Bingo 16: Culture
The Edgy Vedge is a bit dated, but it demonstrates both vegan food and Youtube content creator culture.
Full disclosure 1: I don’t hang out on Youtube a lot. That said, I can see how the “quirky-cute” vibe the writing tries for might have been popular in the video version; I have not looked that up. The written version gets a little annoying, like someone is trying to hard to be funny. First of all, I see very little “edgy” in trying to argue that vegan food can be appealing to non-vegans. That concept has/had been around since well before 2017 when the book was published. The voice, in written form gets you things like “Congrats, you’ve managed to find the one vegan (and one plant-based enthusiast) in a world of quinoa and kale who refuses to go with the grain. That’s a pun, get it? Quinoa…it’s a grain.” While to the author’s credit, she admits that this is “eye-rolling dad jokes” and that there will be more coming. However, technically quinoa is not a grain; it’s a seed. Second, we need to stop it with the comma splices. Third, the dad jokes only really work if they are at least somewhat funny. For example “Liquid chlorophyll (not to be confused with chloroform)” is a mint chocolate chip smoothie. Eye-rolling? Yes. Joke? I can see what you tried for, but there’s no funny. At least not in written form. And for another thing, why do you even need that if there’s spinach in the recipe already (both for the nutrition and color)?
Full disclosure 2: I have not tried any of the recipes. With only a few exceptions, there really is not anything new here to someone like me who has read and used a lot of vegan cookbooks over the past decade or more. Veganized shakshuka, samosas, butter chicken, General Tso’s Chicken, (portabello) burgers or steaks, kimchi fries, scallops, bagels and lox, mac and cheese, meatballs, etc. have been done many times elsewhere, and based only on the written text, I see very little new here. The exceptions that I might be interested in trying are items like the Jamaican patty and Syrian chicken and rice. Those kinds of thing you don’t see everywhere, and the recipes are generally do-able, assuming a decently stocked spice pantry.
My limited understanding of the Youtuber is that a brand is necessary, and that’s here. Also, internet food culture likes its “hacks” and those are also a feature is most recipes as additional options. Besides the jokeyness, the other key aspect of the brand here seems to be the (now rather tropey) ‘partner as inspiration’. James (the partner) is/was apparently a fan of the Chik-Fil-A sandwich, so there’s a veganized version of that here, pickle juice brine and all. James is also of Syrian heritage, so there a fattoush recipe from his grandmother. He apparently got caught with a Jamaican patty during a 30 day vegan challenge, so now he’s got no excuses. The images containing people, often include him too. I’m assuming he makes the occasional video appearance as well.
To be fair, veganizing things in a way that is appealing to both the veggie and meat eater is a tried and true tactic of many vegan or plant-based cookbooks. It’s not badly done here. I just don’t see the “edgy”.