The daily diet of most Brazilians comprises many animal origin products. These foods range from the obvious meats, eggs and milk to the less obvious, such as jellies, butters and honey.

According to Ibope Media 2012 survey, eight percent of the population declares to be vegetarian, with considerable changes by age and geographic region.

Within this percentage, there is a smaller people portion who are strict vegetarians, vegans, which besides not eating meat, do not consume any other animal products for food, clothing and general.

Fortunately, in recent years, even still small, the product range and establishments with vegan options is growing, as well as the awareness on the subject, thanks to the power of internet spreading.

If you would like to join this lifestyle, but do not want to stop eating anything you like, NAMU courses blog prepared a list of replacements for you to go on making the recipes you love without using animal ingredients. Check them:

• MILK: rice milk and soymilk are commonly found in supermarkets. Other drinks such as cashew nut milk, Brazil nut milk and oat milk are also common preparations that can be easily made at home.
• HEAVY CREAM: Basically, you can make heavy cream with all vegetable milks, mainly from oilseeds such as cashew nuts, Brazil nut, walnut, hazelnut and almond. Coconut cream is also a very interesting option.
• YOGURT: a vegan yogurt is made from vegetable thickened milk with ágar-ágar or cornstarch. It can also be made by vegetable milks fermentation with rejuvelac and it is healthier as it is a probiotic food. The soy yogurt is the most commonly found for sale.
• BUTTER: coconut oil is the replacement for butter in the most recommended vegan desserts. Avocado may also be an option, an ingredient that combines sweet and savory.
• EGG: there are different flours, such as flaxseed, which mixed with boiling water get a viscous texture, like the egg white. The green banana biomass, ágar-ágar and oat milk are also options for equivalent thickening agent.
• EGG WHITE MERINGUE: to replace egg whites is possible to use the water from the chickpea cooking, also known as aquafaba. The result is amazing.
• JELLY (derived from the bones and other tissues of cattle and pigs collagen): the solution for many dessert recipes with jelly is ágar-ágar, made from a red algae base.
• HONEY: it can be replaced by various other sweeteners like cane molasses, maple syrup, beet sugar, demerara sugar, brown sugar and coconut sugar (an option with low glycemic index).
• VANILLA ESSENCE: even if little is spoken about it, in some cases the vanilla essence may not be vegan. The fluid that gives the aroma to the ingredient is extracted from the beaver anal glands. To avoid the use of such essence, you must be attentive to the label.

Do you want to know more about vegan substitutions for your recipes? Then register yourself in desserts and vegan course tips, for both yourself and your business, with the chef Izabela Braga. Besides finding new options, you will learn how to prepare these very flexible ingredients.