Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I became a vegan at sixty-one (I'm 61 and 1/2) out of sheer curiosity and a desire to reduce my negative impact on Mother Earth. I wanted to know what my childrens' friends were experiencing, what was piquing the interest of some respected authors and artists, what the Skinny Bitches of the world knew that I didn't, and, most of all, how one could cook well on a vegan regime. I've been having a ball with it! There are some anxious moments in the kitchen, since almost every meal is a wild experiment. And, I'll admit, traveling can be a hungry experience. Nevertheless, I'm not interested in going back to my carnivorous ways.

It's interesting to encounter the assumptions my acquaintances make about veganism: they seem to assume that I've got a moral stake in it somewhere, that I've gone uber-Buddhist, that I feel superior. They have trouble understanding that I might simply be exercising an option. They say it is good for the functioning and longevity of our cognition to learn new things in our senior years; since I spend a lot of time in the kitchen, I wondered how I might turn that time into a real challenge. I think I've found a way I can feel good about.

I'm blogging about it with what passes for dry Southern wit and shots at seasoned wisdom at http://www.maturelandscaping.com. Am I the only senior nouveau vegan extant?

I've been following Mark Bittman "vegan after dinnertime" idea for three months, now, and I've discovered a whole new world of possibilities. If anything, it has expanded rather than shrinked my cooking landscape. Having said that, I have found that vegetarian recipes in cookbooks or magazines, are, very often, based on cheese and eggs, which make them vegan unfriendly (as if editors thought all non meat eaters were created equal). While these I'm considering on going vegetarian, I certainly would miss the traditions (both family and cultural ones) that sorround the foods I've grown up to love.

Also, I can't avoid mentioning that I have several vegetarian friends and acquaintances. As for moral choices, I know a couple of them who have cheated on their respective partners, so I would say that eating or not eating meat definitely is not the only moral standard and should not be viewed as such.

@peekpoke - As far as the "sinners" thing goes, I sincerely doubt any of the vegans or vegetarians attracted to sites like SE go into hysterics at the sight of hamburger. I haven't yet been elected vegan spokesperson, but I can't say that I've ever been offended by talk of bacon (though the fad annoys me a bit, as does the cupcake fad, especially when we get into bacon cupcakes, but that's a different issue) or butter or cheddar or any of the things I don't eat. I also am fine when dining companions order cheeseburgers, or when my roommates fill the fridge with milk and meat. I am much more horrified when I see someone using pancake syrup instead of Grade B maple!

If I'm offended by anything, it's being called (by proxy) tasteless, a douche bag, an idiot or a hypocrite in threads where vegan food comes up.

I'm not asking that vegan food be celebrated to the detriment of nonvegan food (nonvegan food is quite tasty - I didn't stop eating cheese because I dislike it), simply that ALL delicious food deserves equal celebration, and that vegan recipes shouldn't immediately be dismissed as somehow lesser than any and all recipes containing meat, eggs or dairy.

Maybe a better analogy: can you call yourself a fashion lover if you refuse to buy clothes made in sweat shops?

That might be just as controversial a question, though.

@TimMoore: Would you claim that someone can declare themselves to be a music lover if they classify 75% of the worlds music as misogynistic or homophobic? Perhaps, but one with a narrow scope.

(keep in mind key ingredients like fish sauce and, dashi, and cooking styles like Chinese restaurant wok cooking where EVERYTHING touches meat products, or the scarcity of vegan desserts before you jump on my 75% number)

As long as you pay the tab, I could care less what you order.
It's all money to me.

@BBQdude - I don't know, vegan food is very diverse and really the only thing hard to replicate is straight up meat. If you want a steak on a plate then vegetarianism can't really replicate that. Although I have made some seitan ribs that were pretty good and I used in a sandwich. I never ate much egg or cooked with much egg but really the only thing I can think of that can't be replicated (or is difficult to do so) is meringue which is something I never liked anyway.

There was also an interesting blog not too long ago that recreated Anthony Bourdain recipes but with all vegan ingredients. The people that did the recipes were quite creative, much more than myself. I don't know much about food science but in order to replicate textures, tastes, etc, it does take quite a bit of knowledge and I salute those that do it.

sailordave,

I think your analogy is close, but not quite right. I think being a vegetarian foodie is like being a music lover who doesn't like stringed instruments. Any of 'em. Being a foodie vegan is like being a music lover, but not liking stringed instruments, wind instruments, brass instruments or percussion. I guess a cappella music is nice... but it's hard to understand a music lover who dismisses all those other wonderful sounds.

5 days a week we eat a basically vegetarian diet. But there's simply no way I could give up the magical food-binding, sauce-emulsifying power of the egg. To those of us who will eat basically anything, veganism can seem a little empty. And extremely hard to understand.

But good luck to you vegan foodies! I may not understand you, but I wish you all well!

@lyricanji, there's no set-in-stone definition of foodie. If someone ate nothing but rocks and vitamin pills, they could call themselves a foodie if they wanted to.

And seriously, if someone ate only animal products, chances are they'd end up with health issues that would make the foodie definition the least of their worries.

What about someone who has gluten intolerance and doesn't eat wheat, but works at a bakery and makes and sells beautiful breads and cakes? Is that person not a baker?

Some people call themselves foodies because they eat at restaurants and enjoy the food. Some people call themselves foodies because they cook wonderful things. Some people lack the means to eat out or to cook fantastic things, but they consider themselves foodies because they read food magazines and study ethnic cuisines.

And some people eat and cook and read and enjoy, but hate the foodie label. What difference does it make what other people eat or how they label themselves?

@misha! I have been reading down this very long thread and was thinking about Christina Pierillo. My daughter took a cooking class with her and bought her cookbooks home with her when she moved back home. I was skeptical when she started preparing her microbiotic dishes. I am a confirmed meat eater (and food snob) and I LOVED the dishes that my daughter cranked out. When she gets those cookbooks out I know that I am going to love it. I'm an easy 'crossover' eater.

Now on my soapbox- "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" - stepping down.

My music analogy was supposed to be funny and only somewhat appropriate, but i'm glad it has got a few people thinking.

I'm cool with vegetarians and vegans, many of my friends follow those diets. I myself was vegetarian for awhile. I don't want to knock anyone on what they choose to eat (well, scratch that, i can rail all day against corporate fast food and all that but let's save that for later.) My point however is this: while I agree that you could cook for several lifetimes and create mind-blowing food without ever touching an animal product, I only have one lifetime to play out and when it comes to food, my expanding knowledge of cooking and developing a palate? I WANT IT ALL. If you don't want it all for whatever reason, it's all good, but I do. I'm just sayin'.

I love food. I love eating. I look cooking. I'm vegetarian. No one can tell me that I don't love those things.

+2 for @dbcurrie's "I fail to see why people get so upset about what other people choose to eat or not eat. Big deal. Eat what you want, let me eat what I want, and leave it at that."

@KarynMC, nice piece. Good to see everyone thinking so hard on a Friday.