Living as a vegetarian

Back in the early 90s there was a fraction of the vegetarian-friendly food on offer in supermarkets than there is now. I can't recall there being a meat-free section until possibly late 90s (if not later), so I used to buy stuff that I knew would be acceptable (or so I hoped; one can never be too sure) and cooked pasta and rice and the like. Some cheeses are not suitable for vegetarians for they contain rennet, which comes from animal stomachs.

Back then, labelling food as suitable for vegetarians wasn't in existence. Slowly, as more people chose to become vegetarian and supermarkets wanted their custom, products were labelled as appropriate, as they do for nut allergies nowadays; but that information comes as a warning, lest someone dies and the family decide to sue. Tesco even used to label things which to the untrained eye one might assume to be vegetarian friendly. I remember some of their ice creams were labelled as suitable for vegetarians, and others as “Not suitable for vegetarians”. Only a few years ago did they label their cheese and onion flavour crisps as not suitable for vegetarians, later to change the recipe so they were suitable. One could argue that the UK lead the field in this labelling food business; try finding food labelled as vegetarian friendly in Spain, for example.

One bane of the vegetarian is always eating out or going to friends' soirées. In my experience, you seldom have a choice when eating in a restaurant or a pub. Well, you do: eat the supposed vegetarian dish or don't. Such dishes may not be suitable for strict vegetarians too: is the cheese rennet free? Is the dish cooked separately from the meat? If cooked in oil, has meat been cooked in the same oil; are the utensils used also to handle meat? The vegetarian option is usually bland and expensive for what it is. Fast food outlets too on the whole don't offer much in the way for non-meat eaters. I went to a dinner party a few months ago and my friend (the host) forgot to inform his wife that I was a vegetarian, even after I had asked him if he had reminded her. Never mind; such things happen. I had to 'make do' with some hurriedly-cooked veg (as most of the vegetables were in a stew) and a few others things salvaged from a cupboard or two. It was quite nice for what it was, but one can't help feeling a nuisance; that the evening would have gone more smoothly if we all ate meat.

Before I finish this section, let me just mention a stereotype about vegetarians. The number of people who assume that vegetarians eat fish (and perhaps chicken too) is very high. I often used to get asked if i ate fish (once I was offered a meal and when I explained I didn't eat meat, the suggestion was to “pick the meat out,” as if that would render the dish suitable). I was a very strict vegetarian: checking to see if things contained E120 (cochineal; basically crushed insects); was the cheese suitable; enquiring if it was cooked with meat. As a result, I avoided eating certain foods which on the surface could be vegetarian friendly, but isn't labelled as such (as Cadbury's chocolate wasn't until fairly recently).

The beginning and the end of vegetarianism?

For the first time in nearly twenty years, I recently knowingly ate some meat. Before I explain what lead up to this, let me explain how I decided to become a vegetarian:

When I was a teenager I ate typical teenager foodstuff: sausages, burgers, breaded turkey, etc. I remember that I never really enjoyed more 'adult' food such as joints/cuts of lamb, pork or beef. Other meat produce I can remember enjoying were sliced ham, bacon (does any meat-eater not like bacon?), fish cakes, fish fingers and pork pies (but I never did like the jelly therein). I don't believe I've ever eaten game, prawns, most fish (I had cod and whatever chip shops sold as fish back then), steak or any esoteric/unusual meat.

My meat intake, though probably fairly typical for an omnivore teenager, was somewhat limited in its palette. I can remember the last meat I ate was some breaded turkey around a friend's house. I ate it all, but I didn't enjoy it. My relationship with meat had ended: when I went home I announced that I wasn't going to eat any more meat.

Looking back, the reason for not eating meat was mostly because I didn't enjoy the taste of it. Only years later when I was more educated about how certain meats are processed and animals treated, did my conscious decision evolve to focus more on this side of things. I cannot remember if back in the early days I was as stringent as I later became apropos checking if my proposed meal had any connection with meat at all.

More in my next entry.

So it begins...

As I don't really use Facebook, MSN Messenger et al. much now, whenever I see folk I know online, they always ask how I'm doing, etc. So, I've started this blog. This is also intended to get me to write more, as I used to write quite a lot, but have done less so in the last few years. This isn't going to be a mundane day-by-day blog of what I had for breakfast; what I did today. I'll be writing about things I enjoy; things I have seen; memories... Think of it as an online notebook. Perhaps.