This December, Elisha Young has rounded up the best spots in the city for tasty plant-based Christmas cuisine
According to the Vegetarian Society, there are now more than three million vegetarians and vegans in the UK, plus pescatarians and people trying to either reduce their meat consumption or pick a healthier option. While I’m not actually a vegetarian, apparently I have ‘vegetarian energy’ (whatever that’s supposed to mean!). Probably because I’m a passionate consumer of mushrooms who often opts for the vegetarian choice on a menu.
But that does mean I have also experienced the disappointment of getting a veggie dish that’s clearly an afterthought, while everyone else at the table tucks into their better-prepared meaty meals. In one particularly memorable incident, I was served half of an unripe avocado stuffed with partially defrosted chunks of mango as a starter at a Christmas meal. So if this column does anything, hopefully it can save others from a similar fate!
First stop, Whittlesford
Provenance serves a variety of a tasty festive meals for vegetarians
Provenance Kitchen in Whittlesford is known for cooking up epic Sunday roasts using an open fire, charcoal and grills, so it makes sense that the Christmas menu would be just as delicious.
The sublime starters on offer include chargrilled beetroots with whipped goat’s cheese, grilled chicory and candied pecans and wood-fired celeriac soup with toasted seeds, crispy sage and Grain Culture sourdough. For the main event, all of Provenance Kitchen’s Christmas meals are served with perfectly crispy roast potatoes, flavourful vegetables, a selection of greens and a huge boat of gravy. The platter of seasonal vegetables is given the same care and attention as the meat, so you need not be worried about lacklustre greens or tasteless root vegetables.
Vegetarians can choose between a roasted aubergine with a nut and herb crumb or a roasted winter vegetable tart, both of which come with green sauce. If you still have room for dessert, there’s the chocolate nemesis with crème fraiche and honeycomb, the Christmas pudding with brandy butter and dark rum sauce or the vegan cherry sorbet. Cheese and crackers also feature on the menu, although I don’t know anyone strong enough to eat a full Christmas dinner and then immediately move onto a wheel of Baron Bigod!
City eatings
The Burleigh Arms on Newmarket Road in Cambridge is a hidden gem. From the outside, it’s an unassuming pub, but inside is a kitchen that’s putting out some excellent food, headed by Kareem Roberts, formerly head chef at Trinity – check out his new cookbook Cassava & Cardamom!
I was lucky enough to try an early version of the Christmas menu while writing this, and I can confirm that plant-based diners will not be disappointed. Each dish had rich, complex flavours and interesting textures.
Both Provenance (right) and the Burleigh Arms (above, top) offer inventive renditions of a delicious vegetarian roast meal
Veggies can look forward to a starter of carrot and stilton chowder with baked cheese croutons, followed by an exciting wild mushroom and celeriac pavé, served with chestnut crust and truffled cream. The main arrives accompanied by honey-glazed sweet potatoes, buttered savoy cabbage and chive and onion roasted new potatoes, to be shared by the table.
And don’t forget about dessert. There’s a sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream or a cranberry and white chocolate cheesecake. But my recommendation is the banana bread and butter pudding, which takes six days to make from start to finish. The banana bread is dehydrated and then soaked in custard before being cooked again, giving it a wonderfully crisp, caramelised exterior that contrasts with a rich, dense interior. It’s served with a hot brandy sauce that melts the vanilla ice cream, so you end up with a hot-cold, crispy-soft dish that’s somehow nostalgic yet novel.
The Old Bicycle Shop on Regent Street also offers a lot of choice for plant-based guests. Three out of the five starters are vegetarian-friendly and all six desserts are vegetarian or vegan, ranging from a classic Christmas pudding or mince pie
to an apple, fig and chestnut crumble with bay leaf custard.
And while Mill Road’s Buren might not strike you as a particularly veggie friendly establishment (the menu features a lot of beef), the festive menu sounds lovely. Start your meal with a parsnip soup with curried oil, then move onto roasted squash with braised lentils, goat’s curd and crispy kale, before finishing up with a mince pie tart, black forest trifle or cheese plate.
Hopefully now you can go into the festive season safe in the knowledge that there are tasty, interesting and worthwhile options out there. After all, nothing gets you into the Christmas spirit quite like a delicious meal!
See Elisha’s Instagram @elisha.eats and read November’s article for up-to-date reviews of eats around Cambridge
