German Vegan: Art & Food in Harmony

I am fascinated by art. I remember as a teenager taking the train to Paris to see the Louvre and Mona Lisa, The Last Supper in Milan, David at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, The Creation of Adam at the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican and the list goes on. I consider myself a curator of food photographs. To me, a photograph has to create an emotional response, curiosity, keep me captivated, allow me to create a narrative, and make me hungry.

Rainer Marekwia is a German vegan who has an amazing profile on IG. I am always amazed every time he posts something. He makes me want to make love to his photographs. He is also a vegan. I talk to him about his creative process and the amazing food he makes.

Rainer, a pleasure to have you on board. Tell my global audience a little about you?

I have been living in various parts of Germany. I am currently in the south near Stuttgart. I am an IT architect by profession. I have various interests related to nature and art. I am involved in urban gardening, beekeeping, food sustenance, playing the piano, and reading and writing books.

I have been blessed to be able to work with amazing people, on Instagram as well as in real-life. To help my community and spread my passions, I have co-initiated several local community projects. My latest project is a local vegan meetup.

I love your Instagram profile. Walk me down your creative process of how you come up with a food idea?

Thank you so much! I love to combine more than just one art form or technique with whatever I do. In my Instagram profile, I try to blend the idea of cooking simple and elegant vegan menus with the art of presenting them appetizingly and producing interesting photos as a result. By doing so I hope to emphasize that cooking a delicious dish is not merely reserved for a 5-star chef. I believe that dedication and patience will always lead to healthy and enjoyable results.

Are you a vegetarian? If so how did you become one and what are the benefits?

I became a vegetarian at the age of 15, and at that time it was an inner impulse leading to a sudden and drastic change in my diet. Another significant step in my journey to my current lifestyle and diet was my daughter becoming a vegan 5 years ago. She challenged me and questioned her upbringing regarding her diet. I explained to her that although we mainly gave her vegetarian meals – a natural result of two vegetarian parents, that we were hoping to enable her to make her own decisions one day.

During this process of discussing the topic with her during a summer holiday, we both became vegan almost automatically as a natural consequence of reviewing the pros and cons. Then we explored together with the options and possibilities and helped each other in a creative exchange of ideas.

The benefits of being vegan now are on the one side, that I feel much healthier and fitter even with less sleep. On the other side, it is clearly a benefit to others, animals in the first place, but also to nature, by drastically reducing the consumption of resources like water. Overall, it is a way to make the world a little better, while having benefits. Isn’t that fantastic?

I am not missing anything….

I love your colors, contrasts, and a variety of foods. Talk to me about one of your favorite recipes?

I like to play with colors and forms when creating a menu and later on when taking pictures. One of my favorite recipes is burgers of all kinds. It is for me the perfect combo of contrasts: sweet and sour, hot and cold, light and heavy, juicy and dry. As usual, I never cook a burger twice but rather experiment with different buns, patties, salads, and sauces. My last burger recipe included next to a seitan patty rocket salad, tomatoes, cucumber, onions, vegan mayonnaise, and ketchup, but also hummus and a hint of mango chutney.

I want to know three of your favorite vegetables and three of your least favorite?

There are a lot of vegetables I love, however, my three favorites are: Broccoli, for its color and flexibility on how to use it, Tomatoes, because good organic ones have such a rich taste on its own and  Garlic, as it is an all-round star: Healthy, tasty, can be used in almost any dish

My least favorite vegetable is the eggplant as it has neither taste nor texture.

Help me understand the city you live in? I want to know the food scene, the spices, the smells of the market, and some of your favorite restaurants?

I currently live in the south of Germany near Stuttgart. The food scene here consists of three parts. The first is the local Swabian cuisine, dominated by rustic meals often with potato salad, Swabian ravioli (called Maultaschen), or Spaetzle, a special kind of pasta often fresh self-made by families.

The second is the international cuisine here mainly influenced by Italy (pasta, pizza), Asia (soups and tofu dishes), Turkey (doner kebab), and Indian curry.

The third one is the upscale fusion of global cuisine which is emerging and quite new. There are some great new restaurants coming up with this approach, and the focus and emphasis are on sustainability, being spacious, and having a cozy atmosphere.

I love food. I love the way how it shapes our culture and brings us together. Talk about how food has influenced and shaped you?

Food is so essential for everybody. Some are aware of its important role, others less. Whenever I discover new locations, new friends, and new countries, I also try to discover their food culture.

An important influence has been my auntie living in London, she taught me the basics on how to cook an Indian curry. I still do so at least once a week. Then I have Chinese friends, who introduced me to Asian cuisine. I regularly cook dishes with tofu and I love Chinese noodle soup with fresh vegetables and mushrooms.

Even now during holidays, I take something back, and that is either a recipe of a typical local dish, a spice, or a way of nicely presenting a dish. I can grow by every single experience and enhance my own portfolio.

Is there a lot of vegan and vegetarian options in German cuisine?

In Germany ten percent of the population are vegetarians and two percent are vegan. Even though these numbers might look small, there are other facts that underline that there is currently a huge momentum of eating less meat. More and more families call themselves “Flexitarians”, which means they do eat meat, but not every day. They deliberately do vegetarian and vegan days during the week for their whole family. In addition, more and more teens in Germans have a plant-based diet. This trend is also reflected in our restaurant scene. Not only can we see more and more pure vegan restaurants with a variety of fantastic newly created menus, but also almost every restaurant does offer at least one vegan option, which is great.

You are chosen to go to Mars. You can take only 5 vegetables with you to grow. Which would it be and why?

That’s a great question. I would take garlic, potatoes, and tomatoes, for their great and rich taste plus their flexibility on how to combine them. Together with the local vegetables from Mars itself, certainly with the flavor of iron, this will put me in a good position to have delicious meals even on Mars.

The remaining two vegetables would be hops and yeast! Why? Of course, to brew my own vegan beer on Mars. I don’t want to miss this.

Photo Credits:  trevpunkt