Verging on vegetarianism, by accident.

[mikemusic]

One of the tricky aspects of going veg is the risk of putting on weight by eating more carbs...

Not heard that before.
Why would you eat more carbs ?

 

[mikemusic]

I confess I went vegetarian then discovered I wasn't one day there when seeing a
"vegetarian yoghurt"
Surely all yoghurt is vegetarian - I thought
Nope
Looking further I found most biscuits, many cakes, maybe around 50% of cheese then were not vegetarian.
Became a label reader and found too many horrid surprises.
The Vegetarian Society used to advise if it specifically does not say "Vegetarian" it probably isn't.
Going vegan is even more fun so I went Vogon

 

[stevec67]

Not heard that before.
Why would you eat more carbs ?

Because meat is protein rich and protein stays your appetite. If your vegi diet is big on pasta and rice then you'll be eating big platefuls of that with plenty of carbs. Vegi proteins generally come wrapped up with carbs, unlike meat and fish.

 

[stevec67]

I confess I went vegetarian then discovered I wasn't one day there when seeing a
"vegetarian yoghurt"
Surely all yoghurt is vegetarian - I thought
Nope
Looking further I found most biscuits, many cakes, maybe around 50% of cheese then were not vegetarian.
Became a label reader and found too many horrid surprises.
The Vegetarian Society used to advise if it specifically does not say "Vegetarian" it probably isn't.
Going vegan is even more fun so I went Vogon

Must have been a long time ago. Back in the 80s gelatine was a favourite stabiliser in yogurt, things have moved on in 30 years. I'm not in dairy any more but I remember in the 90s we did a lot of reformulation to pick up the growing vegi market.

 

[ks.234]

 

[Spike]

Not cheese any more. 95% of cheese has veggie rennet from microbial sources. Pretty much 100% of UK super market stuff. Look on the label.

Hi Steve

Is this true with French cheeses such as Comte?

 

[Spike]

Just seen your earlier reply. Probably not!

 

[stevec67]

Probably. I'm not a comte expert, but I don't think there's a requirement for calf rennet. The mass produced stuff is probably microbial rennet, some artisan stuff may still be calf. Check the label, it will be clear.

 

[Suffolk Tony]

I was genuinely in a conversation with someone who called themselves a veggie, but ate beef. His reasoning being that cows are vegetarian, he’s eating the said vegetarian, which makes him a vegetarian!

Yes. Just eat animals that eat grass. What about bogies? what do they count as?

Hugh Feersome-Whittingthing wrote a very interesting "Meat" book which as well as having recipes, gives some history about meat-eating and why we should regard the consumption of the dead flesh of animal corpses as a luxury. He also makes the point that if you kill an animal without causing it suffering, it tastes better.

 

[stevec67]

Just had a bit of a look on the net re vegi rennet, it's more or less as I said. One surprise is parmesan, parmigiani reggiano, which is traditionally calf rennet, no surprise, and virtually no vegi alternatives. Given that pizza is a vegi staple I would have thought that the pizza and pasta catering industry would have demanded this.

 

[Spike]

As its a DOP food it must use rennet. However, there are a number of “hard Italian cheese” equivalents in the supermarkets. They just cant sell it as Parmesan. My Italian friend uses it a great deal.

 

[gintonic]

who puts parmesan on a pizza?

 

[stevec67]

I said the pizza and pasta catering industry.

 

[dweezil]

who puts parmesan on a pizza?

On those rare occasions, guilty.

OH can't stand it though so cheddar / Mozzarella on that half.

Thin pizza base with loads of veg and maybe a few sausages surrounded with parsnips dusted with sliced parmesan used to be a Friday treat after the long drive home.

 

[Tony Lockhart]

I haven’t knowingly eaten meat since 2001.

I used to eat anything and everything, but the foot and mouth outbreak, with the blatant disregard for animal welfare that went along with it, finally stopped me. I’d been eating less and less meat anyway during my final couple of years in Saudi, so the transition was easy.

I have fish more than five times each week, and weigh the same as I did back in 2001. I should exercise more, should cut back on the carbs, but hey...

 

[Bob McC]

I said the pizza and pasta catering industry.

I thought they mostly used a non dairy abomination called analogue cheese masquerading as cheeses.

 

[stevec67]

I thought they mostly used a non dairy abomination called analogue cheese masquerading as cheeses.

I think this is only true for the cheapest late night drunk offerings. For the rest, cheap catering spec cheese is cheap enough, just as easy and vastly better.

 

[jtrade]

I said the pizza and pasta catering industry.

Ma, stefano67, non è normale in Italia mettere il parmigiano sulla pizza (anche a Calabria...)

Capisce ?

 

[stevec67]

Si, si, ho capito, vedi #93 per la chiarificazione.

 

[Frankiesays]

Same here , mostly eat fish ( small tins of sardines ,Mackerel in oil or tomato sauce ) quite happy eating a plate full of veg as long as its not over cooked along with a jacket spud .

You should try fresh, we are an island nation after all!