Do most people think vegan food is utter shit? It's not!

[Ennuid]

And that we all just eat still eat pasta, salads and that vile tofu (yuk!) they used to make in the 90's?

I've been vegan for 15 years and let me tell you there isn't anything these days that you will miss in terms of taste or texture, the ''fake'' stuff is amazing and just as good, if not better than the real thing (not to mention much healthier). I mean meat, chicken, fish, cheese, melty cheese, ice cream, milk, yogurt, salami, pate, mayo, spreads, hot dogs, burgers, pizza, even eggs... literally anything you can imagine! Ask me anything you'd like to replace and I can come up with at least 2-3 great vegan alternatives.So may EU and US companies make really good stuff and the chinese fake meats are different but equally amazing. Every largish city will have at least a few veggie/vegan restaurants and stores (I have personal experience of Brighton, Edinburgh and Norwich).

The best thing you can do is visit one of the vegan fairs where you can get lots of free samples and see everything in one place. There seems to be a vegan fair just about everywhere in the UK nowadays (quite surreal since 5 years ago there were maybe 5 or so?) , here's a schedule for 2015: [edited by MN to remove possibly spammy address, we're sure MNers are smart enough to Google if needs be] .

There's even a new all vegan supermarket chain spreading all over Europe. Vegan is the new organic, baby!

I prefer to defend out British culture.

To me being pissed will always mean being drunk.

Seriously?? I'm British, never set foot in the US, and watch little TV so my exposure to American culture may be more limited than most. And I knew immediately what the poster meant without thinking her use of the word in that context was incongruous or out of place.

I've heard pissed used to mean "pissed off " many a time ... in the UK ... by Brits.

I don't actually believe you are a vegan.

Lolz. Burn, you, you, you... fake vegan.

How very Mumsnet.

I know Pumpkin where else would you get such ridiculousness?

One of my favourite cafes is a vegetarian and vegan one.
The salads, pastas, nut and vegetable dishes are delicious. The fake meat dishes are not very nice to me as a meat eater.
I think if you haven't eaten meat for a very long time maybe you might think they are meaty in texture and taste but they are not. I've heard lots of vegans and vegetarians claim mushrooms are like meat, they are certainly not to me.

I haven't read the whole thread but something came up in the first few pages which surprised me....I used to be vegetarian, not any more. One of my closest friends is vegan. I'm actually surprised when people ask "why does anyone want to eat fake meat, cheese etc". I understand concern around the ingredients but when I was veggie I ate Quorn burgers and sausages because I liked the taste. I guess it depends why people have given up whatever it is, but if you have given it up because you don't wish to eat animals, why wouldn't a fake thing be okay?

I asked an omnivore friend about this and she said "it's because being vegan is about being pure". This got me into a world of stuff that made me glad I didn't know her when I was vegetarian.

if anyone does know of vegan cheese that tastes decent, do please post because I know my friend would love to find such a thing.

Please have a

If its vegan that is

PS I have no idea why my omnivore friend thought veganism was about food purity, by the way.

Butterfly, the only one i find ok is violife. Not much taste but the texture is fairly convincing in a cheese sandwich or grated on a baked potato (though sadly it doesnt melt). However it is very much down to personal taste as i have tried some of the brands others have raved about and hated them, and a pp said they didnt like violife. Tescos sells violife.

"To me being pissed will always mean being drunk."

Same here

Anyway. DD and I went vegan for a week recently and the only things I missed were proper cheese and dairy milk in my tea. We tried all the milk substitutes and found to our pleasant surprise that Rice Dream "milk" was not only a perfectly good substitute for milk, but was delicious. I really don't know why people stick with soya milk as it is revolting and leaves a powdery after taste in the mouth.

I am a keen baker and was very sceptical about being able to make a nice vegan cake, but was astounded when I made this cake. I took it to work and didn't tell anyone it was vegan and they loved it. DD loved it as well so I made another one and took it to the church fair, where it sold almost immediately.

We tried various cheese substitutes and found them utterly disgusting.

There's a vegan cafe in my town (though you would never get the availability of vegan food spoken about by the OP around here- definitely think you need to be in a city to find the resources spoken of. I've never heard of a vegan fair, for example), and I've enjoyed several dishes in there. I would never believe that vegan food is "shit".

However, you simply could never convince me to be entirely vegan- if that's your aim, and, to be honest, previous posters are right when they say the OP sounds like an ad.

I live by the sea: the idea of not eating any seafood, for even a week, does not appeal to me at all. If there are fake seafood dishes (I don't know of any myself), I'm afraid you'll have to keep them. I can't stomach (ha) the idea of fake alternatives to fresh crabs, lobster, oysters, sea bass, etc.

MillyMollyMandy78 - thank you! I will pass that on.

I just find it frustrating when other people insist on shitting all over other peoples experiences and are too closed minded to accept that they might differ from their own.

Honey, take it up with physics and biology, not me. Seitan is one substance, a cow is another. They are not indistinguishable. If you'd like to believe this is just my opinion, knock yourself out. I'm pretty sure a poll would agree with me, but you think whatever you like.

Now, I'm off to make my vegan meal that involves neither seitan or steak. Please do come back with that recipe though and I'll make that.

Not read the whole thread but ragged, people want to eat vegan meat and cheese as they liked non vegan meat and cheese but don't want to eat slaughtered animals. Not that hard to grasp surely.

Lots of vegan food isn't shit. I make a mean hummus, and most people wouldn't guess that my vegan lime cheesecake was made out of avocados and not cheese. My favourite nut milk is coconut.

Fake vegan food (ie pretend meat, cheese etc) is usually vile though. And pretty unnecessary when there is so much real vegan food which is delicious.

Given the choice between a plate full of salads, falafel and hummus and a plate of factory produced stuff pretending to be meat I know which one I'd choose...

jemima- I agree. Why make vegan food look like bacon.
So much vegan food is delicious. I love home made kofta or a chickpea tagine, I could drink cashew cream by the cupful. I love daal, my family adore my HM pakora, I have to make huge crispy piles of them as they go down so well.

I don't see the need for canned vegan duck meat ( I wouldn't even taste it the smell is vile)

It's not a very expansive view of food when everything has to look and taste like a piece of cheese, slice of ham etc.

YABU as fake meat and dairy stuff is a bit grim, but tofu is lush.

I'm quite intrigued by this "seitan" (pronounced sEEtan or sAtan?) Never heard of it.

I'm rather partial to M&S Chile sin carne - made with soya meat. But it seems to have been taken off the shelves.

I'd sooner eat my own arm than touch tofu.

the ''fake'' stuff is amazing and just as good, if not better than the real thing (not to mention much healthier). I mean meat, chicken, fish, cheese, melty cheese, ice cream, milk, yogurt, salami, pate, mayo, spreads, hot dogs, burgers, pizza, even eggs... literally anything you can imagine!

Any way of eating that relies on fake versions of real food in roder to seem interesting or be tolarable is not a way of eating that appeals to me.

But thanks.

Pronounced say-tan. It's great stuff, very versatile. Good sub in saucy things, say a sweet and sour or black bean sauce, amongst many other uses.

Seitan is a protein from wheat, made mostly of gluten. Wheat flour is washed to get rid of the starch and an elastic chewy substance left. It isn't a new invention and has been eaten in SE Asia for many hundreds of years.

I love all tofu, braised, fried. silken, firm, smoked. I have lived in SE Asia though so I am maybe biased.

I don't think vegan food is shit. I was vegan for 8 years and I'm still 90% vegan,
I love a good lentil curry or tofu stir fry but
I found after 8 years of being vegan that I was getting ill all of the time and was tired all of the time....I started to eat fish, eggs and some cheese and dairy back in January. I've been feeling much better lately. Still mostly eat vegan these days, in fact we've just had a lush tofu casserole for dinner, but I find vegan food isn't quite enough for me these days and I need to eat a bit of fish and some eggs too in order to feel fully well. I admire anyone who is fully vegan, but I just couldn't do it. I don't think I'm the only ex-vegan out there either, it is a very restrictive diet no matter which way you look at it. I quite enjoy going out to eat now and not having to worry about what I order, or having to eat a plain baked potato if there was nothing on the menu for me.

it is a very restrictive diet no matter which way you look at it. I quite enjoy going out to eat now and not having to worry about what I order

This is exaclty what I was trying to say. Being vegan is difficult and restrictive. An imo it will never be as enjoyable as a regular diet, if anything just because it lacks diversity. It annoys me when vegans are all 'oh vegan food is amazing, actually its tastier than a regular diet' because its not true. If it was then everyone would be vegan. No one is saying 'oh I really want to eat food that is less enjoyable and make sure millions of animals are tortured and killed in the process' are they?

It gets my back up when vegans paint the diet as all lightness and roses and wont admit that our diet is restrictive and requires a lot effort.

I'm still 90% vegan

Not sure if you can be 90% vegan, it;s a bit like being slightly pregnant.
I think even those who love meat will still eat mostly vegan food.

If a vegan diet was just as tasty as/better than a regular diet then surely almost everyone would be vegan. But people prioritise taste over animal welfare. Simple as that.