Going vegan......old style?!

Trow

arran_m wrote: »

just wondering what everyone thought on using meat substitutes, ive always thought it a bit odd for a vegan or vegetarian to eat a meat alternative ie sausage or burger, personally i dont touch them

I find it odd that people find it odd.

Just because you have an ethical/moral/medical reason for a food choice doesn't automatically mean you don't like the taste or texture of it. And if there is a more ethical/moral/healthier alternative then why not use that instead?

Justamum

arran_m wrote: »

just wondering what everyone thought on using meat substitutes, ive always thought it a bit odd for a vegan or vegetarian to eat a meat alternative ie sausage or burger, personally i dont touch them

I eat them occasionally, but I prefer to cook things from scratch (much cheaper). My take on it is that meat eaters disguise their dead animals as something which looks as far as possibly removed from the dead animal by turning it into burgers or sausages. Therefore a burger or a sausage is a neutral design. Iyswim?

NualaBuala

I agree, trying to recreate flavours and textures that one likes to eat without harming animals seems ok to me (although I'm not really qualified to comment cos I'm only a wannabe veggie).

But it seems that doesn't stop me from having an opinion! I would find it odd having veggie versions of something resembling an animal body part like a chicken leg. But sausage and burgers are just mushed up stuff anyway - they're not direct from an animal and I figure they can be made with anything.

evilsheep

arran_m wrote: »

just wondering what everyone thought on using meat substitutes, ive always thought it a bit odd for a vegan or vegetarian to eat a meat alternative ie sausage or burger, personally i dont touch them

I've always found it odd that anyone has a problem with vegetarians/vegans eating meat substitutes. It's not the flesh of an animal, so what's the problem? It's usually meat-eaters who say this though - "what's the point in eating 'fake' chicken pieces - you may as well eat chicken!". Er, no ....

With regards to seitan - it's usually available in Chinese supermarkets in tins marked up as mock chicken, mock beef etc, and in Chinese restaurants-takeaways too. Much nicer texture than tofu too (quite 'meaty'), and great to bulk up a meal. It's quite high in protein too. I've ordered from Low Carb Megastore too, and used it well past its use-by date! It might be worth contacting your local health food store and asking them to order some in, or perhaps seeing if there are any local veggies/vegans on the Vegan Forum who may wish to share an order? Definitely worth trying out too - the recipes in the Veganomicon are great!

Doom_and_Gloom

arran_m wrote: »

just wondering what everyone thought on using meat substitutes, ive always thought it a bit odd for a vegan or vegetarian to eat a meat alternative ie sausage or burger, personally i dont touch them

When you realise the word burger or sausage mearly means the shape in which the mixture is molded into you don't see it as odd - at least I don't. One of the many reasons I am vegan is because I don't want to contribute to the death of animals. When I eat alternatives I'm not contributing. I doubt it tastes anything like the meat version and a lot of people I know that eat meat eat a lot of meat with herbs and spices. Without the herbs or spices I bet they wouldn't find it as appealing :rotfl:.

I don't count tofu as an alternative as it is a food in it's own right. Those that I do count as alternatives I don't eat a lot of. I'd rather sit down to a bowl of (spicey) lentil and vegetable soup with home made bread than vegan sausages/burger with the usual sides .

Murrell

Hi,

I need advice re coffee curdling. I or my hubby don't drink coffee so I don't know the answer.

I have a chance to run a vegan green centre with coffee shop. The director has asked me for advice on what coffee and soya milk to buy that will go together without curdling. I suggested a coffee such as cafe direct as we are using organic or fairtrade where possible. Do any of you use this coffee or another organic or fair trade one and soya milk and it doesn't curdle and if so which ones?

Thanks in advance
Sandra
x

Justamum

Murrell wrote: »

Hi,

I need advice re coffee curdling. I or my hubby don't drink coffee so I don't know the answer.

I have a chance to run a vegan green centre with coffee shop. The director has asked me for advice on what coffee and soya milk to buy that will go together without curdling. I suggested a coffee such as cafe direct as we are using organic or fairtrade where possible. Do any of you use this coffee or another organic or fair trade one and soya milk and it doesn't curdle and if so which ones?

Thanks in advance
Sandra
x

I've tried various makes of soya milk in coffee, and the only one I found which worked 99.9% of the time was White Wave (made by Haldane or Granose I think). Unfortunately our local supermarket stopped stocking it nearly a year ago because the new supplier insisted on them ordering more than they wanted to each time. So I had to give up coffee as all others curdle (and leaving it to cool a bit first doesn't work!). White Wave isn't organic though. I always buy non-organic soya milk because it's fortified with calcium, B12 etc.

Soya milk doesn't seem to curdle in tea though (isn't there a tea company which is bringing out a soya friendly tea? It doesn't seem necessary to me. Soya friendly coffee would be better!)

ETA by the way, good luck with the coffee shop!

ThriftyFelicity

In my experience, soy or Oatley creamer (not milk) doesn't curdle.

Murrell

Thanks for the replies regarding soya milk in coffee. Will pass on info. I am going to contact the vegan society and see what suggestions they have. There is coffee shops such as costa etc that do soya cappachinos, so there must be a way.

Thanks
Sandra

Justamum

Murrell wrote: »

Thanks for the replies regarding soya milk in coffee. Will pass on info. I am going to contact the vegan society and see what suggestions they have. There is coffee shops such as costa etc that do soya cappachinos, so there must be a way.

Thanks
Sandra

I've had soya cappucinos at Costa, and they used Alpro soya. Alpro has a funny taste I think, but apart from that, even though cappucino is mainly milk, it still curdles a bit.