My vegan experience in South Tyrol
I have showed you the places that we visited in South Tyrol already and now it's time to show you what we ate there!
Firstly, let me tell you a little bit about the hotel where we stayed. Hotel La Vimea is the first vegan hotel in Italy. It's a place where you're meant to relax and enjoy yourself.
You can swim in a natural outdoor bathing pond or a saltwater indoor swimming pool, enjoy saunas or a hot stone room, join complimentary yoga or meditation classes, or you can simply enjoy sunshine in the garden with a delicious cocktail in your hand. There are 315 sunny days in Naturns. We spent there 3 days and 1 day it was raining - call it luck!
This is the cocktail that I was talking about 😊 And it's also how I spent most of the first day there - on a sunbed in front of the pond, with a cocktail and a book (and a piece of cake later)
Let's talk food now...
Would you enjoy dining with such a view? I would and I did! Usually I prefer to eat inside but in this case I just couldn't 😊
All meals prepared in the hotel are organic and the ingredients are mainly grown in South Tyrol or Tuscany. Their cuisine is different to what I'm used to, so I was excited to try it.
Each dinner consists of 5 courses that are pre-arranged by the chef, so you eat what the chef's choice of the day is.
The dinner on our first day was my favorite and therefore I would like to show it to you.
We started with an appetizer of peach and sunflower seeds with sun-dried zucchini blossom and bread. In fact, it was cold soup. Doesn't sound appetizing? I thought so too! But it was surprisingly good. I just couldn't get used to the idea of eating cold soup...
The next dish was grilled white cabbage with baked root celery chunks and Jerusalem artichoke/carrot puree. This was my absolute favorite. The cabbage was crunchy and had smoky flavor, the puree was not sweet at all and it matched perfectly with the baked root celery chunks. YUM!
All meals were prepared based on Ayurveda principles and were either served cold or at the room temperature. I'm not that familiar with Ayurveda eating but I know that it isn't the right way for me 😊
And here is another cold soup coming... It tasted good but the fact that it was cold took all the pleasure of eating it away. It's kohlrabi soup with radish and lentil sprouts.
I would enjoy it much more if it would be warm. But at least it inspired me to prepare kohlrabi soup at home.
This dish of spelt rigatoni with chicory pesto, datterino tomatoes and mint was delicious. It was hearty and spicy, and the flavor combination was spot on.
In my opinion, this is the only dish that was served at the right temperature. It was a cookie with cashew cream and apricot sorbet - lovely combination of flavors and delicious crunch...
And here are some cakes that I enjoyed during the day. I usually don't crave sweets but when I do then I eat too much.
First piece of cake was with strawberries and chocolate and it was scrumptious! I even refused to share it with my husband so he had to order his own piece..
We shared this apple cake with hazelnuts which was a mistake as I should have eaten the whole thing because it was so good!
Overall, I must say that the food tasted good and it was all fresh. But to be honest I enjoyed the sweets more than the savory meals simply because I like my food warm.
PS: Yes, we had some pizza too - I just forgot to take a photo before I started eating 😊
Thank you for reading!
Cheers,
Martina
Can't imagine how good your food is since you analyze even the temperature. I guess that's normal for a vegan chef like yourself. Your restaurant will be quite an experience, I should come in the first year before the guys from Michelin drop some stars and the waiting list gets too long. I tend to agree cause I like it warm as well. I also like sweets a lot and those cakes look so delicios I can't even look :) Amazing overall experience with those beautiful mountains in the background. Now I have a taste of Tirol thanks to you Martina! PS You should also have a view for your restaurant to complement those amazing vegan courses.
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lol on not sharing with your husband, that's not nice :P
And while I don't know if I would like cold soup either, I do think the one with the radish on it looks pretty tasty! All the food was pretty and I hope you are keeping a log of everything you see so that you can beat the competition one day with your restaurant! :)
Good post Martina, and glad you let your husband finally get some dessert! :)
That's life, lol. There are things that you just don't share with others.. whoever they are :D
It looked very tasty and it actually was but I'm very picky with what I eat from the texture and temperature perspective. I do enjoy food a lot and for me it's a combination of many things, not only the taste. Anyway, once the restaurant is open you can come and you'll see what I mean :)
Hahaha, he always has a chance to order his own piece :)
I do understand... I won't tell ;)
Love this shot
Which one exactly? :)
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The views with a chocolate and strawberry cake at the end of the day sound like a pretty good deal to me! I may have to put South Tyrol in the plans 🤔
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There are so many places to go, right? When I see people travel all over the world I also feel like I have to go here and there..
I thought that the cake would be a little too sweet for me (as usually all cakes are) but the taste was spot on.
Thank you for stopping by Nicky!
Haha it's a disease called the "travel bug" I believe 😁
"but I wanna go there... That looks cool, let's go there... What about here?" 😩 if steem could just move upwards in value and we can travel on steem, how cool would that be?!
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I'd make a longer comment to your post, but the pics made me hungry so I'm off to my kitchen now...
What did you make?
I don't remember what I ate that night...but since I'm back to Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian type of diet, it probably was some simple steamed vegetables (quick, easy, healthy and tasty)
What made you change your diet to Lacto-Ovo?
Actually I've been an either flesh-free or limited meat eater from about the age of thirty...with periods were I would gravitate towards adding meat for a spell, instinctively.
The small amount of meat that I do eat occasionally is mostly organic, grass fed, free range without the use of antibiotics and hormone additives (At least that's what the labels say)
I first tried a vegetarian diet for the potential health benefits alone, but it didn't stick very long until I did it for moral reasons as well...(the inhumane treatment of animals on large factory farms)
If I was hungry enough and in need, I could kill an animal myself and eat it to survive. It would be easier to kill for self-protection or the protection of another, as well.
With Lacto-Ovo, I also try using mostly free range and cage free animal bi-products. The milk, butter, eggs and cheese actually make it easier for me to not desire consuming flesh. After all these years of limited meat eating, I actually feel physically ill to a degree after eating meat.
I might add, that I began a meat-free diet as a bodybuilder and serious weight trainer with no noticeable limiting effects, and from what I hear and observe, I'm healthier than my adult friends and family members.
I'm not a fanatic though...I believe in choice...I've never killed anyone for eating a dead pigs ass in a sandwich :>)
Thank you for your detailed answer. You don't follow my account for long enough to know that I am an animal rights activist :)
After your answer I wish I could talk to you in person. Don't worry, I'm not a fanatic either, lol. I just see that you think rightly about certain aspects of our choices and I believe that I could give you even another perspective on that.
Just do me a favor. If you will ever see the activists from the Anonymous for the Voiceless, go and see the movie they are showing. Maybe talk to one of them and see what comes out of the discussion :) Don't worry, these people are peaceful and not pushy at all..
Oh, how I wish I could talk to you :)
You're correct...I didn't know that you are an animal rights activist.
I have seen a couple of youtube videos from AFTV and other productions by individuals and groups, which help remind me of my stance against cruelty to animals.
Once we have made a soul connection to an animal/s ... our perspective upon who and what they are may spontaneously change, initiating a more humane relationship with them.
Hell...I even communicate with my plants in the garden, and the insects these days...but, don't spread that around here on Steemit, or it'll completely ruin my reputation as AngryMan. (I am angry though...I just try to direct that anger in an appropriate and effective direction)
It has been a pleasure interacting with you here my friend.
Hahaha, I communicate with everything what is alive and to be honest sometimes I even talk to my car, lol.
Oh, I don't see you angry AT ALL! :) But even though you are, it is great that you direct your anger in the appropriate direction. We all are angry, aren't we? I (for example) can't stand injustice. I will however try to stay calm and simply understand other people because we all have reasons for what we do. We might not know that some things can be changed and very easily. We might only need a different perspective. I believe in fact that all of us are good. It's just outside factors that make us act in an asshole way but deep down we're all good (there might be some exception to this rule though :))
I like that you're against animal cruelty and I totally agree with you that once you realize they have feelings, can form relationships and do feel pain in exactly same way like we do, you start looking at them differently.
So if I may ask, what makes you still eat dairy and eggs?
It's been a pleasure talking to you too! I like deeper discussions but I feel like deeper discussions on Steemit are mainly about crypto and investments which is not on top of my priorities :)
That just sounds like heaven to go to a totally vegan hotel! I could use some of those views, meals and meditation right now. There is a local shopkeeper here that is trained as an Ayurvedic chef, and she occasionally does workshops. I'd like to attend just out of curiosity, though I'm with you in that some things are just better eaten warm. 😃
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Oh, it is heaven! You don't have to be worried about anything :) no questions or insecurities, just pure pleasure. You should definitely try that workshop. At least you would learn how to combine different elements based on Ayurveda.. it's not my favorite but it feels good from time to time to eat simple meals while knowing that you get everything you need :)
Thank you for stopping by Katie!
Cold soup, not appetizing? I love gazpacho and salmorejo!
Looks like they had some pretty tasty food, there. The pizza sounds more my style, though! Did you try any of the local wines?
Tuscany is really quite amazing, especially if you're up on your art history. There are works from Renaissance masters to be seen and the museum in the central plaza of Siena even had works from Duccio.
Oh, I'm very picky with that. I really really really don't like gazpacho. I've tried so many times but I can't swallow it. It's just not my cup of tea.. unfortunately..
Yeah, I tried various wines and they were very good. I always preferred Italian wines to the French ones for example..
I love Tuscany! Never been to Sienna but a friend of mine is moving to a village closeby so I will visit it soon :)
Those dishes seem more like works of art than food. That hotel seems to be a really cool and beautiful place to stay! 😎
I love when my food looks like this. Unfortunately, most vegan restaurants serve burgers, tacos, pasta, etc so this was a nice change. Oh, I would go there again. Their wellness centrum was heaven! :)