Jan Bilton's vegan and vegetarian recipes

What is the difference between a vegan and a vegetarian?

Vegans eat all sorts of plant foods — fruit, vegetables, nuts, grains and seeds but avoid any foods derived from fish or animals including dairy products, eggs, honey or jellies prepared from gelatine.

Vegetarian diets are a little more complex. All vegetarians consume plant foods. Lacto-vegetarians eat dairy products, but no eggs. Most enjoy honey. Ovo-vegetarians consume eggs (and sometimes honey) but no dairy. Lacto-ovo vegetarians include eggs, dairy and honey in their diet.

Gerrard O’Keefe the new exec chef at Auckland’s Heritage Hotel, says that learning about veganism has awakened his senses. He spent 10 months as sous chef developing new ways of serving vegan food and observing the changes required in the kitchen. All the implements used to prepare his special dishes are kept separately and some are colour-coded — for example the tongs have green handles.

Much of his inspiration for recipes comes from Asia although he’s combined ideas from both East and West including Buffalo Cauliflower with potato rosti, cucumber batons and prickly ash (Szechuan pepper), and his Soba Noodle Bowl with leek, potato, capsicum, ginger, chilli, miso and spring onion.

The Heritage Hector’s restaurant was the first in New Zealand to become Vegetarian Society accredited and he is continuing to develop a range of vegan options in a drive to become vegan accredited.

Buffalo cauliflower

This delish dish is based on a recipe from Gerrard O'Keefe the exec chef of the Auckland Heritage Hotel. Get the recipe

Black bean soup

Add chilli if preferred. Get the recipe

Curried chickpeas

Get the recipe