Dino Sarma

Dino Sarma, author of Alternative Vegan, is originally from India. Dino currently lives in upper upper (UPPER) Manhattan with his husband, Steve, in an apartment with a tiny kitchen. He has worked at Sacred Chow, in Greenwich Village, and has done everything from cooking to help manage the place. You can read more about Dino by visiting his blog at http://altveg.blogspot.com/. For this interview we spoke with Dino by Skype, and appreciate the time he gave for the interview.

How has choosing the title “Alternative Vegan” framed how you articulate your experiences?

When it came to choosing a name for the book I thought of how most of the vegans I knew ate, and what they were eating was “meat alternatives”, so I wanted the theme of the book to be an alternative to the alternative, so that’s why I choose Alternative Vegan.

What is your creative philosophy regarding the use of soy and wheat based “meat alternatives” like tofu,seitan,and tempeh?

The philosophy as I relay it in the book is one should be able to go anywhere in the world and replicate my recipes for the most part. I don’t counsel people who read my work to do so exactly but, that’s the gist because most of the world does not eat or operate in such a way they’d look for those things. Usually, with a meal it’s a grain, beans, a vegetable on the side or combinations of the three with spices to make things tastily and cheaply.

How do you challenge yourself today as opposed to when you were first learning your craft professionally?

I learned how to cook as a little kid starting practically at my mother’s knee because I am very close to her and being a momma’s boy to the core, the kitchen was where she was, so I hung out with her until she taught me everything she knew and she eventually encouraged me to venture on my own to learn more. From Food Network to now as a chef I take something people know and do something completely different or unexpected to it like a Swedish Apple Hummus or Millet Couscous with Sweet Potatoes and dates.

Was there anyone professionally who influenced you to write in the first person narrative style for your book “Alternative Vegan”?

I wanted the writing to feel as if reading my books I cloned myself and I could be with everybody in their kitchen and help them along as I described how I arrived at a recipe and the story behind each dish. My family is a family of storytellers and we communicate with the world in such a way it takes away the intimidating-ness of cooking which is hard but, when you have someone whose been there, done that, making the mistakes for you, and walking you through the experience, it feels less like you’re alone.

What have you noticed about how you cook when you have access to resources as opposed to when you have to pull from what you had at hand?

Actually that’s always how it is unfortunately. But, being an experimenter at heart and coming from a background and degree in Biology I first, approach each situation as a problem, sort out the variables, and then figure out how to answer the question. What’s for dinner? Lunch? Do I use whatever I am then presented with, or do I go out and buy what I need ?

You’ve got to work with what you have or you’ll always wonder “what if”, because there’s always an excuse you can use to not cook. In one instance, I helped a friend in his small Brooklyn kitchen who was having a soiree that night as he had very little on-hand. Knowing this, I scouted his neighborhood’s local bodegas, fruit carts prior to arriving. After meeting him that evening we went on a shopping tour of his neighborhood and showed him how to buy what he wanted when he needed it. We got his friends engaged in making it a great 6 course dinner experience and had enough leftovers for a month!

What are your feelings about community gardens and sourcing things locally?

I think it’s really important that we create a demand for it when we have it available so that it thrives. If no one shows up no one will be encouraged to continue their great work. If you can’t you should beat yourself over it. When I lived in Florida it was available but, since it may not be frequented sometimes it was overpriced or even spoiling so I bought when there were specials. Here in Manhattan we have a few community gardens on rooftops that are hard to get into but I try as best as I can to eat seasonally and locally when possible. Since it isn’t always possible I relish it because otherwise you get into a rut due to our weather and high prices.

What sensory details do you recall about the best dish you ever tasted?

My mother’s Venn Pongal which is a dish from southern India which is made of rice, turmeric, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, a lot of ginger, asafetida, rice, and beans cooked together in one pot until it gets really mushy and the beans get really soft. The reason I think of it as comfort food because like Americans feel about mac and cheese it hits all those spots; a bit of smokiness from cumin, mustard seeds for that spice, pepperiness and pungency, the asafetida has this smell and quality that you’ll never get unless you try it at least once. The thing about growing up poor is you kind of have to make do with what you have. Many Friday nights after prayer meetings at our home we would eat this Southern Indian peasant food and we all ate it scarfing it down as though it were a high gourmet experience.Costa Rican and Jamaican dishes have come upon a similar hot pot dishes with aromatics and spices like those that are in Southern Asia and those will never fail to take me back.

Would you say that your choice to be vegan as an adult was a more cultural or an ethical choice?

Being raised with South Indian vegetarian cooking with lots of water, rice, grated coconut, chilis and vegetables was the norm. Only if your family is wealthy enough would you have a bit of milk or ghee on occasion because it is extremely expensive. As Brahmins we are expected to do light eating as most of our work is  done in our heads. Professions as doctors, scientists, or priests like my father offering prayers, so we are supposed to have things in quantity proportionate to our activities from a cultural frame of reference. Making the transition from vegetarian to vegan was easy from an economic point of view but, from ethical  point of view the arguments I was presented by those in podcasts [by Bob and Jenna Torres of Vegan Freaks who reasoned that if you are a vegetarian for ethical reasons you still cause the suffering of animals which] shook me as I believed the worst thing you could do was to kill something and anything else was acceptable. When I went to school and subsequently came out of the closet after years earlier, after the beating, taunting, and such I didn’t want to be the cause of suffering of other beings. In a factory farm settings animals lives are judged from a commodity point of view. As soon as our tastes are satisfied and they’re exhausted from that purpose they’re killed to make up the profit. Even in some species their male counterparts are killed as they have no use like with roosters who can’t lay eggs or bulls who can’t give milk. Animals who all can’t speak for themselves. Putting it all in context as a gay man: at least I had a voice to speak out or seek justice. I couldn’t continue justifying my struggle above the sufferings of animals.

Where do you draw inspiration for festive cooking as opposed to everyday cooking?

I see cooking as the most intimate thing you can do for someone because what your doing is creating something that somebody is taking into their body and being integrated with them on a cellular level. Every time I cook, it’s special. I approach it in a spiritual manner and with respect as an intimate act because I nourish them. It’s as though there’s a reverence to it, because it becomes a part of meditation, relaxation. My husband Steve doesn’t come from a Vegetarian background. As a Midwesterner he went Vegetarian on his own first as a fish-eater and later loss weight and conquering obesity as a result of his Veganism. His family got engaged in my cooking at our 14 course meal after being married escaping soy burgers and tofu dogs. In that experience I saw cooking for the family as choosing to be the author of our story, instead of letting them dictate the terms of our relationship when we gather. I asserted that I get to cook and they enjoy eating for 4 or 5 hours, setting the stage for more than a casual food experience.