Food & Drink in Shrewsbury

This is the first article in Amanda Maguire’s Vegan Guide to Boston series, which profiles Boston’s best vegan products and businesses. It can be tough to find vegan food in Boston—let alone vegan desserts. That’s what makes FoMu Ice Cream such a gem. Owned by Deena Jalal and Hin Tang, the shop has outposts in Allston and Jamaica Plain. I paid a visit to chat with Deena and, of course, sample their wide array of innovative, non-dairy flavors. Their signature ice creams are made from creamy coconut milk, but they also have nut-based flavors that use a blend of cashews and almonds. All of their ice creams contain natural, local, and organic ingredients whenever possible. Here's what Deena had to say about FoMu's crave-worthy ice cream and what makes it so special. GROUPON: What is FoMu's best-selling ice cream? DEENA JALAL: Salted caramel—by far! G: Could you tell us a little about the inspiration behind this flavor and whether you initially expected it to be so popular? DJ: Salted caramel is sort of like the new vanilla. We knew we had to make it—from scratch and with the best ingredients. G: Are there any new ice-cream flavors or products you're particularly excited about? I noticed you now have in-store bake shops. DJ: We have some really popular seasonal flavors that have come out, like our Almond Raspberry Crumble, Purple Mu, and Mango Lassi. We can't make enough of those! We also recently expanded our bakery production. We make all of our ice-cream inclusions from scratch and knew there was a lot of interest to get those directly to our customers. We really focus on making the best from-scratch goodies we can—that happen to be really accommodating to diverse diets. We just came out with a coconut-water sorbet that is so refreshing and unique. It's awesome in the heat. G: Here’s something we all want to know: what makes FoMu so insanely good? DJ: [Laughs] It's magic. It's really a combination of taking awesome ingredients, making things from scratch (which is really hard to do with any dairy ice cream), and churning them with minimal air so that flavors stay intact and the texture is rich and lovely. G: Why did you opt to go plant-based with your ice cream and baked goods, as opposed to using dairy and eggs? DJ: We are huge foodies and into alternative foods. The premium options were lacking in the alternative-ice-cream space, and not using dairy does allow us to craft a super-pure product. G: What has been your best moment as a business owner at FoMu? DJ: Seeing people, especially kids, have ice cream for the first time and love it. G: When you're not making Banoffee Pie, Cardamom Pistachio, or Thai Chili Peanut ice cream, what are you cooking at home? DJ: Oh my goodness—anything we haven't tried before. We love our CSA for that reason. We get amazing produce and get creative with it. We especially love ethnic food and try to emulate our favorite dishes. FoMu Ice Cream is located at 481 Cambridge St. in Allston and 617 Centre St. in Jamaica Plain. To visit via public transit, take the Green Line B Train to Harvard Avenue Station for the Allston store, or take the Orange Line to Green Street Station for the Jamaica Plain location. You can also check out FoMu’s online store. Photos by Aaron Scott Hungry for more? Check Groupon for deals on vegan and vegetarian restaurants in your city, or take a look at these other animal-free stories. The Sexy Vegan on the Sexiest Foods Around Blogger Brian L. Patton (aka The Sexy Vegan) definitively determines the sexiest fruit, spice, utensil, dinner date, and other sexy food items. The Spiralizer Lets You Play with Your Food (And Eat It, Too) It’s almost too fun to watch (and eat) zucchini spiralized into noodles, potatoes into curled ribbons, and carrots into twisty threads. The World’s Best Vegan Restaurants, from the Man Behind HappyCow From Fort Lauderdale to Berlin, find out where a world traveler flies to eat at the best vegan restaurants in the world. Terry Hope Romero Is Changing the Weird, Sexist Notion That Men Cannot Enjoy Salad This recipe for Backyard Buffalo Caesar Salad is hearty enough for the manliest of men.

Snow flakes are starting to fly here in Boston and with chillier weather upon us I start craving anything that will warm me up from the inside out.  Soup is my go to, and with so many restaurants serving up a variety of types it's easy to find a great big bowl of soup to push away those cold weather blues. There is, of course, the ultimate comfort food- Tomato Soup paired with a Grilled Cheese Sandwich.  There is something so wonderfully childlike about dipping a hot, gooey piece of cheesy sandwich into a big hot bowl of tomato soup that brings me right back to snowy days when I was a kid.  Now, when Im looking for that feeling I head to The Abbey in Brookline's Washington Square. During lunch hours (week days and weekends) they serve up a big bowl of acidic tomato soup bright with fresh herbs and just a subtle hint of spice, and with it a perfectly crisp on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside, grilled cheese sandwich.   The cheese is stringy and ultimately gooey, leaving strings as you pull pieces apart to dip into the soup.  Decadent and delicious, this pairing is the perfect way to venture into chilly weather. Moving to the more exotic side of things, there is my personal favorite soup out there- hailing from Vietnam- Pho.  Pho is a perfect blend of rice noodles, fragrant broth, your choice of proteins, onion and cilantro.  Tableside you are served lime wedges, sprouts, and Thai Basil to add at your discretion along with a host of sauces.  Pho has long been my favorite for several reasons, one of which being this hands on approach where you can customize the finishing flavors and even its heat level.  I gravitate to Pho Pasteur in Chinatown when I need a Pho fix.  They efficiently seat their guests and expertly dole out their Pho, a clean broth with notes of lemon grass, and gently floating circles of onion and fragrant cilantro throughout.  I opt for rare beef as my protein,finding the mix between the beef, broth, noodles and a lot of Siracha sauce to warm my soul. Perhaps, however, when its chilly outside, you crave something a bit more decadent?  How does French Onion Soup with a beef morrow crostini on the side sound?  Deuxave, located in Boston's Back Bay is serving up a French Onion Soup that they simmer and cook for nine hours to concentrate the flavors and bring out the notes of true beef flavor as well as notes of thyme and white wine.   Individual servings are divvied out into small crock pots, chunks of French Bread added, and topped with cheese- every spoon full brings out the rich broth, tender onions, pieces of soaked bread and utter globs of incredible cheese.  Then, as if it wasn't rich enough- along side sits a perfectly toasted piece of bread, slathered with a little bone marrow making it salty and delicious and a perfectly crunchy addition to the soup. Soup is the perfect way to warm up as these months get colder, and no matter what your preference, there is a spot out there for you.  So the real question is what type is going to keep you the warmest?

Did you know that Massachusetts is the only state in the Union to have a state bean? In the same rank as a state tree, or flower, Massachusetts has named the Baked Bean to be our state bean. That’s right folks, Boston actually gets it’s nickname of Beantown from the age old dish. Not surprisingly, baked beans were just another wonderful thing that were taught to the early settlers by the Native Americans who greeted us into the land. A rustic dish originally made by simmering pea beans with salt pork or bacon and spices over a low fire, or utilizing residual heat from a day’s worth of cooking. It was simple food that the Native Americans offered the early settlers with corn bread, creating a rich, hearty meal with ingredients from their land. Boston Baked Beans, however, twist this recipe only slightly. See, Boston, during the 1700’s was an exporter of Rum back to England. Bostonians were making rum by fermenting molasses, which was a very common sweetener during that time. With so much of it on hand, it’s no surprise that we started adding it to a variety of dishes, one being the highly traditional baked bean. The change up created the unique flavor contrast that the Boston Baked Bean dish is known for- deep rich flavor from the slow cooking process with the sweet flavor of molasses and the salty smoke of bacon. For centuries now the people of Boston, and greater Massachusetts have made this recipe and served it basically unchanged. The place to try out the real deal in Boston is Durgin Park. Located in the Faneuil Hall area of Boston, Durgin Park draws a healthy crowd of visitors, it serves traditional Yankee fare, with the famed Boston Baked Beans (and of course chowdah and lobstah rolls) included. Of course if you can’t make it out to Durgin Park, I'm going to slip you their recipe, courtesy of New England Home Cooking. 1 lb dried small white beans, such a pea beans, rinsed and picked over 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, optional ½ cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar 1/2 cup molasses 1 teaspoon dry mustard 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 1 medium onion (peeled and scored with a criss cross to the root end) 1/2 lb salt pork Directions: 1. NOTE: Use navy beans, California pea beans, or small white beans. 2. Soak beans in cold water for 4 hours or overnight.  Drain in a colander.  Bring 10 cups of water to boil in a large pot.  Add the baking soda, if you like, and the beans, return to a boil, and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes.  Drain in a colander and rinse the beans 3. Preheat oven to 300°F 4. Pour the beans into a 2 ½ to 3 quart bean pot or other baking dish.  In a bowl, combine the brown sugar, molasses, mustard, salt and pepper and stir into the beans.  Push the onion into the center of the beans.  Pour enough boiling water over the beans to cover them by about ½ inch.  Push the salt pork partway into the beans, letting it protrude a bit above the water. 5. Bake the beans, uncovered if in a bean pot, partially covered with foil if in a shallow casserole dish, for 6 – 8 hours, until the beans are softened and the sauce is lightly thickened.  Check every hour or so.  The sauce should be barely bubbling at the top of the pot.  Add boiling water if the liquid cooks down below the level of the beans.  When done the beans will turn a mahogany color and the sauce will be lightly thickened. 6. Remove the onion and serve the beans piping hot. New England Home Cooking; Harvard Common Press, Boston, Massachusetts; Copyright 1999; page 152- 154