to think it tedious that vegetarians never reciprocate the favour

[Hermi0ne]

Now, I´m not mightily peed off at this, and I really dont want to offend any veg´s here but I have quite a few veg friends and over the years you invite ppl over for meals and in turn get invited etc. I always cater for their vegetarian lifestyle choice (because thats what it is, its not an allergy, thats different), but they never cater for mine. This is just something I´ve been musing about for awhile now, nothing too serious. But I really like my meat and think its unfair that vegetarians expect meat eaters to pander to them but most of them never even dream of doing meat eaters the same favour!

Ah! suzanneyeswecan mines not

Tomato of course it is, otherwise it would be your pet hamster posting on the internet, rather than you

I think hunter gatherer communities were/are mostly scavangers. Humans are actually lousy hunters and many hunter gatherer societies worship animals.

Well in that case, they'd be scavenger-gatherer communities. Humans scavenged, yes. One of the reasons we have survived is that we are very adaptable in what we eat. But it's odd to say that humans are lousy hunters and I wonder where that idea comes from. You can both worship an animal and hunt it. In fact, one probably helps the other. But if you read articles like this you'll see that things such as inventing arrow and spear tips enabled us to hunt better.

I'd be interested to see the evidence that we aren't good at hunting. I agree that humans have changed and are adaptable. I don't think we got as many calories as we sometimes like to think we did from meat alone. But "lousy" hunters?

Humans are well adapted for persistence hunting, can't run all that fast but are good at long distances to hunt down antelopes etc.

When you say we are not good hunters I guess you mean in the sense that lions and tigers are??

I can't plow through 10 pages but I agree with the OP completely. It's called politeness and being welcoming and thoughtful. I always cater for vegetarian tastes when they come to my house so how about some reciprocation.

Some folk are severely lacking in imagination regarding food if they think you can only eat well and varied and interesting dishes if you have meat in the mix...

As to the op - if that is how you feel there is nothing I can do about it. If you are one of my friends... meh. The op comes across as petty and lacking in empathy.

I would rather serve up a dish I can taste and verify it is properly seasoned etc. than attempt to cook a meat dish when I have never done so. I would worry about giving everyone a horrible meal rather than a tasty and well tested delicious one! [shrug emoticon] I always go all out on the puds anyway and I think most folks don't want pork in their apple pie or bacon in their cake??? So most folk leave satisfied after a meal at mine - peace.

When you compare human hunters with other hunting animals, we are not top or even close to it. Even with spears and arrows. We are physically weaker than all other large apes and we are considerably slower than most other hunters. Modern hunter gatherer communities eat meat once or twice a week, sometimes less. Many times men come back empty handed.

Teatowel, does the same apply to Jewish/Muslim/Hindu/Buddhist etc hosts? Do they need to cook things they choose not to eat for religious reasons in order to be polite, welcoming and thoughtful?

That makes sense tomato but I wasn't arguing that humans are good hunters in the sense that some larger animals are. IMO we're good hunters in that despite our relatively small size, we can bring down large prey. We can do it because we can form tools and because we're very good at co-operative hunting. No, I don't buy into the myth that humans' calorific needs were met largely by hunting. But we're not "lousy" hunters either. As for coming back empty-handed, the same can be said for many predators.

I am picturing maninawomansworld creeping about stalking the cattle on his beef farm. Do they present much of a challenge?

Mitchell & Webb

No of course I'm not surprised that some vegetarians are disgusted by handling meat. That's fine.
But this thread was about accepting each other's beliefs enough to have dinner together. I think the OP is being totally unreasonable in expecting a vegetarian to cook meat for her just because she cooks a veggie meal for them. Ridiculous actually.
But I think it's equally unreasonable for vegetarians in this conversation to be so judgemental and disgusted that some people eat meat.

"But I think it's equally unreasonable for vegetarians in this conversation to be so judgemental and disgusted that some people eat meat."

I don't like that either. However it's hardly surprising on a thread which started by saying that cooking vegetarian food for vegetarian guests was "pandering" to them...........

Don't invite vegetarians over if you feel so resentful serving a mushroom risotto every now and then.

I told my veggie mate I can't eat mushrooms.
She didn't look impressed.

I'm a vegetarian who cooks meat. I'm not an 'eating flesh is disgusting' vegetarian though. I often cook dishes that can split into meat and veggie portions, or something that can have meat thrown on top.

We eat a lot of grazing-type food though - salads, tapas, etc. It's very easy to account for different requirements.

I always cook meat when hosting. Again though, usually something comprised of a selection of dishes e.g. fajitas, tapas. If hosting formally, I chuck a rack of lamb in the oven - seems pretty foolproof.

Oh god... I didn't mean to get everyone so worked up about hunting.

I enjoy hunting deer, boar, pheasant, duck etc (which live on my land along with my cattle). I enjoy eating what I kill and I won't apologise for it.
I've just been out actually and shot a bunch of woodpigeon. I am currently warming the pan for a breakfast of pigeon and black pudding with redcurrant sauce on toast. As fresh as it gets, totally organic, zero food miles, the animal has never seen the inside of a cage and it cost me the price of a shotgun cartridge. Seriously, what's not to like about that?

If more people had this experience (even if just once) I firmly believe that animal welfare standards would rise as people would connects that anonymous bit of meat in a plastic tray with the animal in the field. Hopefully then people would insist on higher welfare standards across the meat industry and (shock horror) may even be prepared to dig a little deeper into their purses to pay for it.

Anyway - I still wouldn't expect a veggie to serve me meat. I respect that they have different views to me and would hate any veggie friends of mine to feel under pressure to go against their sincerely held beliefs.

By the same token I expect some courtesy in return by way of veggies not judging me for eating meat. What do you say - fair enough?

I have much more respect for someone who kills their own meat than someone who buys it out of Waitrose.

Hopefully then people would insist on higher welfare standards across the meat industry and (shock horror) may even be prepared to dig a little deeper into their purses to pay for it

I agree that it would be much better if there were higher welfare standards, if animals were raised and killed humanely.
Also if those who choose to eat meat faced up to where it comes from.
BUT afaik we can only supply the demand for meat via factory farming which involves cruelty and suffering.
If everyone wanted to get their meat using your method Manina, well it just wouldn't happen, there is not and never could be enough free range meat to go round. ?

...we'd run out of woodpigeon PDQ if everyone wanted to shoot one for breakfast

I don't think you can expect vegetarians to prepare meat for you. Depending on why they're vegetarian, perhaps. I wouldn't have been prepared to serve up dead animal (sorry!) because that was your preference.

I'm vegan which my friends cook for me (I insist I'll eat the veggies as the evening with good friends as company outweighs the food 100 times) but they embrace the challenge (so I'm told).

When friends come to me I cook a completely vegan meal but buy steak and chicken which my husband will cook on the BBQ and bring it in as I can't bear the smell of meat cooking. They still eat the vegan part just with the meat added. Everyone is happy and I try not to look at the bloody steak.

Really, dinner with friends is about the friendship not the food in my mind.

I've been veggie for 6 years, my DP for 13. He is a chef for a living and has been all his working life so obviously cooks meat on a regular basis for work. I am also the only vegetarian in my family.

I personally have no issue cooking meat for people and am of the thought that people have their choices and I have mine. If someone is kind enough to go to the effort of cooking me a meal and going out of their way to accommodate me I will absolutely return the favour. Don't get me wrong, touching meat makes me awfully squeamish but if people have gone to effort for me then I think it's polite to do the same.

This has just reminded me of sharing a house when I was a student and the engineer in the house used my wok to cook his steaks in.

Well, the smell was absolutely stomach churning, and I couldn't use the wok again (it always reeked)

Cooking meat isn't an on off switch for someone who eschews animal products. It's very difficult to be around raw meat, and the smell of cooking meat and cooked meat is really gag making for me. I worked on a sheep farm, in a poultry house and in an abattoir, so know how "meat" is produced

Vegetarian food is quite lovely and light. When I invite people for dinner, they all love the food, and we have a very good time around the table.

In some way it's the company rather than the food, but when I know that food is ethically produced, and prepared, it adds to the bonhomie experience.

By the same token I expect some courtesy in return by way of veggies not judging me for eating meat. What do you say - fair enough?

Completely agree with this maninawomansworld. I don't eat meat, my DH does and we let our dc's choose for themselves. Only one has become vegetarian. If anyone wants meat in the family DH cooks it which is great as it means cooking is split 50 /50. Win win.