Rediscovering Sheffield Seitan, an old-fashioned vegetarian protein from a Lyndon kitchen | Small pleasures | Seven days

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• Rachel Stearns
• Grilled kebab with seitan

Browsing the shelves of City Market, Onion River Co-op’s South End location, I found an item in the freezer section that gave me pause. It was a brown lump of seitan with a tag that boasted “Vermont Family Owned Business Since 1979.” Thinking it would be an economical choice for quick lunches, I tossed a $9.99 “pound” into my cart.

Seitan, an alternative protein based on wheat gluten, sometimes called “wheat meat”, evokes hippie food from the 1970s, except when it’s masquerading as meat in a trendy ready-to-eat product like chorizo ​​false or beef crumbles. Christina Denby has been making her Sheffield Seitan in Lyndon for more than four decades. Her product doesn’t claim to be anything other than what it is: “Organic wheat gluten cooked in natural soy sauce, spices and water.” And simplicity is magic.

“It’s unique and a step above any seitan I’ve ever come across,” said Tim Elliott, co-owner of Zabby & Elf’s Stone Soup in Burlington. He’s been cooking with Sheffield Seitan since about 1992, when he ran the vegetarian deli at the long-defunct Origanum Natural Foods on Main Street.

Elliott appreciates the product’s versatility, he said. It’s big enough that he can thinly slice it into a steak before marinating it in maple syrup and tamari and placing it on bread for the popular Veggie Reuben sandwich. He also creates seitan pepper “steaks” with the slicer and runs the seitan through a cheese grater so it can mimic beef in specialties like Cuban stew.

“It’s one of those hollow plates that’s really great at absorbing sauces,” he said.

Now 74, Denby bought the business with her late husband, Leo Denby, in 1981. It has taken many forms over the years; at one point, the couple delivered wheat puffs (tempura-fried seitan) across the state while picking up and reselling fresh specialty breads such as bagels, Jewish rye and croissants. Elliott fondly remembers the days Leo hauled his wares to Burlington, bringing a free snack of seitan cornmeal bread that “fried just like chicken fingers” and tasted “stupidly delightful.”

Eventually, a distributor in New Hampshire picked up seitan and spread it throughout the Northeast. When that company was bought by a larger one in New Jersey, Denby severed the relationship, opting to ship frozen seitan directly from her store in the Northeast Kingdom to individuals, retailers and restaurants, including Stone Soup, Mad Taco and Bueno y Sano.

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• Rachel Stearns
• Sheffield Seitan

Today, Denby is Sheffield Seitan’s only employee. She pared the business down to a comfortable 25-hour work week, focusing on keeping the accounts current. The relaxed pace leaves time to spend with her family and new husband. Still, she enjoys the work and plans to continue it for the foreseeable future, she said, despite the challenges along the way.

Right now, for example, he’s having trouble getting the organic 15% protein flour he needs to maintain quality. “I go week by week. “Covid almost took me down, but I kept saying, ‘I can get through,'” Denby said. She doesn’t want to disappoint her customers, some of whom have remained loyal shoppers after moving all the way to California.

After picking up the seitan on a whim at City Market, it sat in the freezer for a good few months. I was intimidated by the prospect of making it myself, having only eaten seitan a handful of times, usually at fast-food burrito joints. I even defrosted it once before its brown spots freaked me out and put it back together. (Unlike most foods, seitan can be refrozen.)

When St. Patrick’s Day rolled around, my desire for a meat and potatoes meal inspired me to take the plunge. I thawed the leg again, then diced and boiled it for a vegetarian take on Guinness pie. Chunks of seitan provided a meaty chew amongst the mushrooms, carrots and celery. Bathed in a velvety sauce and topped with dough, the dish was a hit with vegetarians and omnivores alike.

Since then, I’ve used Sheffield Seitan as a filling for homemade burritos and tacos and, on a recent summer evening, in place of beef on grilled vegetable kebabs. I cut it into large pieces straight from the package and threaded them onto skewers with colored peppers, onions, broccoli and cremini caps. Over hot coals, the edges of the seitan charred, adding a nice crunch to its characteristic chew. A marinade would add punch, but the soy sauce in the seitan brought enough umami to the table that even the minimal effort was enough. The garlic and kale pesto I spread over the kebab complemented the lightly spiced seitan perfectly.

With practice, my confidence in cooking Denby’s seitan grew. I’m already thinking about how I’ll use it next, picturing Seitan Ham BLTs all summer long (aka tomato season). Maybe I’ll even try puffed wheat.

Small Pleasures is an occasional column featuring delicious and distinctive Vermont-made food or drink that packs a punch. Send us your favorite high paying bites or nibbles at (email protected).