A vegan pernil that Abuela would love

In 2015, Norma Pérez adopted a vegan diet to combat her arthritis. But she worried that she would especially miss the Salvadoran dishes she grew up with holiday dishes like her tamales and pan con pollo.

Then she remembered the many plant-based options in El Salvador. She just needed her sazon and other spices and herbs that her mother taught her to use when Ms. Perez was growing up in Los Angeles.

“Just because you become vegan doesn’t mean you’re going to lose your culture,” says Ms. Perez, who now lives in Ontario, California, and uses her website to teach people how to make vegan versions of their Salvadoran favorites. the Salvi vegan. Since changing her diet, Ms. Perez has made vegan versions of it 68 Salvadoran dishesincluding tamales with a filling of soy-based chicken or king oyster mushrooms.

Many Americans are vegetarian and vegan (Gallup recently estimated that approximately 4 percent identify as vegetarian and another 1 percent as vegan), and the holidays bring with them several concerns. They can be even more nerve-wracking for vegan Latinos in the United States pernil or a very slow-roasted pig could be the center of the festivities.

As a result, many are transforming their family recipes, traditionally made with meat or dairy, into vegan showstoppers so delicious that the abuelas and tias prefer vegan adaptations.

Lyana Blount, the author of “Black Rican Vegan: Fire Plant Recipes from a Bronx Kitchen,” and the owner of an eponymous pop-up featuring soul food and Puerto Rican cuisine, serves many customers who are not vegan but are curious about her food.

She remembered a customer who brought her vegan pernil – made with jackfruit to mimic the texture of shredded roast pork, and marinated with Puerto Rican sauces and spices – to their abuela, who said she couldn’t believe it was jackfruit.

“When I get that feedback, it makes me feel so good, and it gives me confirmation that what I’m doing is necessary,” says Ms. Blount, who became vegan in 2016 for health reasons. “It shows that they don’t have to consume meat all the time.”

Raul Medinasaid a chef in Oakland, California, the key to being vegan tamales And pozole is his homemade vegan lard, which he makes with coconut oil and the rendered fat from his leftover vegan meat dishes, like his mushroom carnitas. He first cooks the herbs and chili peppers in the melted fat and then adds the other ingredients, so that the soup feels as oily as a soup made with pork.

“Pozole is not just a stock or soup, it is a thickness — a mouthfeel and a fattiness that coats your tongue,” said Mr. Medina, whose abuela taught him to cook on her ranch in Durango, Mexico. He will also open his first vegan restaurant, La Venganza, on Friday. “I’ll take on anyone’s pozole.”

When Sabrina Rodriguez, of Elmwood Park, NJ, first told her Tia Aida Padilla that she was going vegan, Ms. Padilla offered to teach her how to arroz con gandules without adding ham. She reassured her niece, “We’ll make some changes and it will taste just as good.”

For Noche Buena celebrations, Ms. Rodriguez makes her aunt’s rice, as well as a vegan one pastelóna Puerto Rican lasagna made with sweet plantains, cheese, and a soy meat alternative to mimic ground beef.

“I was always nervous that I would lose that part of my identity by making this decision,” says Ms. Rodriguez, who became vegan in 2017. “But I certainly don’t feel that way. I feel more connected to my culture than ever.”