Have you ever read a book and started to appreciate it, only for one small detail to ruin the whole thing? When I picked up The Unofficial Harry Potter Vegan Cookbook, it was clearly stated that the book was in no way officially affiliated with the franchise and its author, so that didn’t bother me. The introduction is a little preachy about vegan ethics, but it’s by Evanna Lynch, the actress for Luna Lovegood. It’s nothing I haven’t seen before in vegan cookbooks. The thing I don’t get though is that that sort of opening is preaching to the choir a bit; if someone didn’t at least know and care little bit already about that sort of thing, why would they be picking up a book like this anyways?
The recipes are a little chef-y for two non-chefs (although one is a food influencer type, a Kitchen Witch content creator), but it has got a lot of very pretty pictures, so that’s also not too big of an issue. There’s actually a comment in the acknowledgements about how a lot of the décor was located via thrifting, so I can appreciate that. I also like that a lot of the meat swaps are not actual fake meat; for a scallops recipe (Savory Lakeside Scallops. With reference to the Great Lake parts of Goblet of Fire), the role of scallops is played by king oyster mushrooms, lemon, and capers. For “No Fish and Chips (Leaky Cauldron pub food), the fish is banana blossoms, Old Bay, and nori, ginger beer battered. “Bangers and Mash” (specifically as included in Order of the Phoenix), the bangers (sausages) are a lot of seasonings, soy curls (basically TVP), dried porcini mushroom, oats, white beans, psyllium husk, and few other things.
Earnie’s sandwich (bus driver from Prisoner of Azkaban) is sort of BBQ and slaw, but the slaw involves pomegranate, apple, and raisin, along with things like dill, mayo, clementine, and cabbage. Smoked tofu, smoked tempeh (marinade recipe included), figs, sauerkraut, and sprouts. I’m not sure where one finds vegan char siu sauce, or sambal badjak though (besides the internet). Some of the drink recipes are similarly intriguing but also odd. Pumpkin juice contains zero pumpkin (it does have pumpkin spice though), and the bubble-head charm tea includes white dragonfruit (never heard of that).
The little ruinous detail? Turns out one of the co-authors is PETA affiliated. Now I’m all for ethical animal treatment (I have 3 rescue critters, I shop at Lush, etc.), but unlike PETA, I do not agree that using sometimes violent means justify the ends. Not cool. At all. At least now I don’t have to bother trying to find some of the more obscure ingredients.
