If music be the food of ...
seitan – “which is great, I just wanted to stick to vegetables that you can get in the supermarket,” she notes.
The strangest ingredient you’ll find in the book shouldn’t be too daunting either: “It isn’t a must-have, it’s an option – there’s black salt which just creates an eggy flavour – but you don’t have to have it!”
A post-university trip around South America and the States triggered Rachel’s enthusiasm for cooking (“I remember my mum saying, ‘Ooh, look at you in the kitchen making all this food’. I was like, ‘Yeah, what?’ Haha!”). But she hasn’t always been vegan. In fact, despite her mum wanting to raise her and her brother vegetarian (“It was looked down on, so she didn’t do it”), Rachel “ate chicken a lot” and didn’t have any friends who were vegan or vegetarian. “I was a KFC junkie, that was me, it was real.”
Then, struck by a Netflix documentary, she “went vegan overnight”.
She recalls: “It was just one of those moments. Suddenly I was like, ‘Oh, now I’m seeing how the food is ending up on my plate, I just don’t really want to be a part of it anymore’.”
Rachel, who is still surrounded by music, had planned on a career in A&R, and her brother produces his own music.
“For me, cooking with music was just a natural thing to do,” she explains, which is why you’ll find song recommendations alongside the recipes: Roasted beets and butternut squash tahini calls from All Night Long by Faith Evans (feat P. Diddy); chickpea ratatouille for Mother May I Sleep With Danger? by Joy Crookes.
“So, if anyone’s a music head like me,” says Rachel, “it touches on different senses of sound and taste, it brings the whole enjoyment together, and hopefully that will give people a bit more than just cooking.”
Her relaxed approach is reflected in how she hopes to help spread veganism too. She’s absolutely not militant – any uptake is welcome, whether you’re just intrigued by vegan menu options, have been thinking about animal welfare, are considering the health benefits, or feel concerned at the environmental impact of the meat and dairy industries.
“Try it, if you love it, you’ve got a staple recipe you can make for your family,” she says. “That’s the goal.”