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A true vegan “renaissance woman,” Chef Bryanna Clark Grogan has authored eight vegan cookbooks, including the bestselling Nonna’s Italian Kitchen; writes the popular Vegan Feast quarterly newsletter; and maintains a vegan cooking blog in addition to developing an endless array of new and innovative vegan recipes.
A frequent guest speaker at national vegetarian conferences and workshops, Chef Grogan is known locally as the “Tofu Queen” because she is an expert at making tofu irresistible to even die-hard “soy-phobes.” But Chef Grogan’s culinary range reaches far beyond bean curd to include such widely varied, low-fat, and incredibly delicious fare as Bryanna’s Chai-Spiced Crepes With Citrus-Almond “Ricotta” Filling and Grilled Mangos, Bryanna’s Simple Microwave Risotto With Roasted Asparagus and Tofu Breast, and Bryanna’s Crispy Vegan Orange-Pecan Cornmeal Waffles.
“[T]here are so many wonderful vegan foods out there that a lifetime is not enough time to sample all the possible combinations!” says Chef Grogan. We couldn’t agree more.
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Chef Spotlight:
Chef Bryanna Clark Grogan
Restaurant or company: Bryanna’s Vegan Feast quarterly newsletter
Do you have companion animals? If so, can you describe them?
Yes, we have three cats. Sinead (named after Sinead O’Connor because of her short hair!) is mostly white and part Siamese, I think. She is 15 years young but still very beautiful and active. Tina and Ringo (named after Tina Turner and Ringo Starr) are brother and sister, and they are about 2 years old. They were feral cats on Saltspring Island. My stepson, Sean, fostered them, and we adopted them when they were very small. They are black with white “bibs” and feet, but Tina is quite petite and fluffy, and Ringo is bigger and very sleek. Sinead tolerates them, but she’s the “queen” of the house. They are very entertaining!
How long have you been a chef?
I have been cooking since I was very little, according to my mother. I got married and had children when I was quite young, and that sparked my interest in combining cooking with better nutrition. I started to bake bread then, at age 18.
When I became a vegan, in 1988, it was a wonderful challenge to create good vegan food at a time when the word “vegan” was not associated with terms such as “cuisine,” “delicious,” or “cutting edge”!
What type of cuisine do you focus on?
I began my book-writing career focusing on very low-fat vegan cooking. I am not as strict as I used to be about fat, but I still like to create the best food I can with the least fat whenever possible. But, really, I like to make good vegan food from any cuisine that interests me at the time, particularly Mediterranean and Asian. Italian, Chinese, and Indian cuisines are so vast that I expect to be exploring them for the rest of my life! I also love exploring Middle Eastern, Persian, and South American cuisines, particularly from my father’s native country, Peru. I want to learn more about Indonesian cuisine as well. You can’t live long enough to explore them all!
I love recreating classic ethnic feast dishes and everyday dishes in the vegan style. If this means using meat substitutes, I go for it! The Chinese have been using “mock meats” for centuries.
Have you received any awards?
I recently received one of the first Leadership Awards from the first Vegetarian Awakening chefs’ conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Do you have a specialty?
I used to be called the “Tofu Queen” locally because of all the things I did with tofu, but now I find myself being called the “Goddess of Gluten” because of my seitan/gluten innovations. But I don’t like to pigeonhole myself. For instance, I think that my vegan baking has improved by leaps and bounds from creating desserts for The Vegan Feast newsletter.
What are the most important elements in cooking great vegetarian cuisine?
You must remember that meat exudes flavor and that it is an umami [or “savory”] food. I love full-bodied, savory dishes, and I want to show people how to make wonderfully tasty plant-based cuisine. I found that the advice “Just leave out the meat” literally falls flat much of the time. Umami is a powerhouse in meatless dishes, where it supplies the robust element that usually comes from meat or poultry. Vegan umami-containing foods include fermented foods such as soy sauce, miso, balsamic vinegar, and wine; dried shiitake or matsutake mushrooms; sea vegetables; green tea; vegetarian bouillon; and tomato juice and other tomato products. Browning foods by sautéing, grilling, and caramelizing also produces umami compounds.
Beyond that, it’s important to use the best ingredients you can afford, and you need to learn something about food science, flavors that go well together, and technique. I will never stop learning.
What is the key to getting meat-eaters to enjoy vegetarian food?
I usually do not serve my seitan or tofu dishes to meat-eaters, unless I know that they are very adventurous eaters and nonjudgmental. Since they eat meat, they will be comparing and looking for failure. I usually prepare the best traditional vegetarian ethnic dishes, such as Indian vegetarian food or Italian food. They often don’t even think of this as “vegetarian.”
What, in your opinion, does the future of plant-based cuisine hold?
Plant-based cuisine expands the future of cuisine in general. Cooks are not just trying to prepare the same old things in different ways. They are discovering sea vegetables, grains such as quinoa, and the many faces of tofu and beans, just to start with. Many chefs want to be able to cook vegan cuisine just as they cook French cuisine or Italian cuisine, and they want to do it well.
Do you have a favorite cooking method?
Not really—I use whatever works best. But I do love my indoor grill, and I also love roasting in a very hot oven—asparagus, Brussels sprouts, turnips—you name it! They all come out so sweet and delicious when roasted this way, and it takes very little time. I also stir-fry a lot, and not just Asian food.
Where did you train to become a chef?
I have never trained as a chef formally. I am totally self-taught, with the help of many great writers.
If you were stranded on a deserted island and could only eat one kind of ethnic food, what would it be?
Oh, that’s a hard one! But I guess I’d have to say Italian, and I don’t just mean pasta and pizza! Italian cuisine is so vast and varied that I don’t think you could ever tire of it.
Do vegetarian restaurants face any special obstacles that meat-based restaurants don’t have to face?
Mainly it’s just having the clientele to support them, especially if they are located outside a large city.
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Chef: Scot Jones
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