The fantastic Andy Tibbs, owner and head chef of Poco Culina, opened the talks/demo room at Stroud Vegan Fair last month. He discussed and demonstrated a selection of ingredients he regularly uses to replicate the Eastern and Mediterranean food styles Poco Culina is so well-known for. From using chickpea flour to create a frittata or stuffed pancake, to using almonds to create feta-style cubes for salads and pastry fillings he had the audience captivated.

The demonstration was by far the most popular part of the programme all day and was attended by many of the Vegan Fair attendees.

If you missed his demo at Stroud or were unable to make it over to the event all together fear not as we have some good news! We’re very pleased to announce that Andy will be doing another demo for us at our next event Cheltenham Vegan Fair on Sat 22 Feb at Gloucestershire University.

We’re not sure what deliciousness Andy will be teaching us at Cheltenham, but in the meantime here is the recipe for both his chickpea pancakes and almond feta. Start practising!

Basic frittata batter.

Ingredients (Serves 2)

• 1 cup of chickpea flour

• 1 scant tsp baking powder

• 1/2 tsp turmeric

• 1/2 tsp paprika

• pink himalayan salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 1 cup of water

Method

1. Add chickpea flour, baking powder, turmeric, paprika, salt, pepper and water to a jug. Whisk thoroughly with a balloon whisk (or beat with a fork) leave to stand stand for 30 minutes.

2. Whisk again and check consistency. For an omelette or frittata type dish the batter should be pourable but still quite thick. For crêpes, add a little more water – the batter should be thin enough to swirl around a pan.

3. Add vegetables to a hot pan, and pour over batter. Cook for 2-3 minutes and loosen with a flat spatula. Turn over and cook the other side for 2 minutes.

Variations

For a Mediterranean tortilla dish add parsley and a clove of finely crushed garlic.

For an Arabic frittata add grated courgette, roasted aubergine, finely chopped onion, parsley, thyme and mint.

For a Korean pancake add mushrooms, shredded carrot, peppers, pak choi and spring onion with a tbs of soy sauce in the batter.

Almond ‘feta’. 

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 200g of soaked flaked almonds

• 2-3 garlic cloves

• 2 tsp of pink himalayan salt

• large pinch of dried rosemary

• pinch of ground cumin (optional)

• pinch of sumac (optional)

• 100ml of cold water

• 5 tbs of lemon juice

• 3 tbs of extra virgin olive oil

Method

1. In a small bowl, cover the almonds with water, cover and leave overnight.

2. Pre-heat an oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F). Line a small baking sheet with non-stick baking paper and wipe with olive oil to grease.

3. Drain the almonds and add to a blender with all the other ingredients except the water. Turn the blender to fast and drizzle in the water slowly. The mixture will be quite loose, but should be stiff enough to hold its shape.

4. Turn the blended ingredients onto the baking tray and using a spatula flatten out and shape the edges to form a rectangle around 1-1.5cm deep.

5. Bake for 20 minutes, remove from the oven and loosely cover in aluminium foil, return to the oven and bake for a further 15 minutes.

6. Leave to cool and store in the fridge. 

As well as providing their weekly meal service for people in Cheltenham which is available for both delivery or collection, Poco Culina also do catering for businesses and corporate events, private parties and celebrations and well-being retreats.

They are also available to do cookery demonstrations and workshops either at an event (or in your home!) and do regular pop-up lunchtime and evening events.

For more information head to their website.