Vegetarianism

[HeyWayne]

If anyone's wavering this is likely to turn you:

Dancing squid bowl dish in Hakodate - YouTube

[HeyWayne]

On a more serious note - it's something I've considered on many occasion, but for a variety of reasons never really made the leap - I wore the V badge once when trying to woo a girl who'd made a "fashion" decision to be veggie. We never really lasted - though we're still friends...

[Glutton4...]

I like this thread, despite being a meat-eater. I have expressed an interest in vegetarian food before, on here, but was accused of being patronising, which I definitely wasn't trying to be. Can any of you 'experienced' Veggies point us in the direction of a Veggie-cooks Bible of any sort? With the winter months approaching, my gardening work will tail right off at times, and I will be able to spend more time in the kitchen, so I may as well put my time to good use, and I would like to be able to surprise Mr.G with something creative. Thanks in advance.

[OverWyreGrower]

I could be a veggie if I was told that I couldn't eat meat again! I couldn't ever be a vegan though, it would cut way too much out of my diet, and considering I can't stand the replacement 'milks' I doubt I'd like any of the alternatives.

I'm a fairly committed carnivore though, and I have slaughtered and prepared my own meat at home, as well as being present at some large animal slaughters in proper slaughter houses. I an a big believer in knowing exactly what happens to your food, and where it comes from. I don't believe in 'shielding' people from the reality that a pork chop/chicken breast/steak is part of a dead animal!

If we did phase out meat eating, I wonder what would become of our farms. There would be no cows or sheep or pigs etc in the fields - milk and wool are not cost effective enough to have as the only products from animals.

[VirginVegGrower]

If I buy butter it's British not NZ (to try and save UK jobs), and only organic milk (because the animals are treated better). I use soya milk at home (for my PMT , and it has more protein) and only really have dairy milk in my lattes, but we do have normal cheese in the house, not veggie cheese. I suspect dairy is responsible for my IBS, so I've all but cut it out.

It's funny because we use a dairy substitute in my daughter's diet - she had problems with lactose. When I was a late teenager - long time ago now - I used to detox on beetroot and carrot juice every weekend, no food, alcohol, only juices and water. Very disciplined back then and felt great.

I too also look for British wherever possible and we shop in the main at our local farm shops. We should all make more of an effort to support British goods.

[Helgalush]

I cook kind of Middle Eastern / Lebanese type of dishes, which use lots of veggies in different ways, with meat as a garnish. We have a lot of curries & soups too, which use a lot of veg (with a little meat for Himself)

It's a valuable book, if a little dense and hard going in places. I've never used farmyard manure (horse muck), I use the pet litter (parrots & guinea pigs) instead, and green manures. It can be done

I love middle eastern/lebanese/north african cooking too, TS. Yum. I am lucky to have a very good middle eastern restaurant nearby that actually does takeaway too, so if we fancy a treat we normally get a good mezze of things like hummous, baba ghanoush, stuffed vine leaves, spicy potatoes, lemony green beans, falafel, followed by (if there is room, which usually there isnt!) a vegetable tagine and rice. My favourite.

I know what you mean about the book - it is very dense. I find the factsheets on their website easier to use for quick reference. I know he has an open day at his farm quite soon, would be quite nice to go for a tour.

I like this thread, despite being a meat-eater. I have expressed an interest in vegetarian food before, on here, but was accused of being patronising, which I definitely wasn't trying to be. Can any of you 'experienced' Veggies point us in the direction of a Veggie-cooks Bible of any sort? With the winter months approaching, my gardening work will tail right off at times, and I will be able to spend more time in the kitchen, so I may as well put my time to good use, and I would like to be able to surprise Mr.G with something creative. Thanks in advance.

Its very hard for me to say just one book. I grew up with my mum's dairy cookbooks and the only vegetarian cookbook in the house was one full of nut roasts, rissoles and lentil loaf etc. My first veggie cookbook was Delia Smith's Vegetarian Collection - a lovely book but unfortunately full of cheese and eggy buttery dishes, which although tasty, I think is quite an unhealthy way to rely on for protein as a vegetarian.

I prefer to draw on lots of different cuisines for cooking, so I have indian/chinese/thai/japanese/middle eastern/ north african/east african/italian/greek cookbooks, which are either explicitly veggie or which just happen to have a lot of veggie meals in them, like this one which is one of my favourites.
Chefs like Simon Rimmer and Maria Elia have done some fancy veggie cookbooks which might be called "fusion" cooking, in that they bring different influences together. I know Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is bringing out a book that is purely vegetarian, think its just called Veg or something like that. He recently did an interesting interview in the last issue of Vegetarian Living (mainstream magazine, think its linked to GYO), and it sounds a good book.

If I had to pick just one book, it would be Leith's Vegetable Bible by Polly Tyrer. Its a fab book, really thick. It has hundreds (if not thousands) of different recipes, being over 500 pages, and all are grouped together by vegetable family.

I also really like this book for everyday home-cooked type meals, and also most of the books by Rose Elliott (a renowned vegetarian cook) are excellent (but the paperback ones dont tend to have any photos). I hear this one is particularly good but I don't have it.

My friend has this book - Ottolenghi's Plenty - and the photos look beautiful, although the recipes are definitely on the fancy and difficult side, from a quick glance. I guess it depends on your style of cooking and what you like to eat, but the three I recommend are Leith's, Rose Elliott and maybe Nicola Graimes, as good starting points.

Edited to Add: Just spoke to my other half and he said to also suggest this book as he said it contains his favourite lentil dahl and spiced rice recipe, as well as some other nice recipes.

I've deliberately left out any vegan cookbooks but I do know of quite a few that have lovely recipes/information in, if anyone wants a recommendation just shout but otherwise I will leave it there. I could talk all day, all sorry!

[chris]

I eat meat.

My wife was veggie when we met - but when she got pregnant she decided to eat decent meat. We don't eat a lot of meat, but any we do is decent in terms of welfare, etc. I'd guess 2-3 times a week max..

[shobhna]

My 2p worth:

I have been a vegetarian from birth. My family, going back many generations were all vegetarians too.
So for me it is not something I have chosen to do...thought I cannot ever see me eating meat or fish anyway.
The reasons for me are that I don't agree with any kind of killing to satisfy my hunger. I do not wish to be responsible for taking another soul, be it animal or fish. I was not put on this earth with a right to kill and take life..
This is my learning curve in to the meat eating world:
I never came across anyone eating meat as a child and I recall that even when I went to my friends (who were Muslims, Parsees, Africans, English, Sikhs etc..) I was never once presented with any food that contained meat. I believe in those days when I was growing up in Kenya, everyone know everyone and my friends Mums would have known that as a Gujarati and a Bhramin I would not eat meat...and would not ever put any meat or fish on my plate. In fact, I never even saw them eating meat when I went to their houses.
In fact I did not know that other people ate meat except that I had seen the Africans chase and kill chickens so had some idea that they ate meat and fish. I remember they used to dry fish in the sun. One of the enduring memories of Old Mombasa is the smell of fish...I can just smell it as I think of Old Mombasa now. :-)

When I came to the UK I was just over 15 years old and had still not cottoned on to the fact the Europeans ate meat....I must have been leading a very sheltered life. Imagine my problem when I went out on a date with an English man. I had read that it was the height of good manners to allow the man to order the dinner. So I happily allowed Alan to order my dinner for me. We were at Pru Leith's restaurant in London !! He ordered crown roast (this bit of meat with sticky out bones and little chefs hats on each sticky out bone...) I ate some, promptly retired to the ladies and spent the next 2 hours throwing up.
That is when I learnt that people other then Africans ate meat!!!!!!! and that what I had just tried to eat was meat.

I learnt fast after that. :-)
My first husband did not become vegetarian but he never had any issues with me cooking 2 different dinners.
I recall once, trying to be the thrifty house wife, I decided to make steak and kidney pies for him. I got the frozen bits of steak and kidney, followed the recipe and OMG !!!!! the stench of pee was something I could not get out of my nose for years. That was the last time I cooked anything of that sort for him.

I have been known to put on the marigolds if I have had to handle meat. Even in my second marriage, I did not have any problems with cooking 2 different meals....just that I would not ever eat the meat I had cooked for him.

As kids we used to say that meat eaters smellt odd and I still maintain that. When my ex. was with me (as in not my ex.) whenever he ate red meat, he had the most peculiar smell coming off him. I'd rather someone smelt of garlic then that smell.

Rambling aside.........I know that I will never ever eat meat or fish or as I usually say..."I don't eat anything that blinks or breaths."
This year I am having Christmas at home, will celebrate Diwali and Christmas at the same time and I know that there will be nothing 'dead' on my dinner table. :-)

I have cooked meat before for both my Ex.s but I know that if I was to have a partner in my life then fish and flesh would not be something I'd be happy to bring into my home.

Why am I a vegetarian....because I don't want to kill anything. It's called Ahimsa and I am a Bhramin Brahmin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ahimsa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[OverWyreGrower]

P.S. Just to say - this is a really interesting thread

[Glutton4...]

My 2p worth:

I have been a vegetarian from birth. ...

Why am I a vegetarian....because I don't want to kill anything. It's called Ahimsa and I am a Bhramin Brahmin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ahimsa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thank you for posting; that was a really interesting read.

[zazen999]

G4 - most of my cook books are meaty - I just adapt them. But then again, it's been 27 years so I am well practiced in different ways of cooking veg...

[OverWyreGrower]

It would be easier for me to be veggie if Mr OWG would actually eat vegetables *sigh*

[Aberdeenplotter]

I'm a meat eater for the best of reasons. I like it. I also like eggs and fish and veg and fruit. Can't be doing with any sort of meat oozing blood though. It has to be properly cooked. Once returned a steak in France which came to the table barely seared. Bien Cuille a la centre s'il vous plais was what I said although I've probably spelled it wrongly here. Waiter looked at me as though I was daft.

[Shadylane]

However, us meat-eaters do have a tendency to treat vegetables as an 'also ran' whereas Vegetarians, in my humble opinion, put far more time and effort into their veg preparation.

A friend of mine who comes up to stay from London is a vegetarian (used to be quite annoying with it too, basically tried to tell you you were wrong, until I told him to pack it in) and I always make an effort and cook something nice, whereas when we go down there, all we get is pizza and cheese straws I once asked his then wife what sort of meals they had as I was interested and looking for inspiration. She told me that they usually have a meat substitute (you know, pretend sausage, or pretend chicken) or risotto, or....er...risotto er..... It explained the cheese straws.

I try to cook us three veggie meals a week, but we're both big meat fans. I think most meat eaters (including ourselves) could cut down a bit. The way we (as a society) eat meat isn't sustainable but I would never give it up entirely and have no intention of feeling guilty about that either.

[Hilary B]

I could happily treat meat as 'garnish' or 'seasoning', but I wouldn't try to go wihout. I don't intend to be a vegan and IMO non-vegan vegetarians (if it's on 'moral' grounds) are slightly missing the point. Milk and eggs don't get produced without some animals being killed.
I also don't want to rely on highly-processed and/or imported vege-protein foods (it bothers me that so much meat is produced by feeding imported vege-protein to livestock).
IMO sustainable eating means small amounts of meat, some dairy, and a lot of fresh fruit-and veg, plus a balancing proportion of grains and pulses.
My OH is a carnivore. He will eat meat-free meals, but not often, and it's not easy to keep him content with meat-light main meals. I have got him eating veg, but he still expects at least twice the meat-content I would be happy with (and the amount I would LIKE is still a lot more than my 'sustainable target').
There is plenty of land in the UK that is best suited to rearing livestock rather than crops, and the use of animal manure for fertilizer is more sustainable than stuff that comes from chemical factories, so no, I don't think world-wide veganism is coming soon. The balance that fed my ancestors 300 odd years ago would be good for me, good for the planet, and good for the animals that help produce it!