[Sca-cooks] Vegetarian politics aside.....

[Phil Troy/ G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Also sprach Phlip:
>I still want an answer to my question to our vegetarians.
>
>What foods, for the time being, make you feel like you're having a meal as
>satisfying as the steak next door? I honestly don't know- I suspect it's
>rather subjective- for example, I will consider an omelet as a main dish,
>but in my mind, macaroni and cheese is strictly a side dish, and pizza is an
>appetizer.

Subjective it is. For example, my reaction to the above is to say, an
omelette _is_ a main dish, macaroni and cheese might appear a side
dish because it's a Southern thing (and I wouldn't understand ;-)  ),
but that pizza is an appetizer when Neapolitans say it is, which they
haven't done, yet, AFAIK. Generally it is a lunch or snack food,
accompanied by a salad or, in some cases, an egg, if not eaten
straight up. I guess it is sufficiently light (or could be) to
warrant small pieces as a first course, but I'd consider it more an
entree than an adjunct.

>I'm perfectly happy with an eggplant lasagna as a main dish (I dislike
>vegetarianism, not either vegetarians or vegetables), and I can cheerfully
>make a meal out of a number of "appetizers" as in tapas, dim sum, or sushi
>(but not pizza ;-). I will be quite satisfied over a lunch of a pbj and
>perhaps a bit of fruit.
>
>I did, however, have an idea for a modern "illusion food" for those who
>would like their plate to look like that of the person next to them- how
>about battering and deep frying a brocolli spear? I think, with a little
>playing, you could have it come out looking pretty much like a chicken leg.
>If thet're doing battered fried chicken, it wouldn't be much trouble to add
>in some broccoli spears.

Mushrooms on sticks, maybe asparagus spears with a wad of grated
cheese mixed with egg to fatten the end before coating, there are a
lot of ways this could work. But the question that remains is, what
are we trying to accomplish? Are we trying to make vegetarians
imagine they're eating meat (I assume not, in most cases), or to make
them feel they're not missing out on something? If the latter is the
case, it opens up more possibilities.

>Thinking, though, that Kirsten's suggestion of subbing in tofu in dishes
>which require bits of beast, would not be a solution I'm happy with.

Firstly, very few cooks I've met are really good at pulling this kind
of thing off. Secondly, it can be seen (rightly or wrongly) as
sending a sort of, I don't want to eat meat, but I do want to tear it
with my canine teeth and feel its hot, bloody juices gush down my
ecstatic throat, message. Or something like that. There are people
that feel that way, actually, and that's fine, but (thirdly) I don't
think it's an especially period attitude about not eating meat.

>  While I
>respect projects such as cousin Phillipa's efforts to create modified
>recipes, to accomodate various food issues (btw, how's that coming, cuz?
>Haven't heard much from you on it.) it's not my idea of recreating Medieval
>food. My goal is to try to recreate what they actually ate, rather than to
>change it to suit myself. I much prefer Cariadoc's suggestion, to simply
>choose recipes which suit your various food issues.

In fairness, that was, as I understand it, the original point of this
thread: to find period recipes that fit the stated criteria of
substantial, Elizabethan-era meatless dishes that don't contain a lot
of sugar or fruit, or which would fit these stated criteria with
minimal tweaking. The short, depressing answer is that there are
probably relatively few such recipes. My problem with the idea that
Elizabethan food is too sweet, and that therefore it should be toned
down, is that you eventually reach the point where you're in a sort
of denial about the cuisine itself. These people generally could, and
did, obtain sugar more easily than their grandparents could, and did,
and it both shows in their cookery and was often supported by the
prevailing medical theory of the time. At what point in omitting or
limiting it to suit a modern person's taste does it stop being
Elizabethan-era cookery, and become 21st-century cookery?

>So, tell me, vegetarians, what suits you as a main dish? We'll take a fish
>entree as a given, but a tofu imitation meat dish is out- I want to try to
>get a better idea of the truly vegetarian foods that give you the mouth feel
>and the belly fullness type of satisfaction that you (probably) used to have
>with a meat-based entree.

Let me see if my omnivorous self can grasp this. Are we talking about
eliminating from the proposed solution (for the moment) all the
standard Asian meat subs, like dow fu, gluten, and tempeh, and
including grains, firm/meatlike vegetables such as mushrooms, and
bean dishes? Cheese, eggs and milk allowed for non-vegans...

The first thing that comes to mind would be puddings stuffed in
parchment paper or cloth instead of animal casings, like some of the
English bread-crumb-and-cream versions of haggis, some of which start
to appear in writing, IIRC, in the seventeenth century. The precedent
for not using animal casings can be found both in period and
modernly, even for haggis.

Adamantius