ENTERTAIN THE IDEA OF VEGANISM...
Everyday eating was the focus before, but Lucy Watson’s follow-up vegan cookbook is all about occasions. PRUDENCE WADE finds out more
LUCY WATSON found fame as a straight-talker on Made In Chelsea – but her reputation has definitely mellowed since leaving the hit E4 reality series. She’s since found her niche in vegan cooking and paved a new career path. Far from just a passing food fad, plant-based eating seems to be here to stay, and Lucy has just released her second cookbook, Feed Me Vegan: For All Occasions.
Where the 27-year-old’s first book, published last September, was all about finding veganfriendly versions of her favourite meals, now that she’s more experienced, Lucy’s focus has shifted to entertaining.
Here, Lucy reveals how she’s getting into her vegan groove...
HER LOVE OF ENTERTAINING
HAVING mastered basic survival on a vegan diet, Lucy’s enjoyed being able to switch her attention and indulge in what she loves: Entertaining.
She says she was never really into cooking for friends, but: “Now I’m obsessed with it – I’m literally designing my kitchen around entertaining because that’s all I want to do. I want to have dinner parties all the time!”
There’s a practical element to hosting too: “As a vegan, it’s easier if you’re entertaining because you don’t have to be difficult sitting at someone else’s house telling them what you can’t eat – everyone can have vegan food!”
THE VEGANISM BOOM
IT’S perhaps no surprise Lucy chose vegan entertaining as the theme for her new book: Plant-based eating has exploded in popularity over the past year, and there’s now a bigger market for in-depth and crowd-pleasing recipes.
“Veganism has definitely turned into a trend,” she agrees, citing the record-breaking success of this year’s Veganuary – the campaign to get people to eat plant-based for the month of January grew by 183% in 2018, with 168,542 people signing up.
“If people weren’t vegan, they’ve at least heard about it, had friends who were doing it or were considering it themselves,” says Lucy. “It’s definitely made the whole thing a lot easier and more socially acceptable, which is amazing.”
SHARING HER VIEWS
ALTHOUGH she loves cooking, it’s animal activism that really fires Lucy up – and she’s by no means quiet about it on Twitter.
“Even if I wasn’t in this job, I’d still be compelled to speak out,” she says. “I’d still be trying to do my part, maybe even getting more involved and actually saving animals in undercover trips, or something like that.”
TRAVELLING AS A VEGAN
VEGANISM might be more mainstream now, but that’s not to say it’s a complete walk in the park. Travelling is still something that can prove challenging.
“There are definitely countries that are trickier than others,” Lucy acknowledges with a sigh.
“Places like France and Spain, which traditionally love meat and cheese.”
In fact, she was recently turned away from a restaurant in Spain, which “point blank said they wouldn’t cater for me”.
She’s positive about progress that’s being made though, and says incidents like that are rare.
“It’s getting so much easier. In the last year, I’ve found the response from waiters to be a lot more welcoming. They’re not as unfamiliar with it, it’s not something they can really ignore any more.
“This is happening and people all over the world are going vegan, so you have to accept it.”
If you want to entertain with a vegan menu, try these three recipes from Lucy’s new book.
■ Feed Me Vegan: For All Occasions by Lucy Watson is published by Sphere, priced £18.99.