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A couple from Devon have set up a pop-up street-food van serving up a tasty array of vegan kebabs.
Devon couple Luke Groombridge and Justa Saczka are on a mission to bring tasty, vegan street food to the people of Devon with their vegan kebab van, The Big Kebabski, which is inspired by 1998 iconic film The Big Lebowski.
Speaking about the decision to take vegan food, which first launched earlier in the summer, to the streets of Plymouth in their van to Devon Live, Justa explained: “When we first met food was the main subject of our conversations and back then vegetarian and vegan options on the menu were quite limited.
“We then started dreaming of having our own street food business and we got our food inspiration after travelling to music festivals in Poland and Croatia.
Justa and Luke hope to create food that will appeal to everyone, not just vegans and vegetarians.
She added: “We love strong flavours, fresh taste and good textures and after experimenting with food for a long time, we finally created kebabs which deliver it all. And they look pretty awesome too.
“We now have non-vegan customers who keep coming back to us and it feels amazing because it reassures us to keep doing what we are doing.
“We make everything ourselves apart from the flatbreads and the main star of the show are our homemade kebabs.”
Vegan meat
Kebabs are a staple in the UK for many people at the end of a big night out, but thanks to the fact they are predominantly made from lamb they are not typically suitable for vegans.
At The Big Kebabski, the vegan meat which spins on a rotating kebab grill is made from sweet potatoes, onions, spices and organic vital wheat powder. The couple has created a mouth-watering range on unique kebab creations to be served in their pop-up van.
“Seitan which is a high protein meat substitute is really popular in Europe and we are really happy to see it getting bigger in the UK too,” said Justa.
Justa said: “My kebab is seitan meat served with baba ganoush and fresh, zesty salads. It comes with white cabbage, mint-slaw, Polish-style gherkins and lettuce.
“Luke’s creation is stir fried seitan with white cabbage, carrots, red pepper, onions, fresh ginger, green beans (Luke’s secret golden spice mix) served with baba ganoush, gherkins, corriander and a wedge of lime.
“We also have lots of signature sauces that we make including one we call Sweet Johnsons, which is our take on a Thai sweet chilli sauce and Dios Mio, which is a smokey chilli sauce.”
Happy & healthy
The mission of The Big Kekabski is simple: to promote the benefits of a plant-based diet and to make people happy through homemade, tasty and healthy food.
The couple are not only committed to serving up tasty vegan food, they’re also keen to reduce their impact with their packaging.
Speaking to Devon Live, Just said: “We have also chosen to serve our kebabs in eco-friendly packaging, which means you can either dispose your used packaging and cutlery in the bin or add it to your home compost heap.
“At the moment we are only serving our food at markets, festivals and events in Devon but we would love to open in Exeter City Centre very soon. We are hoping to get a permanent pitch somewhere.”
Keep up to date with The Big Kebabski on Facebook and Instagram to find their next location.
Image credit: The Big Kebabski/Facebook
