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December/Januar y 2023 XII MAGAZINE definition includes those who approach the vegan world because they are motivated by health and wellbeing reasons, those who nurture love and respect for animals but are unable to make this a complete lifestyle choice, and those who use these products for dietary reasons or for specific intolerances and allergies. All good reasons to include in your menu many alternatives that use protein sources other than animal ones. And while many traditional Mediterranean dishes use pulses, for a more creative proposal you can go further, taking inspiration from distant cuisines or drawing on the techniques of vegan cooking. INDIAN SUGGESTIONS Oriental cuisine can be a source of inspiration for using our traditional legumes in a completely different way to the Mediterranean. One example of this is the way Indian chef Ritu Dalmia of the Cittamani restaurant in Milan uses lentils, the pulse she loves most. “My favourite vegetarian protein source,’ she says, ‘has always been pulses, all kinds: peas, beans, chickpeas... but my big passion is lentils: they are very versatile and I can create an entire meal with them. A salad to serve as an entrée, a main dish and a dessert. If I can cover them with peanuts, even better’. As an entrée, Chef Dalmia proposes Moong Dal Pakori , a kind of vegetarian meatball made by coarsely blending soaked yellow lentils, flavoured with chopped coriander, black pepper, ginger, chilli and salt. They are then cooked all over until golden brown. Among the main dishes is Dal Moradabadi with crispy papad and peanuts. This is a velvety yellow lentil soup, enriched with ginger, lemon juice, chillies, cumin, coriander, chutney and, of course, roasted peanuts. It is accompanied by papad, a waffle made of legume flour (chickpeas, lentils, black mung beans...) and fried. Lentils can also be used for dessert, as in Moong Dal Halwa , a kind of cream served hot and made from soaked lentils, blended and cooked in butter, combined with hot milk and sugar brought to the boil and served with cardamom, pistachios and raisins. By modulating the spices, it is possible to obtain dishes with a more or less distinctly oriental flavour. THE VEG COOKING EXPERIENCE In vegetable cooking, great attention must be paid to the choice of protein sources to ensure the correct nutrient intake. ‘In this type of cuisine,’ explains Marzia Riva , haute vegetal chef at the Taverna degli Arna in Milan and co-founder of Arna Food Lab with Ferdinando A. Giannone - replacing meat or fish with chickpeas and beans would not be enough. Pulses are mainly sources of carbohydrates: although they are rich in protein, they are not very different in composition from a good durum wheat or spelt. If we want to include a protein recipe in a vegetable cuisine, we must focus on two pulses that are particularly rich in protein: soya and lupin, and their processed products. To create a second course, similar in protein content to a meat or fish dish, tofu or tempeh is best in vegetable cuisine. ‘In tofu,’ explains Marzia Riva, ‘the curdling process separates the protein and fat portion of the soya; while in tempeh, the fermentation process improves the digestibility of the protein part and enriches the taste. In order to create a second course with an excellent protein content, it is possible to use these foods as basic ingredients in many preparations: roast tempeh, oriental tofu with contrasting soy sauce, or pizzaiola, or even seasoned with beer and orange juice, mustard... They are very ductile foods that lend themselves to many combinations and can be used throughout a meal, even in desserts. In her tasting menus, in fact, the veg chef offers the marinated tempeh cube , served with salted hazelnut caramel. ‘For me, this is a pre-dessert,’ Marzia Riva points out. ‘Our desserts are never desserts in the strict sense, as they contain no more than 15 per cent sugar. I seek the sweet taste through the combination of different flavours: umami, sour, salty and obviously sweet. Tempeh has an aftertaste of yeast and pine nuts that is enhanced by adding acidity and savouriness. Alternatively, with strained soy yoghurt I make labneh , a recipe of Middle