The Quest

I am on a quest fueled by the conviction that even the staunchest meat-lovers can love veggie food too. Considering the standard vegetarian fare offered on most restaurant menus, I don't blame most meat-eaters for thinking that vegetarian food is boring, bland and uninspiring. Most of the time, it is. But it doesn't have to be. 

The question that vegetarians get asked most of the time is simply "why?", which usually invokes a lengthy oratory on the virtues of vegetarianism with the implicit message that meat-eaters are evil, planet-killing, careless, heartless offshoots of humanity. Which only confirms to the meat-eater that all vegetarians are tree-hugging, smelly, hippie, do-gooders with no finesse or affinity for the Good Life. Or so the story goes. As a vegetarian for going on fifteen years I do not subscribe to this "othering" mentality. And likewise, I have to say that most meat-eaters are indifferent to vegetarians too. 

There are some, however, who vehemently despise vegetarian food simply for being exactly that: meat-free. They cannot comprehend the notion of a meal sans the meat; in their minds it just doesn't rate on the satisfaction scale. They fear they will be left waiting for the main course, even after they've polished off the cheeseboard. But to them I say fear not, my carnivorous skeptics, for I am to show you that it is possible to eat veggie-style without missing the meat. I promise.   

To continue the theme of dispelling stereotypes, my mission is absolutely not to convert the masses to vegetarianism; I firmly believe that we need meat-eaters in this world. My humble mission is merely to demonstrate that vegetarian food can be just as flavourful, satisfying, complex and refined as meat (and in some cases, even more so). All you need is imagination, intuition and nature's beautiful bounty. 

So next time you scour the menu at a restaurant pitying the poor vegetarian opposite you for her one insipid option, remember that somewhere out there is vegetarian food for meat lovers.