Veganism

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

I'm going to go ahead and steal that right now

Be my guest. I saw it on a bumper sticker. Also "I didn't claw my way to top of the food chain so I could eat veggies!"

[papa_smurf]

Just cook a Bacon butty the next time shes over - that will turn her form Veganism

[tater]

I love a good salad, but "raw" foods mean that opportunities to "cook" anything the least bit complex are rare (since they don't cook anything).

BTW, I think getting 1 in 100 vegan meals to even taste "decent" would be optimistic.

Vegetarian meals, OTOH, are an entirely different story.

[Betonov]

Originally Posted by tater

I love a good salad, but "raw" foods mean that opportunities to "cook" anything the least bit complex are rare (since they don't cook anything).

That you're right. I can never stand any vegetables that have been exposed to heat in any way except maybe light steaming. I love a good salad with some tomatoes, fresh lettuce, olives, spring onions and red redish.... but once you boil them it looks and tastes like something you took from a compost

And about the: it's a choice. Yes it is, no one has the right to tell them they shouldnt do it. But it works both ways and the vegans are outright abnoxius about trying to impose their views on us carnivores

[ETR3(SS)]

I've said it before and I'll say it again.

[tater]

I cook veggies almost exclusively with dry heat. Roasting does wonders. Drives off water, heats, and concentrates flavors.

Perhaps tossed with olive oil, and some salt. Simple, and good.

I guarantee my roasted broccoli is better tasting than ANY vegan broccoli preparation on earth (which apparently would be serving it raw with maybe something else raw on top).

Vegan spices? Lesse, they don't cook anything—vegans eat RAW food, right? Most spices require cooking to release flavors. Many Indian spices, for example actually taste BAD when un cooked. A few seconds in hot oil... awesome.

Veganism is crazy, IMO. I've never met a vegan who wasn't more than a little nutty. It's their CHOICE, but it is none the less true that virtually all I've met are kooks. BTW, how many strict carnivores have you met? Think they'd be nuts, too? How about people that only eat meat, and only eat it RAW. That would be the meat-eating version of a vegan. If the one idea is insane, so is the other.

[tater]

My bad, not all vegan do the only raw food thing.

So those that cook (the majority) are not entirely crazy. Still, the number that can actually cook well are few and far between.

We went to a dinner with Anthony Bourdain (Kitchen Confidential, Cook's Tour, etc) and after his talk he went around the room and sat at each table for a while (was not a huge gathering) and chatted. My wife asked him what the worst meal he'd ever had was. For TV shows he'd eaten some horrible stuff that makes you sick to think about. His answer? A vegan pot-luck in Berkeley. Worst meal on earth, and they knew they were serving a chef who disdains vegetarian food, so they did their very best to convert him.

[the_tyrant]

there is actually good vegetarian food
stuff like this:



with modern advance in chemistry it is completely possible to create "meat" out of materials derived from plants (like protean powder)

[Takeda Shingen]

I enjoy being a vegetarian; the diet does yield numerous health benefits, not the least of which has been my very healthy weight. You can cook all kinds of things that will make a vegan fat, and if someone is doing it, they might as well just eat the meat, because the effects on their body will be the same.

And no, I don't think that it is dumb. I regularly prepare and serve meat dishes for my guests if I know that they prefer it. I am not offended by having meat-based entrees waved under my nose, nor by the posting of cheeseburgers and what-not on the internet. I do find the objections of those that decry what I choose and do not choose to put in my body to be somewhat amusing, as I do not care if you choose to eat bacon three meals a day.

EDIT: Of course, all that being said, I also like Bourbon, Scotch and cigars (although I do not smoke them in the house now that I have children), so I suppose that we all pick our poison.