Good Food and Veganism

So here is the thing, I have friends who are more or less vegetarians. I have some friends who are vegan or some degree of vegans but most of them are usually vegetarians but will occassionally eat fish. There is also Sanjay who would eat steak if he were ever in a situation where good enough meat was offered.

I respect all of these decisions, as long as people aren't mdicks about the fact that I am not a vegetarian. Eat whatever you want, as far as I am concerned, as long as it ain't other people. I actually wouldnt care much about that either, assuming people had like given consent or something to be eaten. This is a stupid discussion, I will no longer have it. The point is basically, eat what you will, I prefer meat.

I respect these decisions, but fundamentally, I will admit that they don't make any sense to me. I won't go as far as to say that I think these decisions are stupid, though I am not far away. I really only won't say this because I like and respect my friends who make the decisions. The fact of the matter, however, the raw fucking fact, is that vegan and vegetarian food is not as good as its meaty and creamy counterparts.

Maybe someday this will change. I suppose this type of food has only really been around for 20 years at max. There have always been people who eat vegetables, don't get me wrong, but they were never really doing it for ethical reasons, unless I am badly mistaken. Maybe I am, I know a little about nutritional anthropology, but certainly not specializing in vegetarianism. Fuck, even salads and shit, the ultimate vegetable food, has cheese and shit in it. Stuff that we think of as vegetarian staples, tofu, humus, falafel, etc. were all developed to be eaten with animals and animal products. Mediterranean and Arabic cultures are definatively the closest to vegetarian we have seen before the contemporary area but most of these foods are traditional served alongside or even together with cheese and meat (hummus was originally developed to cut both the quantitiy and the tang of feta cheese, which, prior to pasteurization was apparently about 5 times more tart than the products of today).

Regardless, the fact is, a majority of cooking has been developed using cream, cheese, meat, etc. Very very few foods are free of these things, honestly, think about it. The best foods include these flavors and these rich and creamy textures. Even the world's true vegetarian delicacies cannot be eaten really on their own, I mean, you cant just grill up a fucking white truffle. I suppose you could do it, but the texture is nothing to scream about, the flavor would be overpowering (like just eating a block of saffron), and it would cost you a couple G's. Classically, both Italian and French cooks use truffles and truffle oils in very small amounts and typically with meat. I have heard of salads made with a drop of truffle oil, but its too rich for my blood.

So here is the point, I respect your decision not to eat cows or pigs or whatever. Nonetheless, you will never eat things as good as I will. I can eat the best things you can plus I can flavor them or use them to flavor meat, cheese, eggs, etc.

This probably isnt very clear or concise, but I am really fucking tired. I will talk more about food later. I fucking love food.

Peace,

MB-K