Actually so was I, but I brainfarted.
And to Melin: I have a book called Vegetarian Baby which I really like because it not only has recipes and such, but it has all kinds of charts and nutritional information on a food-by-food basis and on a nutrient-by-nutrient basis, so you can see what kinds of foods you can include to get what essential stuff into your kid. [charts like what has the most iron etc… (blackstrap molasses, spinach, broccoli, etc) ]
–
O p a l C a t
www.opalcat.com
The reason I brought the hostess thing into it, is becaused some of the guest did not know she was a vegetarian. And it’s right to say she wasn’t obligated to cook meat, but she chose to cook ‘specialty’ vegetarian entrees that she liked. She didn’t cook french fries or mashed taters, or even green beans. I, as well as a lot of other people, don’t enjoy veggies all that much. so i don’t think it would be a problem to fix corn or something similar. It’s not like she was just avoiding meat.
I think it would be perfectly appropriate to say ‘hey I’m vegetarian i would like to have a dinner of some specialty foods, would you be interested.’
I think you should make people aware when you are planning something unusual. there just isn’t enough vegetarians out there to consider your meal might be.
All this science, I don’t understand. It’s just my job 5 days a week-- Rocketman
Also, when i invite someone over, i invite them for a cook out, or fish fry , or something similar that gives the idea of what will be in store.
And in every formal invitation i’ve ever recieved (wedding dinner, gala’s) there as been a mention of what will be served and who to contact if it isn’t appropriate for you.
All this science, I don’t understand. It’s just my job 5 days a week-- Rocketman
Metroshane: I looked at your original post on the heinous veggie dinner that you (you poor delicate thing you ;)) had to endure, and you started out by saying:
So, it was sort of a business thing, right? Would you have refused to go if you knew you were not going to be served MEAT (or at least taters)?!? Like that was the main point of the visit - the MEAT? I thought you were there to hear about the start-up business proposal.
I don’t know where you are from, but where I come from, people are not so anal about food. It’s just one damned meal. I have been exposed to many foods from many different ethnicities. Either I don’t eat it (it has meat, or has something in it that turns my stomach) or I give it a try. Oh my gosh - will it kill you to give something (gasp!) new a try? You came there for another reason, anyway (the business proposal.) Unless the visit was agreed upon by you under duress, and you really didn’t want to go (but eating MEAT might have made it a little more tolerable) I don’t get what the big deal is.
A story: My family had been invited to my Grandmother’s for Thanksgiving several years back. She wasn’t feeling well enough to cook so my uncle invited us to his place for Thanksgiving dinner. His immediate family is primarily vegetarian (the exception being lox- “I’ll eat any meat that’s $20 a pound” is how he phrased it) so we were somewhat hesitant and assumed that they might accomodate us. Instead we got cold leek and potato soup and, for a main course, tofu shaped like a turkey. There was the same uncomfortable silence that Metroshane described. We ate enough to be polite, chatted after dinner, and then drove around til we found a pizza joint that was still open.
If you can’t understand why there was an uncomfortable silence, its because burting out “are you shitting me?” would’ve made the evening even more strained. I like some vegetarian dishes but these weren’t them. I have to agree with Metroshane- at least provide some dishes (mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, etc…) that are popular with non-vegetarians if you’re planning on entertaining.
If you still can’t understand, then read this: http://www.umass.edu/acco/projects/aesop/donati/donati_t1.html
Here in the Silicon Valley, vegetarians are more the rule than the exception. Every party or restaurant I go to has some sort of “vegetarian” selection consisting of meat-free dishes. I just have trouble seeing vegetarians as a downtrodden underclass, I guess. (And my vegephobia doesn’t help, of course.)
Quick-N-Dirty Aviation: Trading altitude for airspeed since 1992.
So, it was sort of a business thing, right? Would you have refused to go if you knew you were not going to be served MEAT (or at least taters)?!? Like that was the main point of the visit - the MEAT? I thought you were there to hear about the start-up business proposal.
Probably, but you can be damn sure I would’ve eaten first. Or at least had the option.
And next time she invites me for dinner, probably won’t go. call me names, but at least it’s my choice.
All this science, I don’t understand. It’s just my job 5 days a week-- Rocketman
Metro: Yep, that is your choice. You obviously weren’t all that hot to go to dinner anyway.
Tracer - I am sure the Silicon Valley is more veggie friendly, but I am getting the idea that metroshane’s neck of the woods is not. Or at least that people can comfortably go through their lives without having to be confronted with (gasp!) different foods. Oh my gosh - the horror.
The difference between a carnivore who only wants to be presented with foods that they are comfy with (preferably meat and potatoes) and a vegetarian, observant Jew, or anyone else who has strict dietary guidelines is that the carnivore actually can eat something different. They just don’t want to. And, that’s their right, of course.
I find that many veggies can be pretty flexible with what they will eat - as long as it has no meat in it. Meaning - they will try food that no one has ever heard of, foods from other countries, and foods that just seem oddball - as long as they are meatless, they are game. I know two sisters - one is vegan (no animal or dairy products) the other eats whatever she wants. Who is more picky? You guessed it, the carnivore. Picky extrordinaire. At least the vegan will settle for a baked potato (no butter or sour cream) at a restaurant without any whining.
In fact, the few picky eaters I know of have all been carnivores. There is no moral or religious (or health) reason why they abstain from certain foods, other than they don’t want to bother trying something new. Hey - it is your right to be picky - (even though I am sure you won’t acknowlege that you are picky, because you are surrounded by many other carnivores who feel the same way.) But I don’t exactly feel like you are a poor delicate thing that is being put upon, either.
Now this is plain silly. You go on to yammer some more that people that eat meat are just picky, and they should just get over it. While observing a kosher diet is a religiouse stricture, not eating meat is just being “picky”. Have you tried every type of meat cooked every way? I doubt it.
To say that someone that prefers to eat a meat-intensive diet picky is childish. If you read my earlier post, you say that I appologized for making the assumpsion that the other vegetarians posting wore leather etc. My next comments were about the party that Metroshane attended. While I wasn’t there, and don’t know the person, it seems to me that she went out of her way to show her “vegetarianism” to everyone. As many of you have pointed out, there are pleanty of tasty vegitable dishes that are more “mainstream” that she could have served. Not saying that it should have been the bulk of the meal, but a few side dishes that everyone could enjoy would have been appropriat(sp). You seem to have a double standard where this in concerned. You state that people that eat meat are picky, but your whole eating style is just a huge nit-pick. You’re picky about how the animals are raised, killed, processed. (shrug)So what?..I’m picky about tofu…It’s about the nastiest stuff I’ve ever tasted.
Now having said that, (and bracing myself for the response) can you see how offensive saying that really is?..I’m not picky, but as a host, a person should always include some “normal” (not meat) dishes that they can be pretty sure the majority of guests could enjoy.
“Love thine enemies…it really pisses them off.”
-Anon
To Serve Man!a new book by kok the gorilla.
Um, the vast majority of vegetarians are not veggie because they “don’t like” meat. For me, my vegetarianism is very closely tied in with my religious beliefs.
No one said that. Try reading it again. The point made was that most vegetarians are more experimental and willing to try new and strange foods than the average carnivore.
Actually the foods that were mentioned didn’t seem overly “vegetarian” so much as they seemed kind of fancy. Seems to me like she was trying to serve something “gourmet” and the plebian tastes of the invitees didn’t go for it. I’ve gone to plenty of events where the food was weird and creepy because it was too fancy–whether it had meat in it or not.
If you’re serving a hundred people, yeah… but I’ve never gone to a small dinner gathering where they prepared an assortment of contingency dishes. Most dinners don’t include more than 3 dishes anyway, and I’ve never seen anyone prepare an extra set in case the first didn’t go over.
I’ve been to plenty of dinners where all I could eat was a roll or something, or a salad. I just deal with it and move on with my life, you know? I don’t criticize the host for being “rude”.
–
O p a l C a t
www.opalcat.com
“Dinner” is not unusual. To the hostess, perhaps eggplant “trouffles,” whatever they are, are not unusual. Perhaps they are, and her intent was to dazzle you with her cooking skill by providing a delicious meal that you never would have considered making yourself. Whatever her reasons, you were invited over for a free meal, and you are complaining about what was served. The act of inviting you over for a free meal was not rude. The failure to provide a menu prior to your arrival was not rude. Your complaining and your “uncomfortable silence” are the only rude actions I can see.
Where the hell do you live? This is the most bizarre thing you’ve mentioned to date. I’ve been to probably thirty weddings in my life (no kidding!), and I can remember exactly one where there was a space to check on the response card if you wished to request a vegetarian entree. The bride later told me that it turned out to be a more popular request than she anticipated. Aside from company parties, where the restaurant provides several options but expects the company co-ordinator to poll the attendees prior to the event, I can’t remember ever being asked what I wanted to eat for a formal event, I was either served the same plate that everyone else was served, or we were all served family-style, or it was a buffet.
At the twenty-nine weddings where I wasn’t given an option, did I complain, or stare at my plate in astonished silence? Of course not. The bride’s family was gracious enough to include me in the celebration, so I simply ate what I could and left the rest.
From Atrael:
It seems to me that she went out of her way to show her cooking skills to everyone. This is exactly the same thing that I would think had she prepared blackened ahi with a roasted red pepper aoli, or a New York steak with a cracked pepper sauce, or fucking Kraft macaroni and cheese.
This is not bad advice. It is, however, possible to be a good host without following it.
This is a bit off-topic, but. . . I can understand disliking the texture of uncooked tofu, but if you objected to the taste chances are that it was not prepared well, because unseasoned tofu is some of the blandest stuff around. Of course, it’s certainly possible that you simply don’t like it, no matter how it’s prepared, and I don’t mean to imply that I know your tastes better than you do. You might want to give it a try at a well-respected vegetarian restaurant, though, if you haven’t already, since they generally have the best idea of how to prepare it.
But back on topic, and since this is the Pit. . . You get invited over for dinner, the hostess makes you a dinner that she probably hoped you’d think was a special treat, and you sit in silence when it’s served and you complain about it afterward. You people are boors.
Rich
Of course, i’m a ‘bore’. It’s the only thing original anymore.
by the way, I’m having a dinner, and serving shit sandwiches, everyone’s invited.
All this science, I don’t understand. It’s just my job 5 days a week-- Rocketman
“I love God! He’s so deliciously evil!” - Stewie Griffin, Family Guy
Actually, you sound interesting. You probably are. You’re probably a quite interesting boor (look it up).
Rich
I’m sorry, i believe after exhausting all my logical reasons for being offended, and being rebutted by insults, I had to resort to wilde(ish) banter. There is no right or wrong on this thread and the last several post have hinged on culture. I’ll admit i should be more open to knew things, but I don’t relent i was right in my emotions.
Instead of shit sandwichs, the menu has been changed to chocolate covered grasshoppers and bark with powdered sugar. Plenty of protien and perfectly p.c.
All this science, I don’t understand. It’s just my job 5 days a week-- Rocketman
I’m sure you expected this and are only stating it as a fact, not as a complaint, after making the OP in The BBQ Pit to begin with.
Rich
touche. I didn’t think it would turn into a great debate.
All this science, I don’t understand. It’s just my job 5 days a week-- Rocketman
A thread about vegetarianism not turn into a “great debate” (which is a euphemism for “flame war”) on the Straight Dope Message Board? You have much to learn, (chocolate-covered) grasshopper. 
Rich
metroshane, I’m still confused about your problem with the vegetarian hostess. Are you bothered by the fact that she didn’t serve meat, or by the fact that she didn’t serve something you had eaten before?
Would you have been upset if she’d served, say, pasta marinara? That’s one meatless dish which is extremely common, even among non-vegetarians.
How about Sloppy Joes? Those are about as mainstream as you can get, and they do contain meat. But I think I might generate an awkward silence if they were served at a business meal, because they’re so messy to eat. (It’s hard to look sincere and businesslike after spilling dinner down the front of your suit.)
Laugh hard; it’s a long way to the bank.