates of Latin-food lovers gone veggie, long time vegans and the adventurous veg-curious in the US and beyond.
Perhaps this post is the closest I can get to a virtual podium and speech? If so I’d like to warmly thanks Viva Vegan! recipe testers putting up with demands of learning the distinction between masa harina and masarepa, patting out endless pupusas and steaming enough seitan to heat a spa (next up, seitan saunas?). Thanks also to VegNews staff and readers for making an impact with a vibrant, modern magazine to spread the vegan way o’ life. And of course huge, papaya-sized thanks to readers of Viva Vegan! itself…I’m hoping your copy is crusted with bits of masa harina dough and post-it-notes as much as my own copy (and my kitchen sometimes too).
As they say in the distant vegan utopia of “Veganzuela”, Viva los Vegans!
