[Sca-cooks] Vegetarian & Vegans was Re: lethal drinks

[Antonia Calvo]

Barbara Benson wrote:

>We recently had a lovely new couple move in from out of Kingdom and
>they are both vegetarians. I had a very ... interesting ...
>conversation with one of them regarding feast. During that
>conversation she made it quite clear to me that as far as she was
>concerned the cook had an obligation to not only make sure that there
>were foods that vegetarians could eat but that I needed to make sure
>that I provided the appropriate dishes in the appropriate combinations
>so that vegetarians were provided with a complete protein.
>
>She went on to talk about serving beans with rice, but I had to make
>sure it was brown rice not white. And something like a Squash ravioli,
>but the pasta needed to be whole wheat ...
>
I think that's a complete load of rubbish.

For one thing, her ideas about nutrition are mistaken.  Vegetarians do 
not drop dead if they don't get "complete protein" in every meal.  They 
just need to eat a variety of foods overall to make sure they get all 
the essential amino acids.  That's from the International Vegetarians' 
Union http://www.ivu.org/faq/protein.html.

More importantly, you are there to provide a good and varied Medieval 
meal, not to pander to every theory of nutrition that people to come up 
with.


-- 
Antonia di Benedetto Calvo

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Habeo metrum - musicamque,
hominem meam. Expectat alium quid?
-Georgeus Gershwinus
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