I’m continuing my series on misconceptions around veganism with this post on the perceived domain of animal-based patties, sausages, and other shapes. Today’s misconception comes from those who ask the question…
“Why don’t you just eat fruits and vegetables? If you’re going to be vegan, you shouldn’t eat things that look or taste like meat, dairy, or eggs.”
Whether it’s based on shape or flavor, there’s this really interesting, oddly hostile reaction that some people have to the idea that vegans would eat a food that emulates meat.
It seems like they think vegans are getting away with something. It’s as if they feel if vegans are going to draw a line in the sand, they need to stay firmly on their side of it.
It’s a funny reaction to me, because clearly seitan (made of flour) is not meat. Tofu that has been frozen and thawed, while chewy, is not meat. And tempeh (made of whole soybeans) is not meat either.
In my mind I think of these same naysayers going to Disneyland and seeing kids riding on Autopia. I can imagine them standing out front getting angry at the parents…
“Hey, you SAY that you don’t want 4-year-olds to drive. Then you take them here and put them behind the wheel! Which is it? Should toddlers drive or shouldn’t they?”
Similarly, when I eat Field Roast sausages or vegan BBQ Soy Curls, they may have a toothsome bite or a smoky flavor. They may be slathered in mustard or adorned with diced onions. But they’re not the meat-based relics from my youth. They come from plant foods.
Now, Field Roast sausages and other things of that ilk are not the base of my diet or even something I necessarily eat every week. To some degree, they’re a novelty.
But like I wrote in my last post, I don’t think I’m breaking any vegan rules by eating them, or drinking cashew milk, or having tofu satay instead of satay made with chicken parts.
(Just to be on the safe side, I should also let you know that when I wear the cotton, cheetah-print dress in my closet, I’m not wishing I was Wilma Flintstone with pearl-shaped rocks around my neck. I’m not covering up a secret desire to kill and skin a cheetah to adorn by body. The dress is a novelty and a bit of fun. Don’t worry kitties. I’m not coming for you.)
Some people even go so far as to say that vegetarians shouldn’t eat things in the shape of burgers, sausages, and cutlets.
On that note, I have a story…
Come back with me, if you will, to spring break 1997. It was the one year during my college life when I went on a beach vacation.
That March I road tripped to Florida with a group of friends. We had the amount of disposable income that most college students do – which is to say, not much.
So I remember vividly one balmy night when we went to restaurant on the coast for dinner. I was a meat eater then. Being from a very landlocked state, I’d only eaten a lobster one other time in my life when our high school drama teacher had taken us out for a fancy, celebratory dinner after a big win, and I’d ordered a lobster’s tail.
At this beachside restaurant, there was also lobster on the menu. My thin wallet could hardly believe it was a mere six dollars for a whole lobster.
When the lobster was brought to the table, I noticed the diminutive size. The lobster was about the size of a small dinner plate. And he had his head still attached – eyes, antennae, and all.
I felt uncomfortable, not knowing how to break into his body, unsure what parts I should eat, and not wanting the lobster’s beady eyes looking at me while I ate.
As I wondered how to begin this “dissection,” the only person who was having a tougher time with it was my then-boyfriend (who was and is a meat eater, by the way) who was sitting next to me.
When he noticed that the lobster’s antennae was brushed against my arm, my ex gasped with horror, “He’s touching you! He’s touching you!”
I still have a picture from that dinner somewhere amongst my old photos in the basement. And it’s very strange to think about now. The period of my life when I ate animals seems like a lifetime ago, almost as if I dreamed it.
So when a non-vegan friend of mine who recently went on a tropical vacation was recounting his trip, I wasn’t surprised when he mentioned that he also is uncomfortable eating animals who look like their former selves – i.e. a whole lobster, a fish with his head still attached, escargot…
I think there are plenty of people who feel that way – uncomfortable by being made too aware of the animal who their dinner used to be.
Even when he used to eat animals, my husband felt uncomfortable watching people crack into crabs’ legs. And when I was buying meat at the butcher counter, I hated seeing plastic-wrapped packages with cows’ tongues, pigs’ ears, and chickens’ feet. It creeped me out to see brain on a menu.
I have a friend who eats animals but doesn’t like eating any meat off of a bone and another who doesn’t want to eat meat that is called the same name as the animal like turkey or chicken.
Therefore, I found it really interesting in the comments on last week’s post about plant-based meats when reader Andrea had this to say:
“I remember an omnivore friend declaring her disgust at vegan/vegetarians who tried to make their food into shapes like burgers instead of just eating beans and rice and veggies. This was long before commercial products were easily available.
At first, I felt embarrassed and ashamed for all the bean-burgers I’d made, but then I had a change of heart and asked, Why do meat-eaters make their food into burgers and loaves? Why not just eat the meat in a slab on a plate?
A burger is just a shape, I told her, that fits handily into a bun. Why shouldn’t vegans/vegetarians be able to shape their food like omnivores can? She had no answer, but looked angry and confused.”
Like Andrea said, patties and sausages are just shapes.
Whether it be made of wheat or soy, black beans or chickpeas, putting plant-based foods in the form of circles and cylinders doesn’t mean anything more than sometimes it’s fun to eat something with bread and ketchup.
Furthermore, chickens aren’t shaped as nuggets or fingers. Cows aren’t shaped as burgers. For that matter, pigs aren’t even shaped as chops.
People cut down animals in all kinds of ways. People form the animals’ ground up bodies into round shapes, flat shapes, and cylindrical spheres.
It’s interesting that the same accusation that is made towards vegetarians and vegans eating plant-based foods in the shape of hot dogs or burgers could also be asked of meat eaters eating meat outside of its original form.
Like the college student avoiding the beady-eyed stare of a dead crustacean on a dinner plate, who really would rather not be reminded of who their food used to be?
Renata Zelazna
Hey, I love your blog, especially how you expose the absurdity of misconceptions and questions 😀
Great work! Looking forwards to reading more of your stuff!
Vegan greetings from Amsterdam!
Cadry
That’s great to hear! Thank you, Renata!
Maggie Muggins
Great post Cadry, I’m really enjoying this series.
I don’t understand people who are confused, disgusted and even angry over the fact that there are vegan meat-like items on the market. Do people just not understand the reasons for going veg? Is there some kind of trade-mark on “meat-like” shapes or textures?
People tend to always make assumptions about the food I eat now that I’m vegan and I constantly feel the need to point out that my tastes buds didn’t go off and die in a ditch because I went vegan, I still like certain flavors and textures, I just don’t want anything to die for me to enjoy them!
Ben
Great article, i think we are all into food textures and “meat” has a known texture we can all identify with, thus the constant meat references to the food we eat….for example: I love Beefless Tips by Gardein, it has flavor and texture but I have no desire for the real thing. Also most of us are converts, I have been a veg for 23 years, we all ate meat and its kind of a descriptive/comfort thing…burgers, nuggets, etc…I think the next generations may or may not get hung up on shapes and names but we have to identify the food we eat with a name we can all identify with….food for thought, thank you!
Cadry
Lots of good insights, Ben! Thanks!
Kristy
Such a good post, Cadry- I love this series! I’ve been asked before why I eat things like tempeh or tofu. “If you’re craving meat, you should just eat meat, not these weird, synthetic substitutes,” they said to me. I had to inform them that they were made from plants and not laden with tons of chemicals (though the meat on their plate likely was), and I don’t crave meat. Sometimes, I crave a dish made with tofu or tempeh or seitan, but to me, these items are not substitutes for dead animals. They are their own separate entities.
And I’m with Annie- it has always bothered me when meat-based restaurants or food companies use an animal as their logo.
Cadry
“Sometimes, I crave a dish made with tofu or tempeh or seitan, but to me, these items are not substitutes for dead animals. They are their own separate entities.” So well said! I enjoy tofu, tempeh, and seitan for their own sake.
Barb@ThatWasVegan?
That’s a great point about all shapes being pretty arbitrary- Great post!!
Cadry
Thanks, Barb!
Food Stories
Loved this post 🙂
Cadry
Thanks! I’m glad to hear it!
Joey
Yep, meat doesn’t come off animals in burgers or sausages – it comes off in meat that is shaped into other shapes. Which is the same for any burger you care to think of, and it’s true of vegan burgers too.
Cadry
Absolutely!
Airyfairycelt
Oh that’s a good one!
I make vegan sausages occasionally and I love my burgers (all vegan of course).
I check avidly and spend a massive amount of time reading rather than shopping for I check EVERYTHING! I just will not get anything I am feeling confident about.
Being gf I cannot have sei tan and am not sure how I would like that texture at all but I would like a gf extra of some description.
I do lots of patties, and now am just thinking of embarking on my first try for vegan cheese, my next trick………yoghurt.
Any links, advice very welcome for I am a slow and cautious learner (50 years vegetarian)
Cadry
I haven’t made my own yogurt yet, but I know there is a recipe for it in Artisan Vegan Cheese by Miyoko Schinner that a lot of people like. Amey from Vegan Eats & Treats wrote about her experience with it here: http://veganeatsandtreats.blogspot.com/2014/07/diy-soy-cashew-yogurt-update.html Good luck!
An Unrefined Vegan
Thanks to Andrea I now have a handy retort! Why did I not think of that? Of course meat products come in all kinds of shapes – how many carnivores would buy chicken if it came w/ beak, feathers and claws?
A related aside: even back when I ate meat, I always thought it strange when a menu or restaurant sign was imprinted with a smiling chicken/cow/pig – wearing a bib and clutching a fork and knife.
Cadry
Agreed! Andrea is so insightful!
Oh, my gosh. I agree about how disturbing/disingenuous it is when you see happy and smiling animals attached with a meat-based restaurant/butcher, or even worse when they’re wearing a bib like you said. There was a blog that was around for a while that chronicled the use of happy cartoon animals in signs and such for advertisement of meat. It was called Suicide Food.
I still have a picture that I took once of a butcher’s truck in Los Angeles who uses adorable cartoon animals on the side of it. I find it really repellant that people will co-opt smiling animal faces to sell their dismembered bodies. Does anyone really believe those animals were willing and happy participants in their own deaths? There’s also a person who sells parts of lambs at my farmer’s market, and they have a cartoon lamb smiling on their sign, which they place next to lamb chops and whatnot. I try to avoid even looking at it when I walk by, because it makes me so sad.
Sarah
Thanks for another great post! I love Field Roast too 🙂 They’re made here in Seattle!
I keep hearing about freezing and thawing tofu to make it chewier. I haven’t actually taken the time to look it up yet, but do you have any pointers? I’d love to give it a try!
Ben
Freezing tofu is easy if you plant it in advance, it makes the tofu really chewy. I use the EZ Tofu Press and get the water out first, place in a ziploc bag and freeze. The next morning take out and let defrost (on a rack to drip). Then I press again after its thawed out, marinade. Using extra firm tofu, this is as dense a tofu you can get!
Cadry
Ben had a lot of good tips, but I’ll add my two cents as well since I do it a little differently. When I freeze tofu, I just pop it in the freezer while it’s still in its container. You can use water-packaged firm or extra firm tofu or super firm like Wildwood that is not packaged in water. Once it has frozen completely, you can move it to the counter or refrigerator to thaw. (Obviously it will thaw a lot less quickly in the refrigerator, and so pick your placement depending on how soon you need it.)
After it has thawed, remove it from its package and squeeze it over the sink as if it were a sponge. Then you can use it however you want. It’s good crumbled and sautéed with onions and garlic and used as a chewy addition to chili. Or it can be marinated and baked for a dense main course. It’s also good fried and put in sandwiches.
The main difference between frozen/thawed and other methods is that the tofu has more of a dense, chewy texture. The reason that the texture is different is because tofu is filled with water. When it freezes with the water still in it, it makes ice inside of the tofu. Once it has thawed and the water/ice has been removed, that causes for bigger holes that can pick up marinades well. It also makes for very dense sections of tofu once the water has been squeezed out.
Cadry
One more thing… Did you know that Field Roast offers tours? I’ve always thought it would be cool to go and see it being made the next time I’m in Seattle. You should check it out! http://www.fieldroast.com/field-roast-tours/
Sarah
Oh wow, no I didn’t! I’ll check it out—that would be fun to see! Thanks for the info!
Somer
I always thought fish with the head and skin on was soooo gross, but I could it in in a fillet. It’s such a funny thing isn’t it. We didn’t want our animals to have faces when we were eating them. Denial……
Cadry
I felt the same way! I still remember when I ordered fish at a Mediterranean restaurant once, and it arrived with the head still on. I barely touched it. It was just too disturbing to me. Yet with animals who were cut into nondescript shapes, I was able to detach from who they used to be. After going vegan, it’s interesting how those experiences illuminate the ways that we try to shield ourselves around our own discomfort of eating animals. It makes veganism actually look like the path of least resistance.
Somer
Hence, the chicken nuggets…… Shaped like dinosaurs.
Andrea
I really think I should print out these posts and carry them with me in case I come up again any vegan trashers. (And thank you for considering my response worthy of inclusion.) I can sure identify with your discomfort with the lobster, having experienced similar situations.
Cadry
It’s interesting how moments like that one with the lobster stand out in one’s mind. It was a defining moment in my path towards veganism, even though it happened several years before I made the transition.
Suburban Snow White
What a fascinating take on shapes! I never gave any thought to that, but you’re right on, as usual. I really like that reader’s response!
Cadry
Yes, Andrea is very sharp!
Cheerfully Vegan
Sorry…somehow my emoticon of sticking my tongue out in disgust became a grinning face. Ick.
Cheerfully Vegan
Excellent series, Cadry! I finally had a few minutes to catch up reading all 3. I was a little surprised to hear that people are that hostile toward vegan products and the names given to them. I’ve been blessed to not run into that. I’m afraid my response would have consisted of having my jaw drop straight to the floor like a cartoon character’s. I’m sure they would have huffed away before I could crank it back up and form an appropriate reply.
I’ve often wondered why meat was named what it was. Except for chicken and turkey, most of the meats are called something totally unrelated. Why? Because children wouldn’t eat Bessie if they knew it was the family cow? 😛 I think part of the hostility/anger toward vegans/vegetarians comes from a lack of knowledge AND an unwillingness to look at their own choices and behaviors – it’s a defense mechanism. The more we can gently teach people, the more accepting they will become.
Cadry
Thanks, Cheerfully Vegan! You’ve made a lot of good points. Like you said, it is curious that most animal products are called something other than the name of the animal. Chicken and turkey are exceptions, along with fish and lambs. The lamb thing is particularly strange to me, since most people think of lambs as being very cute and cuddly. I am surprised that more people don’t have trouble ordering it off of a menu.
Abby
Again, I just can’t really wrap my brain around the ignorance of some people. (And no, I’m not just singling out meat-eaters, as there are many vegans who judge or make comments along the same vein.) A shape is simply a shape and has no bearing on the actual composition of the food. It’s like saying you shouldn’t eat a pancake because it’s the same shape as a burger patty. It makes no sense to me.
However, with that said, I am on record as saying that I don’t like eating products that resemble meat in taste or texture (for the most part.) Meat isn’t something I miss and the similarities skeeve me out a bit. Because I can’t eat soy, I can’t speak to tempeh, soy sausages, etc. and would probably avoid them simply for the processed food factor, but if I enjoyed them and they were vegan, I would have no issue.
We all have our preferences and it’s disappointing-but not surprising-when other think their path is the only path. Now I’m rambling. Great post 🙂
Cadry
That’s such a good point about the pancake! It’s not as if anyone holds imminent domain over a shape!
I hear what you’re saying about getting skeeved out by foods that taste/feel too similar to meat. I’ve had that reaction in the past too. Now it’s been long enough since I’ve eaten animals that for me when I eat seitan or something of that ilk, I like it for its own sake, not for how much it does or does not taste like chickens/cows/turkeys/pigs.
I totally get the processed food factor; although, some products are more or less processed than others. For example, I think of tofu as being pretty unprocessed since it’s just soy milk and a coagulant (like lemon juice), or tempeh because it’s just soybeans fermented with a grain.
I suppose I’m also not that hung up on having a “processed food,” every now and again. As long as the bulk of my diet is fresh, whole, and unprocessed, I feel okay about an indulgence once in a while. But I know that everyone has a different viewpoint where moderation is concerned with processed foods, and I respect that.
Abby
I have no real issue with minimally processed food at all. If it works for you, it’s obviously more beneficial than an animal product. My problem is that I can’t tolerate soy in any way, shape or form and so I’m very limited in the “fake” meat products I can consume. Given we don’t have a very vegan-friendly environment around here, it’s hard to come by seitan that doesn’t include soy sauce. That just means I should try and make it myself, but you know…;)
Cadry
That makes sense! I tend to think of seitan as being more of a gluten issue for gluten intolerant folks, but I hadn’t thought about how often it’s made with soy sauce for flavoring. If you ever feel like making your own, the white seitan from Viva Vegan doesn’t include any soy, and it’s one of my favorites. It also freezes and thaws well if you don’t want to eat the whole batch right away. Plus, it’s surprisingly easy to make.
Kelly @ Vegan Iowan
Thank you for this post! You have such a wonderful way of articulating what so many of us can’t put into words.
Cadry
Thank you, Kelly! That’s nice to hear!