Vegetarian Halifax Donairs (TVP)

  

Yeah, I've had a vegetarian donair before. I used to work in a pizza shop and make them, actually. We did things a little differently there... putting hotdogs on our pizzas, for example. Instead of pita bread, our donair meat was wrapped in pizza dough with onions, pepperoni and cheese and baked in the oven. Then it was placed in a shallow bowl where it went swimming in sweet donair sauce, or alternatively, our spicy sweet pizza sauce. Then it was sprinkled with tomatoes and the controversial lettuce. Or you could get the vegetarian donair; same deal, only there were onions, mushrooms, green peppers and tomatoes baked in the pizza dough and topped with the sauce. Basically, everything we could round up from the pizza bar. It was yummy, but it lacked that spicy element that a true donair always delivers. A good donair, like a good sausage or a good burger, is something vegetarians still pine over, though they will never admit it. You simply cannot make these items meatless without taking away their souls. Or can you?

This is TVP, or, textured vegetable protein. It is a staple of the vegetarian diet, as it is a high fiber, high protein meat substitute made out of soy flour. And once hydrated, it will remind you a lot of ground beef. You'll see it sold as "Veggie Ground Round" in the tofu section of your grocery store, pre-hydrated for you and available in flavours such as Mexican or Italian. Just dump it in a pot of chili or spaghetti sauce, and I swear people will be fooled. Since it is cheaper to buy it in dry bulk bin form, I decided it was time I experimented with this staple food from scratch. Take out the middle man! This way, you can mimic any kind of spiced meat by simply adding to your TVP the spice blend you would normally add to ground meat. Chorizo? Breakfast sausage? Your hometown local sausage? I'm sure they are all possible. But I thought my first experiment ought to be the honourable Halifax donair. The spice blend for which is easy enough to find online.

TVP is easy to re-hydrate. Take one cup of it and mix it with a cup of boiling water and a pinch of salt and let it hang out for 10 minutes. Then squeeze the extra water of out it. Voila! You are done. Then just add the spices and let it chill out in the fridge for a bit. I left it in there overnight because I made it a day ahead of time, but I'm sure you could even use it immediately and it would be ok.

The tricky part of this recipe is the donair sauce. I used to make it when I was a pizza cook, and it was tricky then. All you need is evaporated milk, white sugar, and white vinegar. Oh, and some garlic powder. The easy part is dissolving the sugar in the milk. The tricky part is pouring the vinegar into the milk so that it curdles and thickens evenly. So often, inexperienced cooks would produce thin donair sauce. I've heard the debate. Some people say you dump in the vinegar and whisk it ferociously. Other say you slowly add the vinegar and carefully stir the mixture in a gradual bottom to top motion. I was trained to do the latter, but it doesn't always work! There are still others who cheat by using condensed milk, but this isn't correct. My only advice to you is good luck, and make a large quantity because the desired effect seems to be more easily achieved this way.  In this case, my donair sauce turned out too thin. But the flavour was spot on, so I didn't mind.

I beat up an egg and added it to my TVP before cooking it. I don't think this is necessary, if you have an aversion to eggs, but I would do it again. It just makes the TVP kinda stick together a bit. But don't expect to be able to make paddies out of TVP, especially ones thin enough to qualify as donair "meat" because it's just too crumbly. The closest approximation you could make is probably a meat loaf burger or a sloppy joe. That actually sounds pretty good.....

 

There is nothing to this! Composition is: pita bread, filled with cooked TVP, diced tomatoes, diced onions and LOTS of donair sauce. Done deal. But how does it taste? Well, I'm not going to pretend that the donair meat texture is there, but as for the flavour it's spot on. Without the grease. But don't worry, the sticky hands and spicy donair burps are still part of the experience!

TVP Donair Meat (will feed one or two people):

1 cup dry TVP
1 cup boiling water
pinch of salt

1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground oregano
1 tsp all-purpose flour (or use breadcrumbs)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 egg (optional)

Donair Sauce:
1 (370 ml) can evaporated milk
3/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup white vinegar

Also:
diced tomato
diced white onion

Directions:

Combine first three ingredients and let sit for 10 minutes.
Then squeeze water out of TVP.
Add spices and flour.
Let sit in fridge to marinate.

In a bowl, combine evaporated milk, garlic powder, and sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved.
Slowly pour in the vinegar, stirring slowly in a bottom to top motion so that it becomes uniformly thick.

*You might benefit from doubling this recipe, as larger amounts of vinegar are easier to deal with.
Chill sauce.

Mix in a beaten egg with TVP. Cook it in a lightly oiled frying pan until golden.
Warm pitas in microwave or on the stove. Fill with TVP mixture.
Top with diced tomatoes and onions.
Drench with donair sauce.