Harpenden Celebrity Chef Theo Michaels Is the First-Ever Guest Judge for PETA’s Vegan Food Awards
Harpenden Celebrity Chef Theo Michaels Is the First-Ever Guest Judge for PETA’s Vegan Food Awards
Harpenden, Hertfordshire – Winner, winner, (vegan) chicken dinner! The results are in for PETA’s 2024 Vegan Food Awards – the 12th annual celebration of delicious animal-free offerings – and this year’s winners span everything from crispy fried “chicken” to a first-ever guest judge–awarded innovative dairy-free cheese.
Harpenden-based chef, author, and television personality Theo Michaels teamed up with PETA this year to tap La Fauxmagerie’s Brixton Blue as Best Cheese.
“I’m a great lover of cheese of all varieties, but if I’m honest, I was hesitant about vegan cheese – until now. Wow! My tastebuds have just been blown,” says Michaels. “As soon as I opened the packet, the aroma of blue cheese immediately meandered through the air. The Brixton Blue is ripe, creamy, full of flavour, and has a certain brittleness that I’d hoped for. It’d pair perfectly with a serendipitously placed glass of red wine.”
Other winners include Fortnum & Mason for its Free From St James Christmas Pudding (Best Christmas Pudding) and London-based Chick’N’Sours for its Vegan MK2 (Best Vegan Chicken) – a true flavour explosion featuring a crispy “chicken” patty served with green slaw, ginger miso, kimchi, and sriracha mayo.
“Animal-free fare is growing in quality and popularity as consumers increasingly choose cruelty-free, healthy, sustainable foods with no compromise on taste,” says PETA Vice President of Vegan Corporate Projects Dawn Carr. “From high-end to the high street, PETA’s awards show that it’s easier than ever to choose vegan.”
In today’s meat, egg, dairy, and fishing industries, cows are forcibly separated from their beloved calves, chickens’ throats are cut while they’re still conscious, piglets’ tails are docked without painkillers, and fish are cut open while they’re still alive. PETA notes that vegan foods have a smaller carbon footprint than animal-derived foods and the meat and dairy industries are top producers of the greenhouse gases driving the climate catastrophe. Eating vegan also lowers a person’s risk of developing heart disease and certain types of cancer.
Rounding out the winners are Oato’s Barista Whole (Best Milk), The Fog on the Tyne’s Magpye Vegan Steak & Ale Pie (Best Pie), Strong Roots’ Veggie Masala (Best Ready Meal), One Planet Pizza’s Tex Mex (Best Pizza), M&S Café’s Very Veggie Toastie (Best Sandwich), Cake Box’s Vegan Speculoos Bliss Cake (Best Cake), Crave’s Sugared Ring Dodoughs (Best Doughnuts), DÁPPA’s Soft Serve (Best Ice Cream), Knoops’ 38% Oat M*lk Hot Chocolate (Best Chocolate), The Shortbread Company’s Vegan Maple Pecan (Best Luxury Product), Hedgerow Café’s VG Poached Egg (Best Vegan Egg), and Lurpak’s Plant Based (Best Butter). Images are available here.
PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat” – offers a free vegan starter kit. For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk or follow the group on Facebook, X, TikTok, or Instagram.
Contact:
Jennifer White +44 (0) 20 7837 6327; [email protected]
#