Tempeh progress and a note on tastes

Beluga lentil and unpolished foxtail millet tempeh after 24 hours

The new batch of tempeh is coming along. Rhizopus is clearly at work, but I’m giving it six more hours in the incubator before I remove it to a raised rack on the table. The density from using such small pulse  and grains may be slowing the mycelium a bit, but that same density makes for an excellent tempeh when it comes time to slice (or dice) and cook.

Update an hour later: nope, I’m taking it out out of the incubator now. Rhizopus, once well established and growing vigorously, throws off a lot of heat, and though the warming mat turns itself off when the incubator’s interior temperature reaches 88ºF, just now the temperature was 95ºF. The warming mat is out of the picture, and the tempeh itself is heating up the incubator. 

So now the tempeh is on a raised rack on the table, and I hope it cools off a little

Sailing out of sight of land

As I ate one of my whole-food plant based meals this morning, I realized that, though it tasted very good and had good mouthfeel with a variety of texture in each bite, it also did not taste like any familiar dish. In my pre-WFPB past, much of what I ate had familiar tastes: chili, for example, or a hamburger, or green beans (cooked in various ways), or chicken, or cheese, or a roast.

As I thought more about this, I realized that, though I enjoy my food, I cannot encapsulate a meal in a quick and recognizable phrase, as you can with “meatloaf and mashed potatoes,” or “pizza,” or “fish and chips.” I followed the thought, but belatedly realized that I was on a new topic, so I moved my thoughts to a post of their own.

Wholly Kaw King of Bourbon with Ginger’s Garden Havana Cognac

I did not load my brush, the excellent Monarch from Wet Shaving Products, sufficiently well, so the third-pass lather was not all it could have been, but it was certainly enough. Wholly Kaw’s King of Bourbon — here in his tallow formula — has a fine fragrance: “Tobacco, Bourbon Vanilla from Madagascar, Ginger, Vetiver, Cypriol, Ylang-ylang, and Cassia absolute.”

My razor is the Above the Tie R (since I bought mine before the R2 (open-comb) came out and made it necessary to rename the model I’m using to be R1), and it is a very nice razor indeed, comfortably and efficiently producing a very smooth result in three passes with no damage done.

A splash of Ginger’s Garden Havana Cognac — “citrusy bergamot, fresh lemon zest, velvety cognac, and rich spiced tobacco leaves” — finished the job. This is a balmish aftershave — “aloe vera, glycerin, menthol, and witch hazel” — so no Hydrating Gel required.

The tea this morning is Murchie’s No. 22: “a superb blend of green Gunpowder and Jasmine, as well as Keemun and Ceylon black teas.”