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?

It always puzzles me that the people who claim to be vegetarian but eat chicken/fish/bacon make those exceptions as if they don't count as 'real' meat.

If they are setting an acceptable ethical level for themselves, it is probably the case that beef or lamb is less bad than fish/bacon or chicken because beef and lamb are raised less intensively than most pork or chicken and the act of fishing is a relatively traumatic death for the fish, even if it had a nice life beforehand, which probably isn't the case anyway for things like intensively farmed prawns and salmon.

Being an omnivore isn't about the amount of meat or fish someone eats.

Even if you eat one bacon sandwich a year, if you have no moral, ethical or religious objections to eating it, you are an omnivore.

"Flexitarian", my arse.

"who give actual vegetarians and vegans a bad name"

I think it's just one more thing we all need to take on board that some people make stricter choices about their diets than others.

I do get though that the words "vegetarian" and "vegan" do have a specific meaning, which shouldn't really be used otherwise.

There are plenty of tasty veggie dishes you could try - Mediterranean stuffed peppers, , Spiced aubergine bake, Spinach & ricotta rotolo

Have a look on the BBC food site!

From an animal welfare point of view I doubt vegetarianism is any more defensible than meat-eating: even "good" dairy and egg production is pretty brutal.

There's something of a continuum, really; I do know "actual" vegetarians who've never considered checking cheese labels, still less wine or beer. But I think we could assume a consensus on which side of the line prawns and chicken sit.

Juggling I would never, and have never, viewed a pescatarian as anyone other than someone making an effort to reduce consumption. I don't hold with 'all or nothing'. Every Little Helps (TM).

even "good" dairy and egg production is pretty brutal.

Well, I'm impressed it's taken 26 pages before someone brought this up

I would imagine most meat eaters also eat dairy and eggs, so it seems strange to criticise vegetarians for this, unless you're talking about the kind of vegetarian who claims the moral high ground over meat eaters, which IME doesn't describe most vegetarians.

And most people I know eat free range or organic eggs these days whether vegetarian or not.

A salad or hot dish with pulses is a good source protein and can be really tasty

Haven't rtft because it's enormously long, but those of you insisting that veggie dishes at a party must be labelled 'VEGETARIAN' - I'm not sure how that would help. If I were at the party, I would assume the label just meant 'doesn't contain meat' rather than 'Fuck off and eat only the meaty dishes, carnivores!'.

If I were catering a buffet for a party of omnivores and vegetarians, I would assume that the crisps, dips, salads, cheese, vegetable dishes etc would be eaten by all guests (and would therefore make enough for all), and the meat dishes would only be eaten by the omnivores. Why on earth would the non-vegetarians have to only eat meat dishes?

Thanks Maid, I was thinking of all sorts of choices not only pescatarians, however rational or not we may think people's choices are - in a way being strict (and consistent! ) about your diet is only one of many possible approaches?
Anyway, as you say, every little helps, and eating more fruit and vegetables compared to meat is a really good thing for your health too.

If I were at the party, I would assume the label just meant 'doesn't contain meat' rather than 'Fuck off and eat only the meaty dishes, carnivores!

And that's why RTFT is always a good idea

I generally cater most parties with a majority of vegetarian food (which does not have to be bland at all) and a small amount of meat because it is more inclusive; 2 sisters, a brother and sister in law and a daughter who are veggie, but i like veggie food and it is healthier to only eat a small amount of meat anyway.

I usually do a big salad with peppadew peppers, spinach, lettuce, coriander, feta cheese, green beans, red pepper and a garlic and herb dressing, hot stuffed mushrooms, cheese board (avoiding rennet), I love the findlaters pates, hummous, crisps, melba toasts, breadsticks and a veggie curry with quorn chicken, cashew nuts etc.

I add meat pate and usually some kind of hot chicken as a supplement to what is a essentially a veggie meal.

I have RTFT; and there are posters suggesting that meat eaters should FOAEOTMD.

I don't know I thought Tehlu summed the thread up quite well Rhonda?!
Sometimes a new voice is quite refreshing?

I was just about to post a grovelling apology for the heinous crime of not rtft. Maybe I won't bother after all. Thanks Juggling and multivac

I disagree that merciful is a fresh voice on this thread.

billsykesdog et al posted pretty much the same thing several pages ago with the same level of hyperbole.

billsykesdog was posting about the duck! The DUCK!!! Who on earth would not choose a DUCK? Even vegetarians might be tempted!

Disaster strikes when vegetarians can eat salad and meat eaters are left with hot dogs.

So yeah, thanks merciful, voice of reason.

I have once (and once only) been specifically asked to NOT eat from a plate with a 'vegetarian' label on it, and thought that was bonkers. (This was a corporate party, not a private one.)

Ok I admit that the 'Fuck off... carnivores' bit might have been a little o.t.t. but I don't think there's anything wrong with my actual point - i.e. generally everyone eats vegetables and some people eat meat, so catering accordingly seems reasonable. I'll just pop off and rtft and see if that changes my mind...

billsykesdog posted about a lot of things, stuff, not just the duck

Have pretty much rtft. So, in summary... some hosts do not serve sufficient quantities of vegetable/dairy/carb-type dishes (a.k.a. normal dishes that don't happen to contain meat) to cater for all guests. Instead of (quite rightly) suggesting that what a host should do is provide plenty of non-meat dishes for everyone (because after all, so-called meat-eaters are ALL in fact omnivores ), some vegetarians would prefer to ban the omnivores from eating any non-meat dishes, or insist that vegetarians be invited to serve themselves first at every buffet. I don't think that's very reasonable.

I find it hard to believe that many non-vegetarians (of my generation or younger, certainly) see food as divided into vegetarian or non-vegetarian. There are plenty of dishes I'd serve to my family or friends as a main course which don't contain meat, but they are just 'food', not 'vegetarian food'.

From an animal welfare point of view I doubt vegetarianism is any more defensible than meat-eating: even "good" dairy and egg production is pretty brutal
Well, let's say a vegetarian contributes to x amount of cruelty to hens, and y amount of cruelty to cows. The meat eater also has x+y, plus also z, p, q and r in the form of cruelty to the cows, lambs, sheep, and fish they consume. X+y < x+y+z+p+q+r.

Vege samosas and spring rolls are nice as well as lovely crunchy bread, olives and cheeses.

I don't think that's very reasonable
And did you read the personal experiences of vegetarians who have been left without food at buffets? Do you think it's unreasonable to suggest they go first to ensure they get ANYTHING to eat?

There are plenty of dishes I'd serve to my family or friends as a main course which don't contain meat, but they are just 'food', not 'vegetarian food'.

The difference is significant to a vegetarian, though - surely you can see that?