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

[Kirrily Robert]

Phlip wrote:
> 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

I'm not a vegetarian, but I have catered for a lot of them and talked to
several about SCA feasts, and here's what they tell me:

- they want at least one protein, one starch, and two side vegetables
  each course
- if the protein is something the meat-eaters are having as a side dish
  (eg an eggy tart) they would like to be given extra, so that the
  meat-eaters don't grab it all, and so they don't feel like it's a side
  dish.
- they want stuff that is well flavoured.  Many SCA side dishes are less
  flavoured than the mains.  Think of the situation of roast beef with
  some strongish sauce, with a potage of cabbage, something rice-like,
  and a quichey thing.  The vegetarian will get three mild-flavoured
  dishes, which can get bland pretty quickly.  Stuff doesn't have to be
  *strongly* flavoured, but it does have to have *distinctive*
  flavours.
- ditto for texture.  Sure, many period veg dishes are "slop", but it's
  nice to have some variety if you can manage it.  Crunchy, chewy,
  smooth, grainy... whatever.
- the old traditional vegetable dishes get REALLY OLD, REALLY FAST.
  This includes "rice with bits", "brown lentil glop", "armored
  turnips", "green salad", and "cabbage soup".
- something seems more like a "main" dish if it is not glop.  Things
  that have a distinct shape, and where one or two of those distinct
  shaped things are your serving, seems like a main dish.  See the
  distinction between the omelet and mac and cheese, below.  Other
  examples of "main"-seeming dishes: pies, tarts, patties.  Try to make
  some of your vegetarian protein dishes in these shapes, for variety.

> 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.

- they want the protein/starch/side-veg/dessert dishes to be spread
  through the feast, so they don't find themselves having a course where
  all they get is starch (my allergic-to-meat friend once had a feast
  where all she got for one course was boiled rice and boiled barley,
  both under-flavoured)
- they want their plate to seem full when their fellow diners' plates
  are full.  If the meat comes out first, and they're sitting waiting
  for something to eat, they get antsy.  Also, if veg dishes come out in
  dribs and drabs they'll only ever have a small bit of something on
  their plate, which doesn't seem like a meal to them, it seems like a
  series of tastes.

> 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.

Yup, this is the meal-vs-feast thing.  I think a PBJ is a perfectly good
lunch if I'm lazing around the house, I expect more when I sit down in a
hall with candles and stuff.

> 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.

Except that you would need separate oil to fry it.  But I think the
vegetarians would think it was pretty cool, if well done :)

> 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. 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.

Yup, but if you can't find enough period recipes to cover it, most
vegetarians would prefer a TVP dish than nothing.

I forget what the quantities are, but isn't 1/2 a pound of meat per
person usually quoted as the working figure for catering?  Well,
vegetarians want 1/2 a pound of protein too, preferably not just as a
single bowl of brown glop :)  Whether you do that with period recipes or
by substituting TVP into period recipes is a personal choice of the
cook.  Me, I wouldn't do it all the time, but I might occasionally do a
small batch of a dish with TVP for the vegetarians if I thought it would
be a close match for the particular dish.  Like, not roast beef, but if
it were little meat-and-fruit pastries, then it might be an OK
substitution.  For me.  Make your own choices, of course.

> 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.

OK, reminder: fish is *not* a vegetable.  Some people who don't eat
mammals and birds do eat fish, but they are not in the majority.  You
should be trying to provide protein from eggs, dairy, nuts, and pulses.

Yours,

Katherine

--
Lady Katherine Rowberd (mka Kirrily "Skud" Robert)
katherine at infotrope.net  http://infotrope.net/sca/
Caldrithig, Skraeling Althing, Ealdormere
"The rose is red, the leaves are grene, God save Elizabeth our Queene"