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Savory Stuffed Crepes (Mahjouba)- Algeria
August 25, 2020

Savory Stuffed Crepes (Mahjouba)- Algeria

Torrijas (Not-Quite-French Toast)- Andorra
August 24, 2020

Torrijas (Not-Quite-French Toast)- Andorra

Pumpkin Filo Pie (Byrek Me Kungal)- Albania
August 23, 2020

Pumpkin Filo Pie (Byrek Me Kungal)- Albania

Afghan Vegetarian Dumplings (Aushak)
August 22, 2020

Afghan Vegetarian Dumplings (Aushak)

196 Cuisines in 365 Days- The Ultimate Cooking Challenge
August 20, 2020

196 Cuisines in 365 Days- The Ultimate Cooking Challenge

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ABOUT US

Hey there!

We are Nicola & Floss, another pair of travel-and-food obsessed besties from New Zealand. Given travel is off the cards for the moment, we have decided to embark on a quest to cook our way around every country in the world in a year. Wish us luck- we are going to need it.

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This saucy plate of noods may be one of the best r This saucy plate of noods may be one of the best recipes we’ve created so far 🙈🍜 

Dan Dan noodles, straight from the streets of Sichuan/ our kitchen in Auckland, consist of wheat noodles topped with a creamy sesame sauce, fiery chilli oil, steamed bok choy and a mushroom mince so hearty and packed with flavour, even carnivores shouldn’t noticed the absence of pork. 

Don’t delay, head to the link in our bio to get hold of this divine Chinese recipe!
𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫⁣
⁣
Literally the go-to staple in our household, we make a jar of this every week without fail cuz it’s just so damn good on errrrrything (and so much cheaper to make than store-bought)! ⁣
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Ingredients:⁣
• 3 cups raw almonds⁣
• 1 tbsp maple syrup⁣
• 1 tsp vanilla essence⁣
• 1 tsp cinnamon⁣
• ¼ tsp salt⁣
⁣
1. Preheat oven to 175˚C. Spread almonds out on lined baking tray. Toast almonds for 13 minutes or until they’ve turned a deeper brown color.⁣
3. Put almonds into food processor or high-powered blender. Blend until smooth ⁣
and creamy, stopping to scrape down the edges every 5 minutes or so. ⁣
4. Add maple syrup, vanilla essence, cinnamon and salt to almond butter and blend for a few more minutes until smooth again. ⁣
5. Allow to cool, then pour into a jar and store in fridge and ENJOY!
Forget pumpkin spice lattes, this pumpkin fried br Forget pumpkin spice lattes, this pumpkin fried bread is where it’s at. Sopaipillas are a favourite snack in Chile, and now we’ve tried them, we understand why. 

Versatility at its finest, sopaipillas can be served with salsa for a savoury snack, or sprinkled with icing sugar for a sweet treat. Can confirm both forms are equally as tasty 😋 Plus, they require minimal ingredients & time to make! 

 Link in the bio for the recipe to these sneaky snacks 🎃
The @mela_restaurant_auckland goodness continues w The @mela_restaurant_auckland goodness continues with part 2 of our degustation...⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
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𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐚🍝 ⁣⁣⁣ For entrees, we opted for the swede carbonara and the burrata. The burrata was served with juicy heirloom tomatoes, toasted hazelnuts and little squares of smoked nashi pear. The hazelnuts and nashi were a great combination, but the burrata itself actually fell kinda flat in that it had absolutely 0 flavour. I know they are a subtle cheese but usually they contribute some delicate notes in the background as well as that great texture. Anyway, it was still refreshing, 7.5/10⁣ The swede carbonara had thin, sweet, slightly softer than al denté noodles of swede, served in a delicate parmesan custard. It had these two salty, crispy parmesan wafers on the outside which were honestly fantastic; they really elevated the meal from pretty ordinary to pretty novel. 8/10 ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
𝐂𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐝 🦑 ⁣⁣⁣ The first main was an off-the-menu vegetarian number of delicately flavoured roasted cauliflower which was served with a crispy, deliciously salty leaf of cavolo nero, pickled shallots, and these wonderful herbed golden and crispy gnocchi. The components were quite random, but together they were actually delicious and had a lot of flavour. The gnocchi were particularly standout, they had this deliciously moreish fried taste and texture 9/10. The squid was the seafood of the day, and to be honest we really didn’t vibe it. I love me some good calamari, but this fleshy, unflavoured squid was overwhelmingly fishy without an appropriate balancing flavour. The charred and pureed corn with garlic on the side was fun and added an extra dimension, but it wasn’t enough to salvage this dish for us. 6.5/10⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
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𝐆𝐨𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 🍨 ⁣⁣⁣Dessert was an easy highlight. A delightfully textured goat’s cheese ice cream was served on a puddle of raspberry foam, with fresh berries, morsels of the most deliciously moist brown butter cake and underneath was this delicious caramelly layer. It was refreshing and zesty, and all the elements were perfectly complementary. 9/10
If you are craving a comforting, hearty, use-up-le If you are craving a comforting, hearty, use-up-leftover-veggies kind of meal, look no further. This creamy peanut vegetable stew is your answer!

Daraba, as it’s called in Chad, is a vegan stew made with a sauce of coconut milk, peanut butter and spices.  It is then filled with veggies such as pumpkin, okra, leafy greens- really whatever you want to chuck on there- and served topped with caramelised onions. Ideal on its own or with rice, it makes for an ideal weeknight dins. 

Link is in the bio for the easy peasy recipe 🙃

#ATWCookingChallenge
#AD I feel like 70% of the reason Nic and I starte #AD I feel like 70% of the reason Nic and I started Gourmet Vegetarians was to provide us with an excuse to splurge (in more ways than one) on degustations, so when @mela_restaurant_auckland extended an invite we very quickly snapped up the opportunity. Mela is currently doing an IG giveaway for a 7-course degustation for two worth $500, so if you are into free, gorgeous extended meals go check that out. We only had a 3-course degustation with the starting snackbox but honestly that already took us out a little, so you’re in for a treat. This is what we had:

𝐂𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬 🍹 
We wanted to mention our drinks (designed by the talented @clippernz) because they were pretty standout. One was a delicious whiskey spritz and the other a refreshing tequila aloe number. Both were a very welcome start to our meal. 

𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 🧈 
We began our meal with the obligatory bread and butter option. We were provided with a crispy-edged sourdough and a gorgeously sweet brown-butter. The butter was spectacular and we happily lathered it onto the warm crunchy bread. We make our own sourdough though and this number didn’t blow us away. It was definitely delicious, but nothing out of the ordinary. For the butter though, 8/10

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐛𝐨𝐱 🍱
This box was the proper opening to the meal and it was a truly mistical (😏) event. Some people aren’t about the theatrics in a meal but we were 100% here for it. A miniature most forest encased in a wooden box held two delightfully sweet, airy, and moist green tea sponges with a sweet miso drizzle (9/10). On top were also perched two crispy eggplant caviar croquettes which contained a spiced, slightly curried eggplant mixed with sultanas, the tops of which were dotted with fresh cream and chives. 9/10 A liquid olive each added a burst of saltiness to the meal, but honestly I found the saltiness overwhelming and I’ve been an olive fan since I was 4. In a bowl on the side were two charcoal crisps which were deliciously smoky (8.5/10), and two chawanmushi, a wee savoury Japanese egg custard with a delicate, fishy taste. 8/10

Stay tuned for part 2 of our review (once again have run out of caption space 😅)
Another absolute win from Wellington: the ever-so- Another absolute win from Wellington: the ever-so-secretive Starta bakery (@wellingtonsourdough). We had to really go for a wander to find this wee bakery (not that we were in any rush on our meandering Wellington foodathon), and oh my gosh it was so worth it. Every single item that we tried (and we ordered quite the spread) was phenomenal. ⁣

𝐀𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐭: this beauty came close to (although not quite meeting) Fort Greene’s gorgeous rendition. I mean just look at that crumb. Buttery, airy, flaky, with a delicate sprinkling of icing sugar on its caramelised exterior, and a thin layer of almond frangipane at the bottom, it was a solid 9/10 ⁣

𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐞: easily one of the best cheese scones we’ve ever tried (and we like to think ourselves quite the connoisseurs, though we say so ourselves). Crispy exterior, with a gorgeous crusted parmesan top, it was an easy 9.5/10⁣

𝐀𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐮𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐜𝐡𝐞: I’m still a little confused as to how this was a brioche, but it was basically a doughy pastry with a creamy centre studded with pieces of asparagus. It was tasty and moreish, with the cream nicely tart. 8/10
⁣
𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐧: This was a light, airy raisin-studded bun with a sweetly glazed exterior. The thick coconut icing on top was gorgeous. 8/10⁣
⁣
𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭: The star of the show. I wish we’d ordered multiple of these each, coz sharing broke my heart. Portuguese custard tarts are already one of God’s gifts to humankind, and oh sweet lord this was the perfect sample. The pastry was so buttery and flaky and delicately sweet, and the vanilla custard was so smooth and caramelised, it was a KO. 10/10⁣
Any peanut butter fans in the house? 🙋🏼‍♀️ Save this recipe for a day where you don’t know what to make for breakfast as you probably already have all the ingredients in your pantry 💁🏼‍♀️

This peanut butter rice porridge, or bouillon as it’s called in Central African Republic, makes for a creamy, nutty + satisfying brekkie. It’s good on its own, but even better when topped with caramelised banana and extra PB (in our humble opinion, you can never have enough of the stuff).

You know the drill, link to the recipe is in our bio. 🥜 

#ATWCookingChallenge
𝐏𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐚 𝐏𝐮 𝐏𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐚 𝐏𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐊𝐚𝐲𝐚 𝐉𝐚𝐦 🌱 Serves 2 #ad⁣

Anyone else obsessed with pandan?! If you haven’t tried it before and wondering what it tastes like, it’s a hard flavour to explain... So you’ll just need to try it for yourself! 👩‍🍳 We found pandan leaves in the frozen section of an Asian supermarket, otherwise you can sub for pandan extract if you can’t find any. 
⁣
Chia pudding:⁣
	• 4 pandan leaves (or 1/2 tsp pandan extract)⁣
	• 1 cup @chantal_organics coconut milk⁣
	• 2 tsp coconut sugar⁣
	• 1 tsp vanilla essence⁣
	• 4 tbsp @chantal_organics chia seeds⁣
⁣
Pumpkin kaya jam:⁣
	• 1 cup pumpkin puree⁣
	• 1/4 cup coconut milk⁣
	• 1/4 cup coconut sugar ⁣
	• 1/8 tsp salt⁣
	• 2 pandan leaves⁣
⁣
To top: ⁣
	• Coconut yogurt⁣
	• Toasted coconut⁣
⁣
1. Blend pandan, coconut milk, coconut sugar and vanilla essence for a few minutes. Pour mixture through a sieve into a bowl to filter out pandan pulp. Stir in chia seeds, cover, and refrigerate overnight.⁣
2. Prepare the pumpkin kaya jam by blending pumpkin puree with the coconut milk.⁣
3. Transfer mixture to pan over low heat. Stir in coconut sugar and salt, then add in pandan leaves and leave to heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. ⁣
4. Take off heat and allow to cool. Discard pandan leaves and transfer to jar  and store in fridge till ready to serve.⁣
5. Compile chia pudding by topping with pumpkin kaya jam, coconut yogurt and toasted coconut flakes.
Canada has produced many great things- maple syrup Canada has produced many great things- maple syrup, Justin Bieber, politeness, my boyfriend... Yet, poutine has to be up there with one of the greatest. Whichever Canadian thought of topping French fries with hot gravy and gooey cheese curds is a bloody genius. 

Whether you are a die-hard poutine lover or you’ve never had the pleasure of trying such a dish, this recipe will seriously satisfy your tastebuds. We’ve amped up the dish with a hearty mushroom gravy which we believe will appease our fellow vegetarian and meat-eaters alike.

Head to the link in our bio NOW to find out how to make this glorious Canadian creation. 🇨🇦 

#ATWCookingChallenge
A few weeks ago we had a rather tragic experience A few weeks ago we had a rather tragic experience of getting turned away from a restaurant for which we had a booking. Fair enough as it was a high-end place and they probably perceived that Nic’s dulcet Australian twang would scare away customers. Anyway, we toddled off in despair and found comfort in the arms of @clay_366krd. Our lovely waiter hooked us up with a gorgeous glass of orange, and we settled in for a spot of people-watching and noms.⁣
⁣
𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐮𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐚 🥒 another refreshing dish: this one featured sweetly marinated and chargrilled cucumber on a bed of thick ricotta with a dusting of sumac. The chargrilling enhanced all the flavours with its smokiness, and ricotta and cucumber is the ultimate shred combo so we are pretty much fitspo queens. 8/10⁣
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𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 🧈 need we say more? Sourdough is bread royalty (Clay’s was deliciously chewy and bitter), and all buffalo milk products are 👌🏼. Always a beautiful way to start a meal. 8.5/10⁣
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𝐀𝐮𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐳𝐳𝐚 🍆 this vegan number did a tango on the tastebuds. To be honest it tasted more like flatbread than pizza with its wonderfully wood fired, crispy base and middle-eastern infused spices. It was slathered in a layer of tangy eggplant, and was piled high with fresh coriander, mint, and pickled chilli. It had a wee kick to it, and was definitely unique and refreshing, but I think my heart will always desire cheese on a pizza. 7.5/10⁣
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𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 🍮 Niccy is a caramel fiend, so when we saw this on the menu we got pretty excited. Textually, it was great: thick and smooth with a firm, shortcrust base. Flavour-wise it had a deep burnt caramel flavour, however we were rather surprised to find it was barely sweet at all. I don’t know how that’s possible given that caramel is literally dissolved sugar, but there we go. Unfortunately we enjoy our desserts to actually taste like desserts, so it wasn’t a win, but if you like less sweet numbers this is for you. 7/10
If you are looking for a doughnut recipe that fits If you are looking for a doughnut recipe that fits to errryones dietaries, this one is for you. Vitumba is a popular Cameroonian street snack made using rice flour and coconut milk, making them naturally vegan, gluten-free & refined sugar-free! 

Plus, if you want to see BTS of the Gourmet Vegetarian kitchen when things DO NOT go to plan, read the recipe post on our blog. It reeeally shows that things don’t always turn out in the kitchen like they do on the gram 😂

Hit the link in bio for the recipe to these spiced doughnuts (did we mentioned they come with a cheeky salted caramel dipping sauce?) + kitchen miasadventures 🙈
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