Nigella, the McPlant and vegan restaurants: Freya Cox shares her thoughts on all things food for Veganuary 2022

Not only is it Veganuary, but this month also marks two years since the Scarborough baker decided to go vegan and since then she’s had quite the journey.

From her successful experience being on the Great British Bake Off in 2021 as the first vegan contestant to attracting nearly 84,000 followers on Instagram, where she shares her baking journey, she’s had quite an eventful year.

This month is always a time when meat eaters or vegetarians decide to try veganism, so Freya has shared some much needed tips with The Yorkshire Post about how to make the transition easy.

“The main thing I would say is that since nowadays there are so many [vegan] options and menus in the supermarkets to choose from, try not to change your whole way of eating,” she said.

“If you like spaghetti bolognese, there will still be amazing vegan substitutes; if you change everything you usually eat [all at once] it can become very hard. Eat what you usually eat, but just find a vegan version.

“Even if you just go to the ‘free from’ section [of supermarkets] and there are so many incredible recipes online. So don’t feel like your whole life is changing; [going vegan] may seem like a massive change, but it’s not.

“Another thing that I would say is don’t beat yourself up about it; try your best, but don’t think it’s an all or nothing thing. If you mess up a tiny bit don’t worry, just carry on.

“I think that’s one of the hardest things people find. I hear people say ‘I really want to go vegan but I just can’t give up honey’, so they don’t bother at all. Don’t give up, don’t beat yourself up about it and just give it a go.”

On January 5, 2022, McDonald's released a vegan burger called McPlant which took off online.

It got mixed reviews, so we were eager to find out what Freya thought of the burger - turns out she loved it.

“I think I’ve eaten like ten of them - I think they’re absolutely incredible,” she said.

“I’m all for mainstream companies bringing out vegan food [like this]. I feel like that’s how we’re going to change the world today; they’re accessible for so many people, whereas little independent vegan places, which I love, are harder to find.

“You see the [vegan food] advertised on billboards and that’s so game-changing as they are so huge and popular. I’m obsessed with it, I’m all for it, but I love [to eat] anything, I’m the least fussy eater.”

So what are her favourite independent vegan restaurants in Yorkshire?

“In Scarborough there are two little vegan cafes which is incredible because we’re only very small compared to the big cities,” Freya said.

“One is called Koda Coffee and the other is Love Brew; both of those are fully vegan cafes and the food they have there is really good, so I would definitely recommend them. In York, there’s a place called The Orchid which serves vegan hot dogs.

“Nowadays most of the mainstream places are becoming so good [for vegan food], Wagamama is also amazing.”

Freya has also revealed who her favourite celebrity chef is.

“My favourite chef who I massively look up to and is the reason I got into cooking in the first place is Nigella Lawson - I am genuinely obsessed with her,” she said.

“I want to be the vegan version of her; her attitude towards food is just incredible. I think that she is the most amazing TV personality ever. I know she’s not the most vegan-friendly chef, I understand that, but I just love her.

“I think we’re missing out here, I feel like there aren’t many mainstream chefs on TV that cater toward vegans, I see that Jamie Oliver cooks the occasional vegetarian dishes and I do really rate Jamie Oliver, but I do think we’re missing out on that.”

You can follow Freya Cox’s vegan journey on her Instagram page.