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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Eating beef in the house

231 replies

Frazzled252 · 26/02/2026 19:09

Partner is an atheist but was raised Hindu and is very aggressive about me eating beef. I have told him I will eat beef as it’s his belief not mine. I ate it in the house tonight and he has called me an a**ehole and is demanding I throw away the plate and cutlery I ate it on, yet he goes to many restaurants where they serve beef and eats on those plates. AIBU?

OP posts:
beAsensible1 · 26/02/2026 22:37

I don’t allow pork in the house either. I think if you partners culture has a sacred animal it’s poor form to eat it in the house.

MrsBennetsPoorNervesAreBack · 26/02/2026 22:37

NotAnotherScarf · 26/02/2026 22:06

What bit of atheist don't you understand?

The guy is a controlling prick. He sits next to you when you eat a big Mac in the car but not happy at home if you eat beef? That's just odd and I think away to control you.

I understand what atheist means. I am one.

I also understand that the aversion to beef is as much cultural as it is religious. What part of culture do you not understand?

As I said in my original post, he sounds awful. But I disagree that it is controlling to not want certain types of meat in your house.

RaineMcDonald · 26/02/2026 22:36

JHound · 26/02/2026 20:59

It’s not a control issue. She was upfront and he could have easily not dated / married her.

She’s vegetarian, but she’s not averse to having meat cooked in the house.
She’s not “particularly observant,” yet she’s averse to having pork cooked in the house. Doesn’t make sense.

MrsBennetsPoorNervesAreBack · 26/02/2026 22:34

Pinkissmart · 26/02/2026 22:32

Her? He’s calling her an asshole!!

Yes. Did you read the bit of my post where I said that he sounds awful?

What's your point, exactly?

Pinkissmart · 26/02/2026 22:33

Knittedanimal · 26/02/2026 22:13

Don't eat beef?
It's bad for you, the planet, and your relationship.

For heaven’s sake, really?

So OP’s husband can be aggressive and call her an asshole?

Pinkissmart · 26/02/2026 22:32

MrsBennetsPoorNervesAreBack · 26/02/2026 19:20

He sounds awful but you also don't sound like you're cut out to be in an intercultural relationship.

Her? He’s calling her an asshole!!

thinktoomuchtoooften · 26/02/2026 22:28

You both need to learn some respect.

FlatErica · 26/02/2026 22:25

If he’s happy to put up with it in restaurants, he should bloody well put up with it at home.

PurpleThistle7 · 26/02/2026 22:22

blackpooolrock · 26/02/2026 22:15

I can't believe how many people seem to support your husband.

What if he told you what to wear or how to do your hair??

It's controlling behaviour and so is telling you what to eat in the house. Calling you an asshole because you won't do what he tells you is verging on abuse.

It 100% depends on what was agreed beforehand. My parents kept a kosher home and my dad agreed to that before they were married. It would therefore be super problematic if he just brought home some shrimp one day. But if they agreed they could each do what they liked then it’s really awful to lose your temper like that over nothing.

blackpooolrock · 26/02/2026 22:15

I can't believe how many people seem to support your husband.

What if he told you what to wear or how to do your hair??

It's controlling behaviour and so is telling you what to eat in the house. Calling you an asshole because you won't do what he tells you is verging on abuse.

FaceBothered · 26/02/2026 22:14

Oooh controversial thread poster disappears.

Who'da thought it?

Zanatdy · 26/02/2026 22:13

My ex is Muslim and I am not, but didn’t cook pork at home whilst I lived with him. He would have a problem with the plate thing too.

Knittedanimal · 26/02/2026 22:13

Don't eat beef?
It's bad for you, the planet, and your relationship.

PurpleThistle7 · 26/02/2026 22:11

I am Jewish and grew up keeping kosher. Stopped for myself at 13 but of course still lived with my parents. There is something intrinsically different about seeing something on your own plates even if it doesn’t bother you elsewhere.

but all this should have been discussed before you moved in together. I have plenty of friends with all sorts of dietary choices, many who are different to their partners, and they figure it out. No need for either of you to be nasty about it.

NotAnotherScarf · 26/02/2026 22:11

Dappy777 · 26/02/2026 21:49

Well maybe your colleague was right. Ordering a steak that “bled all over the plate” is nothing to boast about. You seem to think what you did was funny. I wonder if you’d find a slaughterhouse funny? I knew someone who worked in a slaughterhouse. He is now a strict vegetarian and still has nightmares about the things he saw.

Geeee you must get lots of party invites.

So you would be happy for me to work with you and constantly criticise your food choices. O look that's got 250 calories in. O that's got lots of palm oil that's bad for the planet. Soya milk, that kills orangutans. Nuts o you can't eat nuts in public because someone might have a nut allergy

It drives you fucking mental

gototogo · 26/02/2026 22:10

My friend is married to a Jewish woman so doesn’t eat pork etc in the house but being an atheist (born Jewish) he would nip around for a ham sandwich especially during Passover when they don’t eat levened bread. He knew his wife’s views and respected them in the house

TrashHeap · 26/02/2026 22:08

He's being a dickhead.

NotAnotherScarf · 26/02/2026 22:06

MrsBennetsPoorNervesAreBack · 26/02/2026 19:20

He sounds awful but you also don't sound like you're cut out to be in an intercultural relationship.

What bit of atheist don't you understand?

The guy is a controlling prick. He sits next to you when you eat a big Mac in the car but not happy at home if you eat beef? That's just odd and I think away to control you.

outofsounds · 26/02/2026 22:04

Dear God. I honestly don’t know how people have the time or energy to be wound up over such stupid things. The man’s an atheist FFS. And even if he wasn’t how do people live with this nonsense? Life is short. Tell him to focus on stuff that actually matters. He’ll be dead soon. We’ll all be dead soon.

VoiceFromThePit · 26/02/2026 21:59

Throw HIM away

CakeMeHomeIveSeenEnough · 26/02/2026 21:54

You aren't compatible. I couldn't accept someone telling me what I could and couldn't eat at my own table, not be mention facing insults if I wanted to eat beef using my own plates and cutlery.

This is why living with someone who has beliefs so incompatible with your own is usually a bad idea.

Dappy777 · 26/02/2026 21:49

TheDaysAreGettingLongerAtLast · 26/02/2026 20:30

He's an ass.
Kick him into orbit.
This won't work out.

I had a colleague like him once who lectured me constantly on the evilness of eating meat including once when we were in a restaurant trying to order food...
As a result, I ordered a nice big steak and instead of my usual medium-rare asked for rare so it bled all over the plate and I've never enjoyed a steak as much.

Well maybe your colleague was right. Ordering a steak that “bled all over the plate” is nothing to boast about. You seem to think what you did was funny. I wonder if you’d find a slaughterhouse funny? I knew someone who worked in a slaughterhouse. He is now a strict vegetarian and still has nightmares about the things he saw.

CantBreathe90 · 26/02/2026 21:47

Seems straight forward enough to have a "beef plate" in your house, and only cook it when he's out. Or just eat it out of the house, as it's his home too 🤷‍♀️ I mean... we only eat beef maybe once a week at ours, it's not an integral part of our lives! Just eat something else?

My SIL is disgusted by pork, for cultural reasons, and we all try to be a bit sensitive around it when we see her. My brother does still have pork, but never in the house. Same as she is respectful over things that are important to us. Same as we all try to be generally nice and not piss off people we care about.

Not ideal that he called you an arsehole, but in the world outside of MN I think most people have snapped at their partner at some point. If you're both constantly swearing at and antagonising each other, that's a bigger deal and needs addressing.

Notashamed13 · 26/02/2026 21:45

Longtimelurkerfinallyposts · 26/02/2026 21:42

why did you move in together?

Mooove in together you mean (sorry bad taste)

Abd80 · 26/02/2026 21:43

How is eating beef more offensive than calling your spouse an a**hole ??!!!