“Astig” is slang for “Badass” in Tagalog (a Filipino dialect).

It’s a wordplay popularized in the Philippines in the 70s, when then-young generation would flip the words to create their own language (“ermats” as in mother, “erpats” father, etc).  “Astig” is slang for “Tig-as”, literally “tough” or “hard”, and is still widely coined by Filipinos to describe something gutsy.

TJ & RG  look at veganism as being “Astig”, and not as a weak approach to eating.  Their blog, AstigVegan, looks to bravely break the stereotype that Filipino food cannot be vegan,  healthy, and delicious all at the same time.

RG Enriquez has learned most of her cooking techniques from the world’s best cook, her mom (don’t argue).  Growing up eating heavily meat based dishes, RG often wondered if there’s ANYTHING ELSE out there that would not only TASTE GOOD  but also make you FEEL GOOD (no guilt). Lo and behold, she has discovered the delicious world of vegan dishes! (yes, that’s delicious and vegan in one sentence).

Since then, she’s been blogging with fellow Astig, TJ, about recipes they either “veganized” or originally created. Both of them also love to organize vegan potlucks with friends, often kicking butt in the game of charades.  They’re also starting to dabble into the catering world so if you want to have a kick ass Astig dish at your party, just give them a holler.

TJ Basa started blogging about veganism in 2008 to help with the transition into her new lifestyle. Many culinary experiments (and a few utter disasters) later, she invited her friend Richgail to join in with her own recipes and experiences. The partnership developed and eventually gave way to Astig! Pin@y Karinderya.

These days, TJ is a little less clueless when it comes to navigating the kitchen, but she  still leaves most of the cooking to Richgail. Instead, she has self-proclaimed herself to be the resident vegan pundit, providing plenty of personal and political commentary, whether solicited or not.

For TJ’s non-vegan blogging, visit http://guni-guni.blogspot.com.
 
astigvegan.wordpress.com