Published: June 03, 2008 02:02 pm      

GO VEGGIES: Tonawanda chef offers vegetarian foods to go!

The veggie rolls are deceptively simple — wheat wraps tucked around mashed potatoes and peas, seasoned with garlic, ginger and spices.

The rolls are fried in a bit of oil and served hot. During a recent testing, a taster took a bite and found the creamy potatoes a perfect contrast to the mildly spicy flavor and the chewy wraps.

“Ohhhh,” said the tester, in approval. Genga Ponnampalam smiled. “People say that all the time.”

His company is called “Go Veggies,” and it’s located at 1290 Sheridan Drive, in a little strip of stores near Military Road in the Town of Tonawanda.

While meat eaters may need a little convincing, many committed vegetarians will appreciate the ingredients that he uses in his products. For instance, his veggie burgers contain lentils, brown rice, chopped broccoli, carrots, sunflower seeds, ginger and garlic.

A combination of such notably healthy ingredients offered another surprise during a recent tasting. The burgers are nutty and flavorful without any roll or accompaniment. A taster was able to imagine how much more satisfying the burgers could be on fresh rolls with sliced onion and ketchup. But even ketchup has been replaced in Ponnampalam’s kitchen.

He produces a vegetarian sauce he believes tastes better and is healthier than ketchup. He is trying to market the product to area school cafeterias as an healthy alternative to the ketchup dispenser.

Ponnampalam, who was born in Sri Lanka, came to this country with his family to attend the University at Buffalo. He consulted with his wife and mother to create the recipes for his products and went through much trial and error before he was satisfied with the flavors.

“If it doesn’t come like what I want it to, I’ll sometimes throw out the whole batch,” he said.

Still, he knows that vegetarian foods are a hard sell in a part of the world known for its chicken wings and beef on weck.

“I do vegetarian feasts once a month. I want to get feedback from the people,” he said.

The feasts, which include all his products from the veggie burgers to his mango pudding, cost $15 per person. His next feast is planned for June 14.

Ponnampalam produces his foods in a commercial kitchen at the location and holds the feasts regularly, but he does not keep regular retail hours at the storefront. Instead, he sells his products at the Elmwood Market on Saturdays during the summer and plans to sell them at the Kenmore Market as well. In addition, his products are available at the Lexington Food Coop and online at goveggies.com.

For those who enjoy his product, there are other opportunities to “go veggie.”

He rents out his commercial kitchen to those who need the space, as long as the products they create do not contain meat. He also wants to sell Go Veggie trailers and license his products to those who might want to participate in his business. He is looking for assistance in production and sales, as well.

For this vegetarian chef, it’s an uphill climb to convert meat-eaters to the world of natural, plant-based foods. Of that effort, Ponnampalam said this: “Any job is easy if you love what you do.”

Contact editor Michele DeLuca

at 693-1000, ext. 157.