Not many people appear to know this but Parmesan isn't vegetarian.

[SeanMacGabhann]

I was first in Rosie ;-) Have you got a link to that Ramsay story, I've not heard about it

[Brendan]

I?m not vegetarian and I don?t come from a vegetarian home but vegetarianism has never been something incomprehensible or strange. If someone says they?re vegetarian they don?t eat animals, end of, whether it is an oyster, fish or a yeti.

[katie1997]

wee quinnie Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> On a related issue to my previous posting...

>

> If you think the cheese thing is nitpicking, it's

> really awful when you get to someone's gaff and

> they serve you fish or something because that's

> "vegetarian"! In case you're wondering, when it

> has happened to me, I haven't told them, and just

> eaten it....

>

> Obviously stupid of me to assume that people know

> what vegetarian means in the simplest form. Mind

> you, when I lived in Australia and told people I

> was veggie, quite commonly, the first question

> asked would be "Do you eat chicken?"!!!!

hi wee quinnie, totally agree with you. You'd think people would know what was truly vegetarian and what wasn't (esp restaurants, cookbooks and former mother-in-laws!) :)

How many times do I remember being served 'vegetarian' noodles with prawns, quiche, ( You can pick the ham out dear, that will be okay won't it? My ex's mum asked me, a look of horror on her face when I said, no).

Oh yes, has also been assumed ( when I was veggie) that fish and chicken is 'ok'! Er ... no!

Hate all those 'fake' meat products you seen now tho.

[RosieH]

Sean, those people are NOT vegetarians. They may not be that fussy about what they eat, but I AM that fussy about the English language. I agree with Woof on the "don't eat meat" front - that's them, not "vegetarian" flibbertigibbets.

[HAL9000]

ISTR that Parmesan is an official EU designation that can only be used for cheese made according to a traditional recipe that uses animal rennet.

In which case, the vegetarian substitute (made from rennet obtained from fungi or genetically engineered micro-organisms) cannot be called 'Parmesan'.

A quick Google reveals many brands of vegetarian Parmesan-substitute.

[RosieH]

SeanMacGabhann Wrote:

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> I was first in Rosie ;-)

No you weren't.

Me - 4.28

You - 4.30

Fucking cliques

[Narnia]

woofmarkthedog Wrote:

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> Isinglass is collagen/gelatin which is gathered

> from the swim bladders of fish

>

> It's used to clarify wine & commonly known a

> "Filings"

>

> ( & not a carrot in sight )

W**f, I'd heard this was the case with bitters but not lagers. Never knew about wine though. Does it apply to both red and white do you know? If it applies to red then I can hardly call myself a vegetarian any more I suppose. I'm not giving up red!

[RosieH]

Sean, the Ramsay story: Bad Gordon - soup is the very last line.

[SeanMacGabhann]

Rosie - I basically agree with you and WQ about what constitutes a real vegetarian

BUT

I doubt Jamie Oliver would be publishing a book if it was only going to sell to real vegetarians. s'true...

[SeanMacGabhann]

ah yes that story - but that was more of a Clarkson type "joke" than an actual recipe

It's boorish and silly but I'm not sure it's factually:

" it was discovered that Gordon Ramsay's soup deemed suitable for vegetarians contained chicken stock,"

[RosieH]

Stop raining on my parade MacGabhann

[wee quinnie]

SeanMacGabhann Wrote:

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> Rosie - I basically agree with you and WQ about

> what constitutes a real vegetarian

>

> BUT

>

> I doubt Jamie Oliver would be publishing a book if

> it was only going to sell to real vegetarians.

> s'true...

Yes BUT if it's strictly vegetarian you don't have to be a vegetarian to use it. For the benefit of the wider audience you could also go on to say that people who have diets that approach vegetarianism for whatever reason will find it easier/simpler to describe themselves as vegetarians and I don't see anything wrong with that.

PS If it's got a non-vegetarian cheese in it the Vegetarian society would not deem it vegetarian, and surely that's a reasonable definition of vegetarianism.

[paragon]

I asked my brother (the only veggie) what he wanted to eat at the wedding breakfast of my recent nuptuals. His response was - the normal will be fine - just swerve the bacon and make sure there are some veggie sausages knocking around.

[SeanMacGabhann]

Rosie - don't make me go all Jack Nicholson on yo' ass

WQ - agree with you completely in your PS. But the point about the book, although obviously true is moot. There wouldn't be enough non-vegetarians who would buy the book to make it viable. I reckon anyway

[HAL9000]

Would a conscientious vegetarian eat road kill, I wonder? If no, why not?

[*Bob*]

Because a fox with a tyre tread running over its back with its innards blown out of its ass is not massively appealing?

[HAL9000]

I was thinking more along the lines of, say, a wild deer killed by accident?

[*Bob*]

If you're quick - I just saw one of those on Dog Kennel Hill.

[wee quinnie]

SeanMacGabhann Wrote:

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>. But the

> point about the book, although obviously true is

> moot. There wouldn't be enough non-vegetarians who

> would buy the book to make it viable. I reckon

> anyway

Dunno about that. Delia Smith,(who charmingly mentions in the veggie section of her Complete Cookery course "that Hitler was..guess what a vegetarian!"), brought out a veggie compilation a few years ago which was pretty successful - AND she endorses that parmesan style cheese I mentioned in my opening post.

[annaj]

I like my mum's definition.

At a Rotary Club Dinner in rural Goucestershire, in the 80s, after politely turning down chicken and fish, she lost patience and said (very calmy and in her lovely RP accent)

"I'm a vegetarian. I don't eat anything that f*cks" *

*Now, I know some pedant will now point out that fish don't techincally f*ck (fertilisation of the eggs happens outside the fish) but if you take f*ck in this context to mean reproduce sexually (as in by fusion of male and female gametes)then it's not a bad definition.

[SeanMacGabhann]

Sheesh. I google something about rennet and I find a post from last year on another forum, about the same subject, from wee quinnie.

Ooh walkers crisps are out as well.

[HAL9000]

annaj Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> *Now, I know some pedant will now point out that

> fish don't techincally f*ck (fertilisation of the

> eggs happens outside the fish)

Except for live-bearing species, in which the male impregnates the female by inserting his gonopodium into her 'vent' (i.e. where the babies pop out) :)

[Loz]

katie1997 Wrote:

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> I'm cross posting too ...

>

> fish bladders used to make beers and wine ...

>

> also in lots of other products, not all use the

> seaweed substitute so yes, animal gelatine too.

Wine fining is an interesting one. There should be no trace of the fining agent left in the wine, but you are right, a dead animal product can be used in the process (though more often than not a non-animal fininf agent is used). Gelatine and blood have been used as a fining agents as has, for the vegans, egg whites (quite common).

As I said, no trace of animal protein should remain, but I suppose it depends on how rabidly PETA your vegetarianism/veganism is.

[Loz]

annaj Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I like my mum's definition.

>

> At a Rotary Club Dinner in rural Goucestershire,

> in the 80s, after politely turning down chicken

> and fish, she lost patience and said (very calmy

> and in her lovely RP accent)

>

> "I'm a vegetarian. I don't eat anything that

> f*cks" *

>

>

> *Now, I know some pedant will now point out that

> fish don't techincally f*ck (fertilisation of the

> eggs happens outside the fish) but if you take

> f*ck in this context to mean reproduce sexually

> (as in by fusion of male and female gametes)then

> it's not a bad definition.

As a proud pedant I'd also point out that a cow, minced into little pieces, formed into a hamburger and shoved into a bread bun is not, technically or otherwise, capable of f*cking anything but my cholesterol levels.

[annaj]

I fairly certain she meant before slaughter and processing.

But to respond in kind to your pedantry, vegans don't eat eggs.