Vegan Mince Pies

Stuart_W

So where are they available this year, and who is the cheapest?

Co-Op Fairtrade Fruit Mince Pies at £1.35 for 6 are the cheapest so far that I have managed to find.

Vegan mince pies are generally pretty difficult to find, impressed that a supermarket is stocking them this year:j .

penrhyn

I hope you don't mind an omnivore asking a question.

Why is it that vegetarians/vegans seem to want their own versions of products normally made from animal products, vegan mince pies, Tofu Turkeys, Quorn mince etc..
Surely there must be better eating to be had with uniquely vegi recipes than by trying to emulate the animal based fair.

Stuart_W

As I'm not a vegan I can't really answer that in terms of Vegan mince pies. I am trying to shop for a Christmas dinner so our vegan guest can eat as much of the food as everyone else rather than have a different meal sitting the corner for the "wierdo".

lynzpower

the thing is broadly its the pastry. You cant generally make pastry without using some sort of butter/ animal fat and eggs.

the alternative is usually multi hydrogentaed vegetable fats, which supermarkets are phasing out, due to thier detrimental effect on health/bad publicity.

have you tried holland & barrett.

lamp

That's a bit of a strong statement... I'm vegan because a) I think milk and eggs are mean and b) I've gone off meat. The last thing I want is something that emulates something I've gone off! Bring on the chickpeas!

lightisfading

Not all vegetarians and vegans don't eat meat because they dislike the taste - many don't eat it because they disagree with the disgusting way animals are treated.

I love purely vegetable based fare - on the other hand my veggie OH was brought up in North America (Canada) and thus loves meat-based dishes.

Then there's things like mince pies which aren't meat based.. they have lard/suet etc in them, but it contributes little to the taste. Vegetarians have to avoid such a multitude of products these days because thanks to our capitalist society it can save a company a few pence per pack of whatever to put in an animal based ingredient - ie Mars' recent re-introduction of animal rennet to their chocolate, when it had been veggie for many many years.

Sarahsaver

Make your own!!!

mech_2

Sarahsaver wrote: »

Make your own!!!

Absolutely. I'm not really keen on shop-bought mince pies any more anyway as they all seem to have excessively sugar-laden pastry with a thick crust of pure sugar sprinkled on the top. My memories of mince pies involve actual pastry that tastes of pastry (though the magic ingredient is to put orange juice in the pastry, so I'm told).

Spendless

lightisfading wrote: »

ie Mars' recent re-introduction of animal rennet to their chocolate, when it had been veggie for many many years.

I thought Mars back-tracked on that one and left them veggie?:cool:

IamJen

re: Mars, they did in fact, reconsider. They say that the hoopla (it was even on the national news!) over the rennet wasn't the issue, but....

as for vegan mince pies, we found some at Budgens, but I can't remember the brand

Why is it that vegetarians/vegans seem to want their own versions of products normally made from animal products, vegan mince pies, Tofu Turkeys, Quorn mince etc..
Surely there must be better eating to be had with uniquely vegi recipes than by trying to emulate the animal based fair.

While mock meat-Tofu Turkey, etc. don't fall into this category, I'd offer that many products, especially processed, supermarket-type ones, have "unnecessary" animal ingredients in them. That is, they are essentially vegetarian items, with some whey or honey or gelatin thrown it. Whether something is animal-based fare is often a matter of perspective.

sarahluv

sainsburys free from are doing some too.