Topic: So you're vegetarian?

[tim]

I admire you. With sympathy!! Bit of Son's blog -

T"he Air New Zealand flight from London to Los Ageles yesterday confronted me with some of the worst efforts at vegeratian food it has ever been my misfortune to confront. Before long, I gave up and went on an enforced diet. The good-hearted young steward had said it was his first day and when he later wanted to know if there was anything he could do better, I didn't have the heart to suggest shooting the chefs.

But then on the leg from LA to Auckland, quite unprompted, a new steward said he hadn't even bothered to put my vegetarian meal in the oven, it was so horrible. In so many words, he said that ANZ can't be bothered with vegetarians and I would be better of with the 'bland food' option, where at least you got the odd potato. Hard not to agree. The sandwiches I was offered at one stage looked as though their flilling had been scooped up from the outfall from a silage clamp or intensive piggery".

[Palustris]

You don't need to be on an aeroplane to get that sort of treatment. The 'vegetarian' option ALWAYS contains cheese (for want of a better word!). Well, get this folks, some of us cannot eat cheese!

[Marymary]

What a globetrotter you are!

As a veggie I agree food on planes is usudally dreadful but then I think most of the food is anyway.  What really makes me cross is in restaurants when veggie food cost the same as large slabs of meat & you know that the cost of your ingredients is a fraction of the meat dishes.

[tim]

I love vegetarians - we have 3 - but do I find it quite difficult to do them justice when I'm cooking for 6 or 8 others. Especially, one has to make more than enough for the special one, rather than sharing a stew or other communal dish.

Mary - not me!!

[Tilia]

You don't need to be on an aeroplane to get that sort of treatment. The 'vegetarian' option ALWAYS contains cheese (for want of a better word!). Well, get this folks, some of us cannot eat cheese!

Funny, we were just talking about this. Tomatoes used to be my bugbear not cheese. When I was a veggie, if someone served me up a tin of chopped tomatoes in pasta with (maybe a bit of courgette in) one more time, I was about ready to scream!! I mean in restaurants of course. If you're going to someone's house for dinner you can't expect them to have much culinary knowledge of meat free food if they never cook it. But eating out in any shape or form (airlines included) there's really no excuse. Having worked in the industry I do know that many chefs are actively, and vocally, irritated by vegetarians. Why? I've never worked that out but I will warn you - they all use chicken stock even if they tell you it's veg stock! :o

[tim]

That's what makes it edible!!

PS I NEVER do - though sorely tempted at times. But one of the veggies has taste buds which will identify an extra grain of salt in a litre - sort of thing!

[Palustris]

Don't get me started on SALT in food, Tim. We went on to a salt reduced diet over 30 years ago when it first became public knowledge that too much salt was harmful. We can detect a grain of salt in a litre of gravy! Modern processed food is totally inedible to us after all this time.

[prink13]

I've been a Veggie since 1986, I have to say that things are getting better when you're out and about in restaurants or visiting freinds. I had a boyfriend once whose Mum would only serve me salad - when the rest of family had Sunday roast! And had a canalboat holiday in the late 80s where I had nothing but vaggie lasagne to eat for 7 evenings!
I personally feel the best veggie food is that which wasn't designed to be veggie, ie. cauliflower cheese, mushroom rissotto etc. rather than lentil and nut roast, or mixed pulses stew!

[Palustris]

Yes, but the first two, both contain CHEESE! Must agree that there seems little point in eating a vegetarian meal which is made to resemble the very thing you are trying to avoid!
By the way I am not a vegetarian, I just like vegetables!

[bennettsleg]

I have two veggie friends. One likes everyone to eat the same thing as her (even when she's the guest  :o). The other is so much an old-school lady that she didn't tell me she was a veggetarian (luckily that dinner party was tapas so plenty of veggie options) until we invited her round the next time, "came out" that she was a vegetarian and - get this - offered to bring her own dinner! A lovely offer but I was still surprised because I'd never come across this approach before.

It made me wonder how many times she'd either been served boring or inedible food while everyone else tucked into their meat-laden grub with gusto. If you invite someone round for dinner, you cook for them and try to be imaginative or buy an interesting ready-meal if time and/or skills don't stretch very far.

Chefs should know better because they have the skills (or ought to ;D).  Just because someone makes a choice not to have a particular food group does not mean that they should be ignored.  Would they continue in the same vein if a section of their customers were Jewish, Muslim, diabetic, on medication etc?

[Palustris]

And if you want a real laugh, we went to a Vegan recipe site. the first recipe we looked at, the first ingredient on the list?  "2lbs of best minced beef'

[triffid]

Palustris: hello! Just trying to work out which meals you meant ...

Yes, but the first two, both contain CHEESE!

cause you don't have to put cheese into mushroom risotto... in fact, that's the reason it's often too salty.  I leave a lump of parmesan for people to grate onto it if they want, but I love it without.
The way I cook it does contain other dairy produce (butter to start the mushrooms and onions off, which then coats the rice grains, plus cream if I'm feeling lavish) but good veg stock and white wine are the other principal ingredients. Fab comfort food!

[umshamrock]

vegetarians can eat cheese....VEGANS don't!

[Belinda]

Triffid - I think Palustris was referring to the veggie lasagne and the cauliflower cheese.

My other half is a Chef with nearly 40 years experience, but even he has struggled sometimes to cope with vegetarian customers in various establishments where he has worked. The main problem seems to be that 'vegetarian' can cover a wide variety of dietary needs, choices and fads. Some are true vegans, who eat absolutley nothing that has any connection with animals, others eat fish or chicken, some have other allergy problems which confuse matters and then there are the ones that order a specifically vegetarian, fully described dish from the menu, and then send it back because they don't like the main ingredient! - Why the devil did they order it in the first place then?

He eventually resorted to the tactic of having several dishes on the menu that were suitable for vegetarians, and on the odd occasion when someone asked if there was anything else available he asked them to give some suggestions - if he had the necessary ingredients and wasn't too busy with all the other customers then he would do his best.

[katynewbie]

 ::)

Ordered a vegetarian meal on a flight once. Tha airline was Egyptair (I like to have a little risk in my life) and when the meal came it was...

Banana Fritters

Nice as a pud, but as my main meal??????????

[mc55]

I gave up on airline food ages ago and now manage to sleep through all meals.  Air France once filled me with rage on the 2nd leg of a US trip home (Paris to Manchester) when they gave all their meaty passengers a meat (ham I think) sandwich but told me that the flight wasn't long enough for a vegetarian option ... left me absolutely speechless  :o

OH hates broccolli, which every pub meal seems to be filled with it - cheap, green and stores well ?

What really gets my goat (!) is when you go to a restaurant and there will be 12 different meat / fish options, but only 1 vegetarian option (and in some the starter and main course have been known to be the same thing, more often than I care to remeber actually) ... interesting that as a meat eater you are allowed to have likes and dislikes, but not as a vegetarian.

[saddad]

We have vegetarian friends and when they come round we all eat veggie, even the two teenage boys.... now you want to try eating out Lactose free.. Chefs in expensive restaurants can usually manage it... but everywhere else it is a nightmare... butter smothered veg to help keep them warm... good job I like plain boiled spuds!
 ;D

[angle shades]

the best airline food I've ever had was with American Airlines, I ate fully every meal I was given during the flight, in fact I was counting the minutes down to food time! :P it was labelled diabetic meal, which I'm not :P but it was good healthy grub. :)

the vegetarian options in the states were also brilliant.(North Carolina) lots of organic fresh produce in the supermarkets and restrants.

Belinda tell your hubby to ask his customers if they eat anything with a face ;D
you can't join the Vegetarian Society if you do ;D/shades x

[mc55]

AS, I can't believe that you found anything veggie in North Carolina, I've been to South Carolina a few times with work and find it almost impossible to find anything to eat in restaurants - I end up surviving on cakes and the odd vegetarian salad - mostly they are meaty salads  :(

[Emagggie]

We have vegetarian friends and when they come round we all eat veggie, even the two teenage boys.... now you want to try eating out Lactose free.. Chefs in expensive restaurants can usually manage it... but everywhere else it is a nightmare... butter smothered veg to help keep them warm... good job I like plain boiled spuds!
 ;D

Saddad I quite agree-even though there are substitutes for many dairy foods now,not many places use them it seems,though I did stay in an hotel at the NEC recently where there was a carton of soya milk on the cereal table. I find the 'Pure' spread acceptable,also Alpro yoghurt, cream and custard. Cheese is the only thing I really miss as the soya substitute is nasty. :-X