Arriving in Melbourne in 2006, via Sydney, Brisbane, Japan and Germany, the thirty-one year old organic grocer has been vegan for the last seven years. She says the process of becoming vegan was a gradual one. ‘I was introduced to veganism through food and living with two friends who were from Italy and were vegan. I went vegetarian and then within six months I was vegan,’ McNabb said.

She attributes the change to realising how food really came to be on her plate and after that there was ‘no way I could continue to consume animal products.’ Her ‘veganisation’ included a lot of research and reading books and she found the ‘many hundreds of reasons for living this way.’ She also believes that ‘it's a cleaner way of living both for me and the environment.’

McNabb says she is excited when new vegan products come out because she loves food, which is evident from the decadent sweet treats she creates. Her recipes are adaptations from various cookbooks; she says: ‘I just play around with recipes and change things that I think go well together.’ The result is delicious dishes such as black forest choc cheesecake, coconut and vanilla crumble, peanut butter choc chip cheesecake, and lemon-lime cheesecake. The flavours, texture and care taken in her creations are all exceptional.

When asked what she is like in the kitchen, McNabb replies: ‘I like to listen to music when I bake. I like to start with a clean surface and have all the ingredients ready to go. It helps to be in the right mood too. I just get in there and do it.’ And her advice to vegan cooks just starting out? ‘You can do it! Start easy and work your way up to more tricky desserts. Find what you're good at and what you enjoy making whether it be cakes or slices or cookies or cupcakes.’ She says she’s ‘hopeless with cookies but slowly getting better’, but somehow I don’t believe her!

McNabb’s motivation for creating decadent desserts is simple, she loves making delicious vegan treats for her friends. ‘I love seeing their smiling happy faces as they bite into a piece of moist banana cake or rich cheesecake,’ she said. She is also inspired to create food that debunks the myth that vegan food is boring and lacking in choice. To anyone that says vegan food is boring she replies: ‘come over and I'll cook you dinner!’ Pumpkin eggplant lasagne, tacos, linguine with pesto, creamy potato salad, cherry pie with custard, miso, choc chip pancakes with vanilla soy ice cream, cashew basil stir-fry, roast veggies with garlic, and olive deep fried polenta are just some of the delights she creates regularly.

You can currently find Sarah’s cakes and desserts at The East Brunswick Club for $8 per serve, or in her kitchen if you’re lucky enough to be invited over. However, she does take orders so contact aduki if you would like to get in touch with her. Further to her actions in the kitchen, McNabb has also spent time onboard two of the Sea Shepherd vessels for campaigns in 2006 and 2007.

WORDS: Emily Clark