My dad just started a vegan diet, and it's charmingly funny

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

…not because of the vegan part, he just is so amazed by this “new” trend and has never heard of anything like this before.

Speaking with him two days back: "Oh! Mom and I are trying this new diet! What’s it called…vego, vegulon, vegetarish…no, vegan! Have you heard of this?!"

Yes, dad, I have.

"No! It’s not just vegetarian! You don’t eat anything from an animal, not even CHEESE!"

Yeah, dad, I know what it entails.

"I mean, we started this, and we were in a restaurant the other night, and I saw they have vegetarian entrées! I’d never seen that before! When did that happen?"

Um…(only thinking, “since the 1980s, at the latest”)

"But I really like it! I thought I would hate it, but there’s some really good food! Have you ever tried squash acorn? Or black beans? Or hummus? Or…"

OK, I just gotta smile now. :smiley: Yes dad, I know there’s all sorts of damn tasty vegan food. And good on my dad! He’s lost a good deal of weight in the last year or two, and really started looking after his health. And going vegan (short term, at least) will probably help and continue this trend. But it’s just so funny to me that this is all completely new and unheard of to him. We’re from a city, not the hinterlands or the sticks. I called my brother and he’s heard exactly the same spiel. Just very cute that my dad is “suddenly” “discovering” something that has been around for decades.

…I did send him a recipe. Seems he bought a block of tofu, but has no idea how to prepare it. Sent him a basic tofu stir-fry recipe.

Good luck, dad! And good health! :wink:

2

The only proper way to prepare tofu is to put it in the garbage.

3

nah, tofu is only nasty when it’s trying to be something else. Tofu hotdogs, tofurkey, etc. Tofu on its own is a perfectly good food. It’s mild in flavor, picks up other flavors well, has a nice texture, very healthy. I love eating meat but still pick tofu once in a while just because it does has merit on its own - just rarely as a substitute food.

4

I’ve had tofu-as-tofu before, and I can’t stand the texture. It’s just a bland, weird cube of vaguely food-like matter.

5

heh, fair enough. You gave it an honest try and didn’t like it. I’m just a bit amused and pleased by my dad learning of it years after everyone else did :wink:

6

Dried tofu is great - sort of tofu jerky. My local Chinese supermarket sells it in little single serving snack packs, marinated in chilli oil and spices.

7

He bought tofu? Oh lord, there’s no saving him now. Well, at least he had a chance to enjoy food earlier in life. He may never get to again.

8

See, tofu has all kinds of textures. I can’t stand the stuff that comes in “juice box” (aseptic) packaging, as even the “firm” stuff is weirdly gelatinous, but the firm/extra firm type that comes in a tub of water is fine. Freeze and thaw it, and it becomes crumbly/chewy, nice for mixing into stuff like chili, stew, etc.

But yeah, I love your dad’s “wow!” attitude about something that’s not all that surprising - and good for him for working on his health and fitness!

9

Your dad is made of sterner stuff than I. I cannot imagine me without cheese, or eggs, or yogurt.

Charming is just the right word for how you’ve described it. Reading your OP made me smile.

Any time a person gains a new interest it’s similar, I think. There’s this whole world of stuff that you never gave a first thought to, much less a second one. Suddenly, because you’re looking for things you’re finding something new every day. It’s exciting.

10

I’m on a strict Vegan diet and it’s great.

Well, not super strict. I still eat cheese. Otherwise my cheeseburger’s just don’t taste the same.

11

Is your dad aware of how deep down the rabbit hole some vegans go? Particularly regarding things like honey, gelatin and beer filtered with animal products (more common than you think).

12

This is what Samuel Johnson said about cucumbers.

13

I don’t think gelatin is particularly far down the rabbit hole (heck, I know non-vegan vegetarians who don’t eat gelatin. I mean, it usually is made from animal bones, so I don’t think it’s really that controversial), but the other two really start getting into the complexities. There’s also stuff like white sugar, which is often filtered with bone char. As you say, it can get quite complicated.

14

I <3 cucumbers. :slight_smile:

15

Tofu has the texture of boogers. Nothing nice about it.

Blech.

16

I like tofu fried up and put in chili. It probably isn’t really healthy when you fry it, but its good. I like the crisp outside, soft inside.

Vegan is hard when you get to baked goods. Cake without eggs sucks. Cooking for vegans was one of my least favorite things. Vegetarian is easy and fun, but when you start limiting eggs and milk, you start getting really limited in what you can do and it gets boring fast.

17

So it’s like, the chicken of veggie foods?

18

Tofu is wonderful when it isn’t trying to be something else. Our favorite Thai place does a tofu krapow that is borderline transcendent.

19

Wait until he finds out that fresh figs are not considered by many to be vegan either and the philosophical reasons for that. Repeat testing that line of logic for every ingredient and it starts to be mentally exhausting.

http://www.veganfitness.net/viewtopic.php?t=7052

20

Tofu is a culinary blank slate. It almost can’t not try to be something else.