Is it still relevant? Yes! I just had a conversation with someone asking about my vegetarian ways last week. The topic seems to come up often when meeting new people and this article exactly hits all the questions I get asked and all my usual responses. Of course I know bacon tastes good! Yes, sometimes I miss it. But no, I'm not going to cave just for a piece of bacon.
Cheesecake. And tiramisu. And pumpkin pie. And chocolate mint ice cream. And....
Making a huge pot of sauce and freezing it so I can use it whenever I need to.
chocolate malt ball egg thingys :P
The last one I got a few weeks ago said "Accept the next proposal you receive." Talk about taking a risk...
myself via cookbooks and internet
What a great article. Thanks so much for posting this. I've been a vegetarian for most of my adult life. The aggressive distain of some meat-eaters frustrates and saddens me, but no more so than the presumption of moral superiority of some vegetarians. I'm with you, fascfoo.
As many know, it's not that meat doesn't taste good, it's that it's FLESH. Some people are not into eating FLESH, considering it a revolting practice. Human flesh is supposedly divine when it's roasted up, why aren't we eating that? It's just exactly the same thing. Tastebuds are very easily entertained by flavor - all junk food being a case in point. And how then, can vegetarians not judge meat-eaters? Respect and unconditional love over-rides judgement among the educated.
As Wunami's comment clearly illustrates, yes, this topic is still VERY relevant.
I'm an omnivore (tried the veggie thing for awhile - it didn't work out), and there are an unbelievable amount of meat eaters out there who think that the mere existence of vegetarianism as some sort personal affront to their way of life. It's annoying as all hell. There are meat-eaters who are fine with vegetarians and vice versa. The more middle ground there is, the more we can get rid of the assholes on the extreme ends of both groups.
sloppy, unfortunately the *sshole comments are not abnormal. This is actually a very civilized discussion here with a lot of respect.
And Gordon Ramsey is well known for his disdain of vegetarians (as is Bourdain) and has taken great pleasure in tricking vegetarians into consuming animal products. What I don't get is he donates money for the domestic abuse as his mother was battered but doesn't understand how disrespectful, controlling, deceptive and abusive his own actions are.
But GR is hardly the only one. There's tales all over the net of meat eaters taking glee over having put one over on vegetarians. And then there are the ones who write into advice columns for help on how to turn their girlfriends to meat and ideas on how to sneak meat in so she'll find out how much she really does like it.
Other advice column questions regard how selfish brides are who would even consider not serving meat for their guests and the evil vegan bosses who will be throwing an office party that won't have meat in the spread which can possibly be anything but a nightmare and are they still obligated to go...?
Heck, there was even the Miss Manners question from the couple who were so upset to find out via the church gossip the couple whose company they so enjoyed a few weeks prior were ::whisper, whisper:: VEGANS! Which meant they'd been tricked into eating vegan cake and they don't like soy!
I don't eat beef, lamb or pork but I do eat chicken, turkey and fish. I have my own reasons for my eating choices and I never expect anyone to understand them nor do I ever judge anyone else for eating those animals. My immediate family took some time to "get it" but when I visit they always have a chicken or fish option which I appreciate. I am also appreciative when others make an effort to do the same but I would never expect anyone to go out of their way and am happy to eat sides when the main course doesn't appeal. What I'm trying to say is that no matter what anyone chooses to eat, a mutual respect is always the best way to go.
Excellent article and, as someone who has never eaten meat, I agree with pretty much everything in it except that I don't know bacon tastes good, only that it smells good. I love the closing paragraph too. Classic.
Hopefully the couple of *sshole comments that were made on this thread were in jest. If not, they go a long way in proving his point (if wunami is serious he/she must be absolutely insufferable as I can only imagine the other ways that selfishness and spite could manifest itself).
Touché! I guess I never realized that people waste so much time caring about what other people eat. I still think Clarke is a little on the bitter side, though. It seems as though he's generalizing non-vegetarians but I suppose he's trying to make a point.
I've been vegetarian since I was 2. I got violently ill and ended up in the hospital with dehydration 3 times. The first time, my parents thought they had undercooked something and gave me food poisoning. After the third time, they told me I didn't have to eat anything I didn't want to. I haven't purposefully had meat since then. I'm not vegan...I would die without butter and cheese. When my husband and I were dating, he and one of my friends slipped a small piece of chicken into something I was eating when I was out of the room. I immedietely got sick. Yeah, I still married him. I hate that people willfully try to sneak meat into my food. I respect your decison to eat meat. It shouldn't be that hard for you to respect my decision not to.
Wow wumami, that's some serious passive-aggressiveness that's actually downright abusive and shows a need to have control over others. It's not just disrespectful but tells people you aren't someone to trust at all.
There are better goals to have in life.
My secret goal is to trick vegetarians into eating meat without knowing it. So I guess vegetarians should probably never eat anything that I make, just in case I stuck some meat in.
Subscribe to our RSS Feeds:
All of Serious Eats, Required Eating, Videos, Eating Out, Recipes, Talk
Subscribe by email:
Website:
Location: West Hollywood, CA
About:
Favorite foods:
Last bite on earth: