Meet: Tammi Willis | Nourish Cafe Bangkok
Nepotism is alive and well here and I’m fine with it - Tammi is one of my favourite vegans so of course I asked her to do this as soon as I came up with the format! She’s also my sister. We went vegan around the same time and have been on many a vegan adventure together since. My favourite has to be our holiday to Koh Phangan, Thailand, as it was a vegan paradise and we stuffed our happy little faces.
Tammi lives in Bangkok now, where she runs Nourish Cafe (sadly closed due to the Bangkok lockdown for now, but hopefully back soon!) I’ve been, back in those days where you could fly internationally without the double edged sword of flight shame and death by virus. I ate everything on her menu and it was all delicious. Here’s a tease:
Q ~ Who would you invite to your dream dinner party?
A ~ Honestly, the thought of a dinner party with many people all talking at once and more than a small handful of people in a room at the same time, is making me anxious! I used to love dinner parties with strangers and maybe I will again but right now, after this last year I'd keep it to a small number of close friends and family I love but haven't seen for a while!
Q ~ What would you serve at this VIP (Vegan Important People) dinner party of dreams?
A ~ Middle Eastern mezze with lots of fluffy home baked pita bread and high quality extra virgin olive oil, made by me! Nothing more fun and satisfying than making food for people you love
Q ~ What do you wish people knew about veganism?
A ~ It's not difficult and opens up a whole new world of amazing food you wouldn't otherwise know exists but also vegan food is just food. If I have to hear another person say "I've never tried vegan food before" I will lose my shit!
Q ~ What does veganism mean to you?
A ~ Doing the least amount of harm to sentient beings, including myself. There is no such thing as being a perfect vegan, my very existence is harmful to others and the planet, but by reducing that harm as much as I can, without making myself miserable, I can still enjoy life and hopefully help others enjoy theirs too. For me that means not knowingly consuming any part of an animal or their secretions and also trying to use cosmetic and cleaning products not tested on animals or using animal derivatives. This also extends to the use of leather and other animal derived products. These last parts are far more tricky than simply not eating animals, due to the overwhelming historic and current use of animal testing and use of by-products, but I try.
Q ~ Is there anything you dislike about being vegan?
A ~ Having to live in a predominantly non-vegan world and feeling it's unlikely to change a significant amount in my lifetime, certainly not before it's probably too late environmentally. When considering the unfathomable amount of suffering humans inflict upon other lifeforms and each other, it's easy to feel nihilistic but I'm lucky I have a pragmatic and stoic disposition and can employ enough of that lovely cognitive dissonance us humans are so good at, to remain philosophical about life and meaning and purpose and continue to strive towards a better life for all sentient life here, even if my head tells me we are probably doomed.
Q ~ Have you ever questioned your decision?
A ~ Nope, not once. Seriously. I only ever questioned why I didn't go vegan earlier but I know it was a combination of societal pressure and lack of knowledge.
Q ~ Are you aware of any others going vegan or eating fewer animal products inspired by you?
A ~ I seem to remember a handful of people have told me something to this effect in the past, but not recently and I can't remember who exactly! I hope they are still on that path and have influenced others. I can certainly pinpoint the handful of people who led me to turn full vegan, and am forever grateful to them.
Q ~ IF WE SHOULD ALL FOLLOW ONE BRILLIANT VEGAN INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT, WHO SHOULD IT BE?
Follow Tammi on Instagram here. I haven’t written about every vegan I know for women’s magazines, but almost! Here’s an article Tam and I took part in together…
