What would your food paradise look like?

A land of plenty full of sweets?

Endless sushi?

A schnitzel every day?

For Bianca Zapatka, one thing is certain: her own paradise is vegan.

And leafing through her cookbook doesn't even give you the idea that this could be a contradiction in view of the fact that no animal products are used: Because "Vegan Paradise" is full of colorful dishes that are lavishly prepared - and make you want more.

Julia Anton

Editor in the society department at FAZ.NET

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There are a number of arguments for restricting the consumption of animal products.

Bianca Zapatka, who has been sharing vegetarian and vegan recipes on her blog for several years, refrains from listing them.

She has not had good experiences with bans, she writes in the foreword.

Instead, she turns the tables: With good vegan recipes, she wants to show that you can cook easily and deliciously without meat and the like.

Beetroot burgers and mushroom gyros

"Vegan Paradise" is already her fifth book.

After titles such as "Vegan Soulfood" and "Vegan Cakeporn", Zapatka, who has more than 740,000 followers on Instagram alone, this time cooks his way through international cuisine, presents vegan classics from all over the world and interprets well-known recipes without meat, fish, eggs and milk : There are mushroom gyros and beetroot burgers, spinach risotto with mushrooms and lemon cheesecake.

Your tofu tikki masala will be a hit right away, even if the plate on the table at home doesn't look like the pictures in the book.

Some can be prepared in less than 30 minutes for everyday use, while other recipes require a little patience, so there is something for every cooking level.

Only new vegans who also want a detailed theory part,

But even if many dishes can be made vegan: To be honest, it doesn't work without making sacrifices.

Anyone who expects to taste no difference between zapatka's shepherd's pie filled with lentils and the original recipe with lamb will hardly be happy with vegan cuisine.

The self-prepared alternatives to meat, fish and cheese always taste different.

But doing without does not necessarily mean that you have to miss something.

Because the food blogger's recipes prove that different doesn't mean worse - rather, they bring out a new facet of dishes.

It also shows that vegan variants can also be an invitation to rediscover well-known foods: watermelon, for example, which most people only end up with in their salads.

Zapatka bakes the summery fruit for an hour, marinates it overnight, frys it and serves it in a poke bowl instead of tuna.

"Vegan Paradise" stands for the change that vegan nutrition has experienced in recent years.

The abundance of vegan options has increased, the taste quality of recipes such as substitute products from the supermarket has improved, the eco image has given way to hip campaigns.

This is often more convincing than the raised index finger.

Because no matter how often you want to include meatless dishes in your diet: you don't have to worry about variety and taste on the plate.

It can also be paradisiacal without animal elements.

"Vegan Paradise" by Bianca Zapatka has been published by Becker Joest Volk Verlag, 28 euros