Calling Vegetarians

I've been pondering on this issue of personal choice and preference and the tendency to label people by the groups of food they eat. As you imply B, what purpose does it serve.


I don't eat meat because my body doesn't seem to want it now, yet I will happily cook my roast potatoes in goose fat which is, of course, derived from animals. When and if my body wants meat again, I'll start eating it. It's a conundrum, isn't it.
I will eat fish.
Mr. F does not eat fish. He does eat meat.
We both enjoy a whole range of vegetables, pulses and dairy foods.

One household of just two, and a whole range of food preferences.

Quite agree Bags my parents took the same view. I remember my parents gallanty eating meat on Friday (back in the day) so as not to cause embarrassment to their hosts.

I think your point about food choices sometimes assuming the position of extreme religious rules is apt. General principles often become rigid and exclusive and alienating to the very people who might otherwise be persuaded that those choices have some merit.

It might be easier for you to say vegetarian anno but it's not true is it?

If you need to explain yourself, is it not easier to just say "I don't eat meat"?

Fish is animal flesh of course but most people think of 'fish' and 'meat'.

Those who eat fish and the occasional bit of chicken annoy vegetarians by describing themselves as vegetarian.

I chose not to eat red meat along while ago as it appeared to cause me joint pain. I then gave up fish and chicken. A few weeks ago I mistakenly ordered a soup which turned out to have animal stock in, (Baxter's version is all vegetarian) I found the half spoonful tasted totally disgusting, that was my fault.

I have no objection to people eating meat around me. I would prefer they ate welfare friendly meat products. I would hesitate to cook meat as I fear I might ruin it. I was never ever very keen on fish (it has bones in!)

I got annoyed yesterday at choir when I was having a not too serious rant about the choir meal, (as predicted in an earlier post, the vege offer being Homity pie with boiled potato onion and Mild cheese.

Someone in the row behind made the inevitable "do you eat fish remark."
Then the "what do you eat for Christmas dinner." I refrained from screaming.

I do have real concerns about the global sustainability of the rush to feed our world's growing population on meat products and the damage it does to the environment.

I describe myself as a pescetarian, but often it's easier to say 'vegetarian' as I don't have to embark on a lengthy explanation.

People who eat fish are not vegetarians. This is a point of fact, not judgment. Perhaps, if they need to tell anyone, they could just say they don't eat the meat of land animals.

However, that raises another ponder. Why does anyone else need to know what one's personal food rules are unless the rules one applies to what one eat means that one's approach to food ends up pretty much like a religion? I am, of course, excluding food allergies from this discussion. That is a separate issue.

Let me explain what I mean. When I was growing up I was taught by my parents that if we ate food in someone else's house that the someone else had prepared, then it was impolite (to put it mildly) to refuse because one didn't like whatever it was. I would extend the politeness of presenting no objections to hospitality to religious rules or self-imposed ethical 'rules', such as not eating farmed meat because one objects to certain farming methods. This is, of course, a choice people are free to make. In general. But, what happened to bending rules when one is in the company of people who don't share those rules? What happened to accepting that one's hosts may not live by the same rules? Which, of course, they are perfectly entitled to do? What happened to being flexible when politeness and social ease is at stake? What happened to tolerating other people's lifestyles and life choices and accepting these to be as valid as one's own even when one disagrees with the premises such choices are based on? What makes one set of choices better than another?

Some people who stick rigidly to a vegetarian diet say they do not occupy the moral high ground, but I think that if they are never flexible when other people's comfort as well as their own is the issue, then what could be called the almost religious moral high ground is exactly where they are digging their heels in.

I'd be interested in other people's views on this. Meanwhile, I'll stick with my parents' advice and try not to cause any host discomfort or embarassment on my account.

I know I'm not taking a unique position on this because we have a Jewish friend who will eat ham if it presented in a dish and there is no alternative without drawing attention to himself. His view is that nobody needs to know he is Jewish when that really isn't relevant to a social occasion.

The word invade just dripped off my fingers onto the keyboard without thinking, it wasn't of course intended to offend anyone - I was just amused that a lot of people who might not be interested in being vegetarian had nevertheless gone and looked at a thread addressed to them.

I never thought for a moment anything other than that people might post where they liked - of course???

Here's our Christmas Nut Roast recipe, as you can see, it includes eggs so it's not vegan. Looking at it, it's a bit 1990s which is when it began!

Spiced Nut Roast with Tomato Sauce
Serves 4-6
Oven temp 190C, 375F, Gas 5
Cooking time 1 hour
Ingredients:
Roast
2 tbsps oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 onions, finely chopped
1 green pepper, finely chopped
100g/4oz cashew nuts, finely chopped
100g/4oz hazelnuts, finely chopped
100g/4oz wholemeal breadcrumbs
1 tsp dried mixed herbs
1 tsp mild curry powder
400g tin chopped tomatoes, well drained
2 eggs, beaten
Salt
freshly ground black pepper
Sauce
1 tbsp oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 tsp tomato puree
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp soft brown sugar
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Method
1. Make roast by heating oil in frying pan and gently frying onion, garlic and green pepper for about 10 mins until soft. Turn into large mixing bowl
2. At hazelnuts, cashew nuts, bread crumbs, mixed herbs, curry powder, tomatoes and eggs. Season and mix well.
3. Spoon mixture into a greased 2lb loaf tin. Level out and press down.
4. Bake in pre-heated oven for 1 hour until set firm.
5. Prepare the sauce by heating oil in saucepan and frying the onion and garlic for about 10 mins.
6. Add tomatoes with juice, tomato puree, sugar, basil and seasoning. Bring to boil and simmer for 15 mins.
7. Remove from heat and process in liquidiser until smooth.
8. Turn roast out of tin and serve in thick slices with the sauce.

Vegetarians do eat eggs. Even if I never ate dairy again and became a vegan I would still eat eggs. All of my children have their own hens and they have a great life, roaming around, fed lots of food scraps and seed.

The recipe I posted has a couple of things. First you need a very good mixer or food processor, also a spring tin makes it easier to get out. I am visiting DD1 at the moment and used her mixer it's ancient and the filling became one big hardish blob stuck in the beaters and the coconut milk wouldn't mix in. I also added another third to half cacao powder. I had a tiny piece this morning, just to test it of course and it is delicious.

Vegans couldn't eat them. I think vegetarians could.

I didn't think they could be really - although some vegetarians still eat eggs because they aren't animals which have been killed.

Although I suppose they are potential chickens. Unless they're unfertilized.

Nope! Eggs can't be vegetarian Ana as they are product of chicken. But hey, so what? Eat them anyway.

Are eggs vegetarian? I don't think I'd want to live without scrambled eggs, although I could easily do without meat.

I don't like honey.

I would like some toast and marmalade but I will be strong and go to bed.

I eat a whole range of vegetarian dishes, but enjoy a whole range of meat dishes too, if we go out for a treat meal then fillet steak always hits the spot. I have some vegetarian friends who eat fish as well, and one who eats chicken once a week, it's whatever keeps you fit, healthy and [don't forget this bit] enjoying life.Good food is part of life, and we are lucky enough, as one poster said, to have the luxury of choice.
A nice simple meal is a rissotto, made with or without meat.
I wouldn't want to live without bacon or sausages though.Like marmalade and tea, they make life worth living.
Vegetarian lasagne is fab.As are stuffed mushrooms.Now I am so peckish that I will have to go and toast a crumpet[with butter and honey.]

As a meat eater I don't think I invaded the thread, rather tried to give some helpful advice as I have cooked for non-meat eating offspring and friends. GGgran said that her DGD ate fish anyway, so there will be plenty of recipes out there - a type of special fish pie or Wellington would be nice for Christmas day.
I may not be vegetarian but I enjoy vegetarian dishes quite often (especially a lasagne or a chilli made with quorn).

Elegran, that cheesecake recipe is not for everyday consumption either. It actually says so, occasional treats only. You'll see why if you look at it.
i tend to use agave syrup which I presume is similar to rice malt syrup. My grandson thinks it's honey.

That recipe is brilliant, and perfect timing. My granddaughter had a strop today when she discovered that her brother was making the Christmas cake, and told me he wasn't allowed to. I'll print the recipe off to show her what she can make.

I tend to use Tofutti original in my cheesecakes, Faye. What do you use? They used to do a sour cream equivalent which was even better, but for some reason they have stopped doing it now.
Have you noticed that Viva! have a new cookbook out? I am going to buy a pack of three for less than £30, postage free. Perfect for Christmas presents. Just hope that nobody else in the family knows about it, because we will be swapping books!

These days I normally don't use dairy or sugar in my cooking and last night I made a
Raw Chocolate + Raspberry Cheesecake, though it has no dairy in it. You do need a good blender and food processor for some of these recipes and the ingredients are sometimes more expensive. When DD2 was younger she was severely allergic to dairy and it was difficult to find recipes with no dairy. There is now a huge choice of interesting recipes online.

Perhaps not ideal for regular consumption, durhamjen, if you are taking care of your arteries, but really delicious.

Wow, that's a serious load of cheese, Elegran, even for six.
If you are doing it for vegetarians, the gruyere can often be made with animal rennet so it's best to check. Just saying for any non-vegetarians who want to make it.

Returning to the "what can I make for a veggie that is special?" original question, I think one of the nicest meals I have had recently, veggie or omni, was Yotam Ottolenghi's mushroom lasagne

DiL made this for us for a family get-together, and even a self-confessed rabbit-food hater SiL loved it. Be warned, it does take a fair bit of preparation, but can be done in advance and just put in the oven an hour before you want to eat - you can then spend that hour sitting down.

It serves six with some green salad and good bread, (or maybe your roasties and other veg?) and is about as far from the pots of lentils brewed up in "The Young Ones" as you can get. You could grill some bacon for those who prefer a spot of unrespectable animal flesh with their meal to crumble over it, but I suspect they would enjoy it straight.

I find your post quite confrontational Margaret and I'm not sure why you seem to have been so offended by mine. What I was actually trying to say was there is a variety of research and a variety of views about whether meat is healthy or necessary and (as annie said in her excellent post) research can prove whatever you want it to prove. So I was certainly not saying "don't let's have a serious discussion on gransnet" but rather, this is an argument that could go round in circles and prove nothing. Nor did I suggest that you think humans cannot live on a variety of foods - please read my post again to see what I said on that point.

People are of course free to discuss anything they like on gransnet, otherwise there would be no forum.

Regular posters (as opposed to trolls or spammers) don't 'invade' threads on Gransnet, Anniezz.
We are all free to comment on whatever subject we like.