Spanish “vegetable” sandwiches. If the waiter is a tightfist, it contains hardboiled egg… if he’s generous, canned tuna and anchovies.
Most Spaniards don’t think of anchovies inside your olives or a sprinkle of tuna on the salad to count as “eating fish”.
The MickeyD’s in Spain also claim “100% vegetable oil” but only when their marketing guys are asleep at the wheel. That particular line is known to prompt mothers into exclaiming “yeah yeah vegetable, but what kind, eh? Bet it’s some coconut crap!” (one reason the adulterated colza oil only affected poor people is that anybody who earns enough for it uses sunflower, corn or olive oil for everything)
Jeez, it’s threads like this that make me glad I only have one food allergy (shellfish). Allergies are the worst. At least vegetarianism/veganism is a personal decision and accidentally eating something that has animal by-product won’t kill you. Luckily, my allergen is pretty easy to avoid; things like gluten and milk and peanuts are everywhere. Almost every package of artificial crabmeat contains real crabmeat. I never eat at Red Lobster or Long John Silver because I’m not willing to risk it. I couldn’t imagine not being an omnivore either. A good steak is the only thing that balances out not being able to have shellfish.
I’ve heard that Guinness isn’t vegetarian because some sort of fish-glue is used in the barrels or something to that effect. Sorry I can’t be more specific.
A vegetarian friend of mine asked the owner of a local Mexican restaurant if the refried beans were vegetarian…he said no, they are made with lard. She was VERY unhappy to hear it!
There is a brand of tapicoa bagels that isn’t bad - that’s about the only thing I’ve really been able to do. Soy/rice pizza crust isn’t bad. And GF pancakes are fine. But anytime anyone tries to pass off gluten free bread, not good.
I’ve made some OK GF bread from a mix of flours (I like millet - gives it a wheaty taste) but its OK at best and just not worth the bother unless I’m having soup or something else that requires a chunk of “bread.”
I just want to second this. YOU get to decide how to define vegetarian (I’ll laugh at you if it means “I don’t eat pork but beef is OK” - one of my acquaintences). There are plenty of part time vegetarians. There are plenty who don’t bother worrying about rennet or geletain. Others who don’t worry about chicken stock or beef stock - they just don’t want a big ol’ hunk o’ meat front and center on their plate.
I know vegetarians who decide to “purposely delude” themselves on some social occations (jello shots are not going to be made with vegetarian jello, but if you want to pretend that so we can all do jello shots, that’s cool. The diner is probably not frying your grilled cheese sandwich with anything other than real butter on a part of the grill that just held a burger - and isn’t using rennet free cheese - but there aren’t many things to eat in the greasy spoon.) That’s fine.
Going truly strictly vegan is HARD - some cities its a little easier than others. Going casual vegetarian is pretty easy if you have a hankering to try. And if you don’t - that isn’t an issue either.
(Once again, not a vegetarian myself - I’m a ‘not every one of my meals feature meat, I know vegetarians’ omnivore)
She shouldn’t have been, that’s the authentic way of making Mexican refried beans. You can cook them other ways, but… it’s just not the same.
Plenty of Americanized Mexican restaurants will make the beans without, but go to a place that’s making authentic food and you can bet there’s lard in the beans. Asking for clarification is one thing, but being “VERY unhappy to hear it!” is a little silly.
Yes McDonalds switched from lard to vegetable oils in its friers many years ago. However, what they failed to do, was remove the tallow from the fries (which they still refuse to do as they feel they will lose their loyal customers who wont like the flavor change of healthier fries).
I’ve been poking around on Google about the McDonald’s fries thing, since I seemed to remember that although they stopped frying them in beef tallow, they used “beef flavor” or “beef extract” in them still. Nearly everything I’ve found so far seems to relate to a 2001 lawsuit about it, but a more recent article indicates that it’s still a bit nebulous as to what’s in the fries. Link. This article is more concerned with the lack of disclosure about wheat and dairy in the fries–which the “beef flavor” is partly made of.
Marshmallows also have gelatin. Originally, they were made from marshmallow root and were vegetarian but the modern marshmallow isn’t (although you can get vegan ones made with agar and pectin). I’ve always wanted to try a real marshmallow but I hear they taste very different.
Right. People tend not to notice the reFRIED beans part of the name. Fried = fat, and very often animal fat, since it’s more shelf stable then even hydrogenated vegetable oils.
A traditional marshmallow, made with *Althea *extract and egg white, is pretty much like a merengue cookie. And it’s still not vegan, because it has eggwhite. I don’t know of a vegan marshmallow recipe, but I’d love to try it if you can find a link! I have plenty of dried marshmallow root in my medicine cabinet.
Well, I think she suspected, which is why she asked…but was still hoping to hear good news, since the beans are so good. (That right there should have given her the answer… )
Personally, not being a vegetarian myself, I think “what you don’t know won’t hurt you” is a good rule of thumb, but she doesn’t seem to agree!
ETA: Come to think of it, I have several examples of vegetarian friends who were surprised to come across a “vegetarian” dish that seemed too good to be true…only to find out that it was. Tofu soup at a Japanese place that was actually made with beef broth. No WONDER it was so tasty!
According to McDonalds.com, the FF (french fries! Get yer mind outta the gutter) ingredients are:
French Fries:
Potatoes, vegetable oil (partially hydrogenated soybean oil, natural beef flavor (wheat and milk derivatives)*, citric acid (preservative), dextrose, sodium acid pyrophosphate (maintain color), dimethylpolysiloxane (antifoaming agent)), salt. Prepared in vegetable oil ((may contain one of the following: Canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, partially hydrogenated corn oil with TBHQ and citric acid added to preserve freshness), dimethylpolysiloxane added as an antifoaming agent). *CONTAINS: WHEAT AND MILK (Natural beef flavor contains hydrolyzed wheat and hydrolyzed milk as starting ingredients.)
So this might mean that the natural beef flavor is vegetarian?
Probably - as gluten intolerant a lot of “beef flavor” is really wheat protein. Seitan (pulled gluten protein) is a common vegetarian meat substitute (i.e. “mock duck”). I tolerate small amounts of gluten - so french fries don’t bug me, but people with real wheat allergies don’t eat McDonalds fries - and even with my casual gluten intolerance I knew there were wheat products there.
I’m not sure why anyone keeping strict vegetarian would walk into McD’s though - the beef fat in the air walking by seems sufficient ingestion. Not to mention the whole McD’s philosophy doesn’t really seem a good match.
Speaking of gelatin popping up in the damndest places, matches are made with gelatin. Frickin’ matches. It binds the flammable chemicals to the stick. Sonofabitch.
Huh, I didn’t know traditional marshmallows had egg white. That must be what makes them fluffy. I bet that woudl be hard to duplicate in a vegan version although I’ve read you can find vegan modern marshmallows made with agar and pectin.
The local Whole Foods carries a handmade marshmallow (not vegetarian) that is really yummy and has a great texture. I’ll have to check to see if it has egg whites.
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