Eating Vegan in Liverpool: Maray & Our Kitchen

       Happy Hanukkah everyone! It’s that time of year when Jews the world over pretend that our winter holiday is as fun and important as Christmas! Well, I happen to think there is no need for pretending. Not only is Hannukah 8 days instead of 1 (or 1.5, ish), but the traditional food is simply fried stuff. For Christmas, the holiday calls for turkey, goose, crap like that. But for Channukah, you just have to fry shit up! Whatever you want! It’s like a vegan’s dream! Unless you’re one of those vegans. 

     Why do we fry shit, you ask? Well, Channakah celebrates one of the many, many times the Jews were persecuted and driven from their land, but that time, they won! After the very serious and tragic war, of which I know many details, them fightin’ Jews – or really the Maccabees, I think this is when that word became a thing – sought refuge in a Temple and tried to light the Menorah to commemorate their victory. But they only found enough oil for one night. Oh well, they said, let’s light it up. And behold, the oil burned for 8 nights instead of just 1. It was a miracle! And so we celebrate Hahnuckah for 8 nights, and we celebrate by putting a culinary spotlight on burning oil, i.e., frying stuff. It’s a magical time. 
       During this Chabanakah, I will share several fun recipes for fried stuff. First up, I want to offer a way to do traditional latkes, or potato pancakes, but with a fun twist. There are tons of latke recipes out there, presenting perfect little fried circles of grated potato and onion. But I can’t be arsed with making perfect shapes when I fry. Ain’t nobody got time for that. Instead, I mixed long strings of sweet potato, zucchini, and just a little plain potato and fried them in big, messy birds’ nests, the ideal shape for throwing tons of dips or sauces into. This is also because I have a spiralizer and I don’t like using the grater. This is a versatile recipe so feel free to use whatever your heart desires. Except for less oil. Your heart loves oil. 

     I like my big messy nesty latkes with ketchup. I know that is kind of gross. But the traditional sour cream is much grosser. Applesauce is the other traditional latke dip, but that’s weird to me. I don’t like mixing fruit in my savory food! In an awesome twist, I put mac & cheese on top of these tonight. Stay tuned for that mac & cheese in the next post! 

     It’s kind of ridiculous how much I love green juice. I’m probably the last person (/vegan blogger) who would tell people to eat something that doesn’t taste great just because it’s good for you. But guess what? Veggie juice, when done right, is AMAZING. It’s like my favorite thing after hummus and Ron Swanson. So how happy am I that a new juice place has opened in Philly?
    Philly has been screaming for more juice bars, at least in Center City. (At least in my head.) I needs my juice! And with more vendors creating more competition, the prices are getting much more affordable. I’m tired of spending upwards of $10 in the suburbs for a juice that I down in about 9 seconds. (I drink juice fast.) No juice should cost almost a dollar per second! Luckily, the new Yellow Juice Bar, right across from Helium Comedy Club at 2046 Sansom, is not only well-priced but delicious. 
     Upon entering, I was delighted to see that Yellow Juice Bar offers smoothies with protein add-ins, some vegan food options, and banana whips in addition to juice! Also, adorably, they call the banana whips Banana Twirls. It’s like ballet dancing for fruit.

     Before getting to the important stuff (what I ordered and how it tasted), can we just take a moment to appreciate those prices? Yes, it’s still a lot of money for a drink, but not compared to what other juice bars charge for the same if not inferior products. $6 for the biggest size is good in my book for a place in Center City. I do wish they had a 24oz. size, though. 

     Usually my juice tastes veer towards veg-heavy and fruit-light, so I ordered the 16oz. Green Day juice: spinach, cucumber, celery, kale. With no apple in it to balance all the green, I asked the guy if he’d add some ginger so, because I love ginger. He added a bit of lemon and ginger, and had me try it before declaring it finished. I don’t know why, but when he said, “Do you want me to add more ginger?”, I said yes. Oops! It was pretty spicy, but it wasn’t overpowering and I still tasted mostly green. Pretty nice! 

     I also ordered a shot of wheatgrass. At $3, it’s on the more expensive end of what wheatgrass shots should cost, but this could have been the best shot I’ve had of the stuff. It was really sweet and had no aftertaste, which in itself is worth an extra dollar. So good. And, it comes with a frozen orange bite, which I adore. I can’t abide places that don’t give a piece of orange with their wheatgrass. 
     I was nearly awash with juice, but then the two guys working behind the counter offered me a shot of ginger. I stood by the counter and the three of us clinked our little shot glasses and downed a fresh ounce of pure ginger. Umm, have you ever had just pure ginger juice before? It is ROUGH. I mean, I loved it, but it is rough! My insides were on fire for a good 3 hours. Hot damn! You have to try this! It was so nice of them to offer me some after I made my love of ginger known. There were a few other patrons watching as my face and body went through convulsions for a good minute, so that was a little embarrassing, but then I felt kind of amazing. So much juice! 
     I’m definitely going to frequent Yellow Juice Bar, and I’m eager to try the smoothies, the food, and of course the dancing yellow fruits. Did I mention that they have a bathroom? And it’s pretty clean? Another point! And they deliver! If you’re into that sort of thing.
    The only thing I really dislike about this place is that it opened now, after I’ve moved out of the building literally a block away. Other than its bad timing, it’s pretty great. I’ll be going here often! Hopefully they will institute some punch cards for frequent customers, because I love me some punch cards. Almost as much as I love green juice. (No, not nearly as much as I love green juice.)