Manimez: Whole Wheat Heaven

Saturday pre-lunch snack: hot chocolate made with cocoa powder and soy milk, and a slice of lightly toasted oatmeal whole wheat bread.

Bread!!!

And I haven't even broken any rules - it contains no milk and no eggs, and it is good, even without anything on it. I wanted it sooooo badly that even though I went to bed at four-thirty in the morning (awesome night - live music, dancing - thank you so much!) I was walking toward the health food store six hours later. I could have taken a bus or taxi, of course, but the sun was out and you must take advantage of those moments around here.

The health food store is called Manimez, but really it is misleading to call it just a 'health food store'. It is a health food-pharmacy-bakery-cafe-juice bar-restaurant-craft store. (Yes, craft store. I walked in and immediately thought of Sesame Street, "One of these things is not like the other..." and shame on you if you don't remember the song!)

The shelves upon shelves of bottled supplements looked interesting, but not like something I could put in my cupboard and later convert into lunch. I wanted something to eat. There were baked items on display in the cafe/bakery in the back which I assumed were not vegan-friendly, and a small juice bar serving juiced things that give me allergic reactions. I was utterly disappointed and turned and walked back outside.

But I had been so excited about finding this place, I hated to give up that quickly. So though I felt kind of foolish about it, I regrouped and went back in, quite determined to find something I could take home with me. I asked at the bakery and most of the products were okay for me to eat, so I ordered a pineapple muffin and something resembling grape juice. I also bought the above-mentioned loaf of whole wheat bread, and a kilo of whole wheat flour, a luxury item as I have been unable to find it anywhere else in this city.

And how was this muffin that I had walked over an hour to enjoy? Well...I am beginning to suspect that my first experience with vegan baking set me up with some very unreasonable expectations. I was treated to a vegan chocolate cake last weekend, and it was without exaggeration one of the tastiest cakes I've ever eaten. Today's muffin, however, was mediocre at best. It was dry, and not particularly flavourful, and stuck in my throat. I'm quite confident I can do better at home, and I think I will make an attempt at chocolate cookies this weekend.

On my way out, I had a closer look at the many plastic bottles lined up behind the counter. If all of those tablets do all of the things they promise to do, I calculate that one more visit to Manimez with sufficient funds and I can convert myself into a perfectly-sized, firm-breasted female with shiny hair, flawless skin, and one hundred percent satisfied nutritional needs. I could grab a bottle of wild yam and chamomile personal lubricant to top the whole deal off, and be chlorophyll-full and trouble-free for 30 days, until my next supplement refill!

Even more perplexing was the craft counter. Not because the craft supplies themselves were strange (no products made of sheep placenta here), but because what the hell is a craft store doing in the middle of a health-food centre?

The next step in my exploration of Vegan Manizales: go back and try the restaurant. The muffin was abysmal, but the bread was a success so I will give them the benefit of the doubt. I shall let you know how it goes. In the meantime, if you are curious (and understand Spanish) I have posted a link to the Manimez website under 'Health Stuff'. They post their daily restaurant menu, and provide a list of all the pills they sell, as well as the 'esoteric items'. And if you don't speak Spanish but want to hear some Colombian/Spanish-language music, the website automatically streams a local radio station.