17 Comments

Yes, and what's the deal with replacing vowels with apostrophes to signify a veggie dish, a la chick'n and f'sh??

Expand full comment

I feel like I experience this more from well meaning meat-eaters. My dad has thrown every not-meat breakfast meat at me in the past few years. He said he was going to get some for Easter this year and I said I’d just make some tofu myself. (It was delicious btw)

Expand full comment

This made me laugh. Fellow vegetarian here. You nailed it. I have a general beef (ha!) with naming groups by what they aren't -- non-Whites, non-attorney mediators (I'm a mediator and I particularly loathe that one). Now I have another one for the list.

Expand full comment

Love this post. Love vegetarian food. Hate fake food. You expressed it so well!

Expand full comment

You're right on. I don't know if this will let me share a google doc with the best vegetable leek soup I've ever eaten in my life (cream optional) but I will try anyway?

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Lsmsk1vHmRbkh30m90iYrOlMhBcPktUONV5ayvt-qN4/edit?usp=sharing

Expand full comment

Yes! As a fellow vegetarian, I prefer meals which are not masquerading as something else, too. I'm happy to eat pizza, pasta salad, vegetable soup, an avocado sandwich, mushroom bourguignon, etc...! The dish with the least descriptive (and most peculiar name) I was ever offered is "slumgullion." It's a sort of casserole comprised of macaroni, ground beef, diced onion and bell pepper, cheddar cheese, chili spices, plus a can of Campbell's Cream of Tomato Soup. I adore the name of this dish, and have made vegetarian versions :-)

My cats say hi.

Expand full comment

I eat not a lot of meat but am VERY turned off by fake meat. (Like I have such a mental block it makes me gag.) I’d love a REAL veggie burger. Not a beyond burger! Just serve food that isn’t meat!! Anyone else?

Expand full comment

Or when they give them Starbucks names to things

“Oh this is a red red tumblr soup…” (dont gugl it I just made it up)

Expand full comment

Loved reading this! 😍😂

Expand full comment

100% I hate if I have to clarify at a restaurant that I'm not actually eating meat. Our funniest story of being Vegetarian in Texas is we ordered a Bean-Burger at a restaurant. Sounds safe right --

WRONG -- It was a meat patty with beans on top!!!!

Expand full comment

I loved not reading this. Brilliant!

Expand full comment

Happy to say hi to our cats Mahlee and Louie (both females, pronouns she/her), and to all hens Lola, Lizz, Ida, Flutters, and Cricket. My daughter, granddaughter, sister, brother-in-law, are all vegetarians. The critters not so much. Yes to the not no ... just say plant-based, or lentils, or whatever it is.

Expand full comment

I like some fake meats but I think they label them as such to try and entice meat eaters to try them. So far I’ve converted my meat eating partner to eat quorn mince, nuggets and a sausage patty. I really don’t think I’d convince him to try a mushroom fungus. I do like a black bean burger but I always make them too big for the buns

Expand full comment

As a non-vegetarian, I coulldn't agree more: there are THOUSANDS of not-meat food that are incredibly tasty for non-vegeratian too, and I've always found it reductive and belittling for those dishes to have to be called ridiculous things like the ones you cite-I mean, I wouldn't order a "meat and bacon salad"!

Expand full comment

I don't mind some fake meat (Impossible Burgers are very tasty), but I agree about the ridiculous names and wanting to know what I'm actually eating. I guess some vegetarian foods are so processed that the ingredients are unpronounceable.

Expand full comment