HANSEN: Why does the word vegan scare people? ROMERO: …for someone else to make it for you kind of aspect. Like you do want to call, like, get up and do it yourself as opposed to waiting… Like we take this, I guess, the more accessible parts of it. I think that's part, like, of the - what we call post punk. MOSKOWITZ: So our Web site actually says vegan food without attitude because it's not so much about judging you and, you know, it's more about experimenting and eating.

We really actually tried to be accessible and not have, quote, unquote, 'attitude.' HANSEN: But this also sounds like this is food with attitude. ROMERO: We drove them around our van to Canada. MOSKOWITZ: And probably no one anybody's ever heard off, like, the most famous one I can think of is Oi Polloi, which are Scottish punk rock band that are vegan and they're still around. HANSEN: What were some of bands that ended up spending time on your living room floor? MOSKOWITZ: That's what happened, like, you met somebody over the weekend -they were your best friend by Monday. MOSKOWITZ: And making best friends in one day, like… And, you know, let's make something to eat, you know… ROMERO: Look, at anytime you can have a band on your living room floor from Ohio or some place. They were both in the punk scene, where Romero says food was major part of the culture. The two met in the mid-1990s outside of Dive Bar in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. They're latest is called 'Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook.' HANSEN: Moskowitz and Romero have written several best-selling vegan cookbooks. ROMERO: People look at it and they thought it was fake cheese.

MOSKOWITZ: Well, you have brown, so nicely. And when you bake it, and it comes out - it looks like this gorgeous béchamel cream… TERRY HOPE ROMERO (Co-author, 'Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook'): Silken tofu and maybe a couple of other things.

ISA CHANDRA MOSKOWITZ (Co-author, 'Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook'): And the moussaka cream, which is pine nuts and tofu. Their idea of tasty vegan food includes asparagus and lemongrass risotto, eggplant, potato, tiramisu, cupcakes and. But if your idea of a vegan meal is tofu, sprouts and soy milk, you haven't been introduced to Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. Vegans are people who don't eat meat, dairy or eggs. The terms veganomicon and vegangelical share the root word vegan.

Veganomicon book