Any other Vegetarians out there?

[YourFutureMuse]

Haha I loved fish - that for me was the hardest thing to give up when going veg lol

But what does annoy me is when people say they are vegetarian when they eat fish, I think that is just bizzare.

[JHyde]

Doesn't that make them a pescatarian?

[YourFutureMuse]

Thats the word I was racking my brain for lol
I don't mind pescatarians that say there pescatarians its the ones that say they are veggies when they eat fish. My cousin eats chicken and fish and yet still has the cheek to call herself a vegetarian.Pfft. Lol. Sorry I will stop going on about it - tis one of my pet hates lol

[JHyde]

I know. When I waitressed, I used to find it hilarious and annoying in equal parts.

[mrs harry]

One of my hates is when you say you are a veggie and someone asks/assumes you eat fish - I always reply with " no, I am a Vegetarian" but some just can't get the distinction between not eating something that has breathed and something that has.

I don't have a problem with eating at friends though, most of mine are pretty good in finding out out what people like/hate etc and Im always happy to just have veg, what is always hard is going out to eat - the choice is always, but always between mushroom risotto which I detest or a goats cheese tart, nice but not all the time, I normally end up asking for side orders.

[Nitrus]

I think people ask if you eat fish, because again, a LOT of "vegetarians" DO eat fish lol. As Bill Bailey said:

"I'm a vegetarian, I'm not strict. I eat fish. And duck, but they're nearly fish aren't they?... same with geese.. and anything that lives near water or drinks from it, so cows, pigs, chickens the lot... so I'm not strict..."

^That describes a lot of vegetarians i've met, the kind of people who became veggie because their friends did lol.

[kirmostar]

I've dabbled in vegetarianism, not from any morale high ground but purely as I don't really like the taste of meat. I am an incredibly fussy eater on the whole and can only eat meat if I have cooked it myself (to ensure all the yukky bits have been cut out properly) I can't eat things like drumsticks or any meat on the bone. I can stand for days analysing packets of cold meat thru the packaging to make sure they don't have big streaks of fatty bits thru them. Don't like bacon or sausages, never have but pepperoni pizza is one of my favourites! What I got fedup with when I was a proper veggie was just being given macaroni cheese if I went for dinner anywhere.

[mrs harry]

yes - thats my point, there is no imagination or choice, you can't blame folk who cook domestically unless they are foodies but restaraunts should be more creative, just because im a veggy does not mean that those I socialize with are as well so I don't go to vegetarian places a lot. Although my other half was living in Zurich for a couple of years and there is a fantastic veggy restaraunt there which was totally packed all the time.
I recently spoke with a well known bistro pub owned by marco pierre white about organising a large celebration lunch, i told them that 2 of the party were vegetarians and what would be on offer, I was told "oh we will cobble something together on the day" thanks I said, I now feel very special! when I pressed him on the likely choices he told me " mushroom risotto or Goats cheese tart" for heavens sake, he is one of the worlds top chefs and when I have eaten at one of his more upmarket eateries the veggie food has been creative and fab so why not for somewhere more affordable?

anyway, thats my rant over - don't forget that what Bill Bailey said was sposed to be ironic!

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And........I'm going to get Harry onto it...he will sort it out bless him.

[JHyde]

Eating out vegetarian doesn't worry me actually - in Sydney there are lots of places where there are good vegie options, especially if you enjoy cuisine of other cultures. Indian food in particular, often has great vegie options as does Thai, because there are various religions in both India and Thailand in which practicing vegetarianism is mandatory,

But even then I find the options are pretty good. As I say, I'm not a vego myself (yet) but it's something I noticed a lot when I worked as a waitress and also because one of my best friends is a vegetarian.

It's not a worry if you're at a friend's place and it's a BBQ because that's not really an separate cooking issue, but I do worry about dinner parties and weddings and things like that. Even though I'm the sort of person who helps in the kitchen anyway, I really worry about putting a host out by cooking something separately for me.

[mrs harry]

It can be difficult and I hate asian food for some reason so I just tend to graze on sides and vegetable accompaniments which is ok for me as I am a " eat to live not live to eat " girl however I love Italian and Greek food so there is lots of pasta, tomatoes and cheese in my diet and I can live on potatoes in all their forms - shame they can make you porky tho ! sigh