Vegan

What it is

Veganism as a self-conscious movement was named in 1944 by Donald Watson, who founded the UK Vegan Society. Modern vegan cuisine pulls from the world’s deep vegetarian traditions — Indian temple cooking, Buddhist shojin ryori, Ethiopian fasting plates, Mediterranean vegetable cooking — and combines them with a 21st-century wave of plant-based meat and dairy substitutes.

How it tastes

Umami is the central technical challenge. Vegan cooks reach for mushrooms (especially porcini and shiitake), nutritional yeast, fermented soy (miso, soy sauce), tomato paste, and seaweed for the savory depth that meat traditionally supplies. Cashew cream replaces dairy; aquafaba — chickpea brine — whips like egg whites.

Signature dishes & techniques

The Buddha bowl — a grain, a legume, roasted vegetables, and a tahini or peanut sauce — became the Instagram-era vegan plate. Plant-based meat from Beyond and Impossible reshaped fast food in the late 2010s. Older traditional plates — Indian dal, Ethiopian shiro, falafel, hummus, miso soup — anchor the cuisine’s ancient roots.