Catering for vegetarians at a house-warming party, do I need to provide separate food?

[IslandCanary]

Everyone is bringing a dish, so far most of these contain meat/fish (apart from the salad) as we're doing tapas-style.

One couple have just told me they are vegetarian.

Do I need to ask everyone to bring vegetarian dishes instead? Or is it ok to just provide some salad/rice and let them bring a dish they can eat? I don't want them to feel excluded.

I find most vegetarian food bland and unpleasant and would rather have meat/fish dishes to cater for the majority (I'm planning to make spicy chicken wings, someone else is bringing meatballs, another is bringing battered tempura prawns, crispy squid, vegetable risotto etc.

If I need to provide more veggie options does anyone have any ideas?

bill

I dont understand, most vegetarians on here are saying that there is not enough vegetarian food at buffets

No one has said that anyone who eats meat should not be allowed salad or a dip, just that its frustrating to find that all the food you prefer to eat is gone

I am sure that dh would feel the same way if someone ate all the pork pies

Why not ask your DH? He sounds like quite an expert on how vegetarians should behave.

Well since you ask he said he would rather improvise with what he could eat or sort something out elsewhere than encourage extra meat eating by restricting the vegetarian options to those who feel they meet the correct moral and ideological requirements. But then he's a vegetarian because he, y'know, doesn't like animals being killed and that. And he's prepared to put in a bit of effort to prevent that.

hound

I live in hampshire and im very friendly (and hungry after this thread)

Although the best thing about the thread isnt the arguing

Its the people determinedly ignoring the arguing and posting meal plans

Though its their fault im hungry

How about simple stuff like olives, Italian-style peppers, mushrooms and artichokes (under oil), Spanish omelette cut into wedges, Indian snacks (pakoras, bhajis, samosas etc). Tomato, basil and mozzarella salad is easy to make in largish quantities. Hummus and other dips are good with flatbreads and tortillas.

It does seem slightly unfair if pesky pescatarians (like I guess I am) are singled out for criticism - I guess we please neither "side" with our middle of the road approach?
But as I mentioned in my other explanations it can be a considered choice - especially for humanitarian and/or health reasons.
And anyway, most, like me, will be mainly vegetarian in their diet.
Also nothing wrong with a bit of moderation in things?

Rufus, you're more than welcome, it may be a bit of a trek for lunch though, we're oop North.

And yes, I'm ignoring the arguing, I'm all about the food (and wine)!

Proginoskes thankfully, so far, my friends have been kind enough to tolerate my vegetarian beliefs and wouldn't dream of expecting me to buy and cook meat for them. Why would they, when they know that I don't want to buy, touch, cook or eat meat?

I think the best thing on here Rufus is PIE TALK.

Why would they, when they know that I don't want to buy, touch, cook or eat meat?
...for the same reason that I think aubergine is about the foulest thing in creation, the smell of it cooking kind of turns my stomach, but I get all kinds of compliments on the veggie moussaka I make sometimes when a vegetarian main is needed? Sometimes we go to some trouble and inconvenience for our guests instead of stubbornly refusing to yield one tiny iota.

Wow this thread is making me hungry

Why the hell would you cook with aubergine if you have a strong moral/ethical objection to it?! Perfectly possible to make something else other than moussaka for guests, and if I discovered that you'd cooked something you find morally/ethically repugnant just to humour me I'd be horrified.

speaknowords I presume you wouldn't want these people with such morally/ethically repugnant views in your home at all. How do you even manage to work with omnivores?

Fgs. I find it morally repugnant for me to eat meat. I'd rather everyone else didn't eat meat too, but I don't get to make their choices for them. My DP is not a vegetarian. I deal with it exactly the same way that you deal with working with people who have different views to you, or when you invite people with different views into your home. I'm happy to put my reasons forward politely if asked, but otherwise I'll agree to disagree. It's not difficult.

I'm violently allergic to aubergines, if I eat any I can throw up for 2 weeks or more. It's best I avoid them.

I have a phobia about green apples (interesting fact), no-one gets served apple pie at my house. They have yet to demand it and claim I am wilfully ignoring their pudding preferences.

I would be utterly perplexed by being served meat at a vegetarian's house, especially as it would probably be inferior to the vegetarian dishes they are more used to cooking.

I've spoken about being a good host, likewise being a good guest involves delightfully receiving whatever your host has been kind enough to cook.

I think some people would be better served by never leaving the house. Ever.

"...but then don't accept dinner invitations that you know you will refuse to take the trouble to reciprocate properly."

Because offering meat is the only way to host and not liking aubergine is totally the same thing as abandoning deeply held ethical beliefs.

I wouldn't kick cats or swear at children or steal things to fit in with other people who felt that that was acceptable behaviour either. It's not to do with "stubbornly refusing to yield one tiny iota"

...because my SIL's favourite dish is veggie moussaka and for the parties when I know she's going to be there, I like to make it for her? Because I like seeing her happy? Same reason I catered my brother's first wedding - all vegan - and made a whole bunch of food, some of which I thought was delicious, ALL of which my new SIL thought was delicious, and about half of which I wouldn't have touched with a ten foot pole?

By the by, how is the air up there on the High Horse of Ethical Repugnance, anyhow?

Ooooh, is that a Jammy Dodger? I love those, thanks!

I wouldn't kick cats or swear at children or steal things to fit in with other people who felt that that was acceptable behaviour either. It's not to do with "stubbornly refusing to yield one tiny iota"

Not many cat-kickers around here, our kids swear back if anyone swears at them and I'm not asking you to STEAL the meat, I'm just saying if you've been hosted by an omnivore who has changed how they do things for you to make you welcome in their home, it creates a reciprocal obligation on your part to make them similarly comfortable in your home.

I don't understand how you can make food that you don't consider to be delicious, do you taste it whilst cooking and think, 'That's foul, should be ok for those vegan types'??

When I'm cooking whatever I'm cooking I taste it and think, 'ohh, that's delicious' or 'ohh, nearly there, just needs a bit of lemon/salt/sugar whatever'.

If I thought it was foul, how would I know when I got it just right?

Am genuinely confused.

Are you genuinely uncomfortable eating vegetarian food Prog, does it cause you feelings of sadness? Or are you just being confrontational for the sake of it?

Ah, so you don't hold any ethical or moral positions at all then, Proginoskes? Completely amoral and happy to do whatever you think will be acceptable in the current company you're keeping?

Nah, jammy dodgers have just ceased to be vegan.

"Everyone is bringing a dish, so far most of these contain meat/fish (apart from the salad) as we're doing tapas-style."

Huh? You do realise that tapas-style doesn't mean "every single dish has meat in it", right?

Also finding it a bit weird and sad that you can't visualise a single dish that could be appealing, that doesn't contain meat. Some horizons need broadening if your life.

Basically by using the same recipe given to me by someone who'd made a moussaka that everyone (uh, except me that is) loved, and yeah, I did taste it while cooking and I'd kind of shudder and think 'Okay, more lemon and maybe a little more pepper' or 'Hmm, yeah, that's just about it! That's what I remember.'

I've worked in a professional kitchen before and you kind of have to put personal preference to the side (barring allergies or religious prohibitions) because food has to be tasted before being served whether the cook likes it or not otherwise you risk, say, sending out a dish with either way too much or almost no salt and having it sent back. I really dislike pork (unless in the form of bacon or sausage) but I still make it for the kids and DH (and still taste the sauce, haha) and will just throw on a piece of salmon for myself those nights.