T is for tempeh

I like to think there are very few vegan things that I don't eat. Most things you can drop on my plate, and I'll get stuck in.

I do have one culinary nemesis though: tempeh.

The first time I cooked it - in a casserole - the result was so disgusting I had to chuck it in the bin. The second time, I tried it in a sandwich. That, too, went binwards. "It tastes," said my other half, "like dust." He was being generous.

Me and tempeh parted ways for some years after that, until I tried a tempeh sandwich at the now-defunct Shoreditch branch of Saf, and it persuaded me that maybe it was worth another go. Vegan Mofo seemed the perfect time to face my tempeh demons and try making it at home.

The first recipe I tried was tempeh bacon from Vegan with a Vengeance. I boiled the tempeh for half an hour, then made up the marinade and let it stew for a whole day before frying it up and making it into a tempeh bacon BLT. I was taking no chances!

Behold:

With a great deal of trepidation, I took a bite. Then, with less trepidation, I took another. And another.

Hooray - I didn't gag at all. It wasn't disgusting. Sweet mary jane - what miracle was this?! Granted, I couldn't taste much apart from the marinade, but that's often the case with tofu, and I eat that often enough.

So me and tempeh had something of a rapprochement that day - but was I ready to let it move its stuff back in?

Next up, I turned to the ever reliable  Robin Roberteson's 1,000 Vegan Recipes for inspiration, settling on the spagetti and T-balls recipe as my next foray into all things tempeh.

I boiled the tempeh for half an hour, like a good vegan, then drained it. But curiosity overcame me, like Lot, and I had to take a bite of the denuded tempeh - I had to know had my tastes changed, or was tempeh suddenly not grim?

The answer to that particular pop quiz was: it's still grim if you eat it unadulterated. Mince it up with herbs and garlic and vital wheat gluten and shiz, turn it into T-balls, and you're away.

I asked my other half for his opinion. "You made dust taste nice," he said. And what finer praise is there than that?