Being A Vegetarian - Bitesize 26

Posted by curryelvis on 02/7/06 in vegetarian fusion, food for thought, bitesize

There are very few cultures today in which a significant portion of the populace are vegetarians or ovo-lacto-pesco-vegetarians. India is one of those few countries. While it is not a strict requirement of the Hindu religion, or those of the other prominent religions in India, vegetarianism is quite widely practiced. In fact, for some East Indian communities, widowed women take on a complete vegetarian diet, which often means excluding not only eggs, dairy, and fish, but even items such as garlic.

I do not know if I could ever give up garlic (also a requirement of some Buddhist practices), but I have been a vegetarian. It’s not an easy process in a meat-oriented existence in North America, but more and more of my friends, relatives, and acquaintances are doing it.

For me, it took 8 years of trying, but only lasted 3 years. It was difficult at best, because I was on the road a great deal, commuting to work and between clients. Also, even when I thought I was being strict, I found out I wasn’t.

I frequented one Chinese restaurant in downtown Toronto while working for a large telecom consulting firm down the street. I regularly ordered the spring rolls because I had been told they had no meat. At the time, I worked in Toronto, and went home to a small city southwest of there. I’d bring my mother some of these tasty vegetarian rolls. But when my mother suddenly required a stricter diet and couldn’t have foods fried in peanut oil, I asked about the rolls.

Imagine my surprise when the same waiter who had previously told me that these rolls were vegetarian then told me they were fried in “pig’s oil”, as he put it. Meaning, of course, lard. Hoo boy. I guess I had ceased to be a vegetarian without even knowing it. Of course, since I was vegetarian for health reasons and not for religious ones, I guess this transgression didn’t really count. But it made me all the more aware of how very hard it is to be vegetarian if you are not in control of the cooking process.

After that, I started lunching at the Thai restaurant a couple of blocks further. It took me longer to walk there and back, causing me to have to stay longer at work, but it was worth it, and the staff were very forthcoming about all ingredients.

I ended up finding soon after that I also had a thyroid disorder like my mother and thus had to watch my diet. The unfortunate thing is that because of my lifestyle, career and health at the time, I had to give up being a vegetarian. It doesn’t mean I won’t try again in the future, but despite all my cooking experiments, I still have only come up with a few veggie snacks and dishes that let me forget about the texture of meat. Unfortunately, some of them are high in starch and low on protein.

Nevertheless, I still make a lot of vegetarian dishes and try to achieve a balance in my diet. And really, unless your health requires otherwise, that’s not a bad thing to strive for.

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