Monday, 13 March 2017

Joshua Ploeg – This Ain't No Picnic (your punk rock vegan cookbook) [Microcosm Publishing]

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Joshua Ploeg – This Ain't No Picnic

If punk is about painting a big picture on a limited canvas, then this book is punk as fuck. Whether these recipes work for you or not (and I'm just suggesting here that a coffee pot curry or zippo lighter s'mores will not), This Ain't No Picnic is full to bursting with energy and enthusiasm – you can't help but get involved. “Punks get innovative when missing ingredients, gear or an oven” Joshua says, “now you can too.” This Ain't No Picnic doesn't present clear solutions, rather it's a riotous, chaotic, colourful roadtrip with a raucous, boundlessly positive travelling chef at the wheel.

For punks who have had to cook on the cheap, on the road or on mind-altering chemicals, this is jam packed with brilliant ideas. For example, Joshua has provided a hilarious chapter on cooking (quite literally) on the road: Alongside dashboard kale chips and soaked Thai noodles, the potentially lethal Engine Block Casserole comes with a warning – “Should take an hour or so driving around,” he says. “I don't mean tooting round town either. I mean a real drive... And if you fuck it up, well don't blame me because no-one should ever cook on their engine!”

Or how about the chapter on improvisation: Credit card chopping makes sense if you're putting together an Italian salad sandwich, and stovetop pizza is an efficient way of heating and cooking together. Ideas for a spinning out a bag of flour and little else is perfect sense for when the money isn't coming in. Joshua even devotes an entire chapter to dumpster ingredients. And why the fuck not?

Joshua gets a friend to introduce each chapter, and in true DIY spirit, each friend has a role in the punk community around him. And to emphasise the point, each chapter comes with a playlist, which ranges from mainstream classics to obscure local punk bands.

Whether you pick up This Ain't No Picnic for cookery tips, recipe ideas of just for its mad sense of fun, this book is a milestone in punk rock vegan cooking.

Available through Active Distribution

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