Vegetarian options to serve alongside a hog roast at a wedding

[securityrisk]

Casual wedding next summer, thoughts are hog roast for the main meal. What would you serve as a vegetarian option that fits the same vibe?

I'd appreciate any advice and experiences of this type of menu.

Or is it a really bad idea 😬

You dont know any vegetarians like this. You just know a lot of people who don't eat meat but eat fish. Vegetarians have never eaten fish. Why would you want a dead pig sitting at your wedding. I mean I know I'm veggie, but really?

Because it tastes nice.

If they eat seafood, they are not veggie.

Don't do fake meat. It's UPF crap.

Your sides sound lovely but just a heads up that most pesto isn’t actually vegetarian as it contains gran Padano or Parmesan both of which are made using animal rennet. You can buy vegetarian pesto - not sure if they use an alternative vegetarian hard cheese but personally we prefer the free from vegan one that just has no cheese in at all. Tastes nicer IMO.

But in order for it to be called Parmesan or Gran Padano it has to be made in a specific way and that way includes rennet taken from a calf’s stomach lining.

Good point. Its not something i would have thought about mentioning. I was a veggie for so long I either make my own or pick up ones I know are vegetarian.

I don’t think it occurs to most non veggies that some cheese isn’t vegetarian (how many times have you had the conversation “no I don’t mean vegan, I mean not vegetarian”?!). Let alone that pesto contains cheese.

Having said that got into a really circular discussion the other day with a restaurant that kept trying to give me Parmesan. And I kept saying it isn’t veggie and he kept saying it is. Eventually he went and got the cheese in its wrapper which did say vegetarian on it and he said “if we served real Parmesan we’d go out of business” 😂

They use Pecorino, which I use if making my own. Sacla Organic and Tesco fresh pesto are both veggie, with Pecorino.

It is very frustrating trying to make people understand that Parmesan and Grana Padano isn't vegetarian, you would think restaurants should know that by now.

I've been veggie since the days that most cheddar wasn't vegetarian, Walker's cheese and onion wasn't vegetarian until about 20 years ago. Mini Cheddars still aren't!

I always buy Tesco Pecorino as it is vegetarian. I'm not a vegetarian but DD is and I am well used to reading food labels.

I'm often confused by mainly other cultures thinking that vegetarians eat fish though. Why is this?

Had a hog roast at my wedding and it went down a treat with everyone. We had a couple of vegetarians at the wedding, who we had an alternative option for but they both were happy to just eat the sides. (Can't remember what they were but tasty salads and so forth).
My cousin also had a hog roast at his wedding and again, no issues!

@securityrisk , I’m vegetarian and have been for nearly 60 years. I don’t eat meat substitutes at all nor does my vegetarian son his vegan wife or their vegetarian/vegan children.
My suggestion would be to go with something suitable for vegans so probably lentil/bean/tofu/tempeh based like a cassoulet which would keep warm well and easily and sit happily alongside the sides. I’d avoid cheese, a) because it’s not vegan and b) because it won’t necessarily be vegetarian cheese and so won’t be suitable anyway.
In my experience well meaning meat eaters have limited understanding of what vegetarians and to a lesser extent vegans (because many of them are more recent converts and seem to actually welcome things which resemble meat) want to eat.
I hope you have a lovely day.

I didn't say or imply that it was, and I completely agree!

I agree about the faux meat. Most people who eat that are people trying to cut down on meat, rather than vegans/vegetarians.

Having said that, I am an exception as I do eat it quite regularly. I am on low carb/high protein as I work out a lot. I make my own seitan (which isn't a fake meat but an ancient food, but it has a very similar feel to meat and plays the same role in meals) most of the time, but sometimes I don't have time to do that.

If I am at a BBQ or picnic for example, I'll grab some 'faux meat' burgers. I don't really think of them as 'faux meat' but rather something to put in a burger bun (or roll instead of a 'meat' sausage etc or if I am at a dinner party at my parents' I'll take some faux chicken for them to use in the meat dish etc etc. It cuts out the feeling of being 'othered' I guess!

Sorry, I agree you didn’t - that was more of a ‘yes, and…’ than a ‘yes, but…’!

Falafel wraps

(FWIW I’m not a veggie and have no issue with meat looking like an animal but I’ve never had a hog roast that was pleasant to eat- they tend to pre-cook and then the meat ends up weirdly sloppy. I’d probably go for the falafel.)

I think you will need to put on more vegetarian options than the number of veggies you are expecting.

Every party, meeting, gathering where there are veggie options for the veggies, the meat eaters decide they like the look of it and help themselves, fair enough, the food is for everyone, however if the veggies aren't first in line there is seldom anything left for them.

I would imagine this would apply even more so if you have people carving up a full pig in front of their eyes!

I’d get a company that does the huge paella pans, one veggie, one not.

Or a burrito van

Or similar

I think a lot of people don't appreciate fish are animals .
Or some people find it's easier than saying " I don't eat meat or chicken"
But mainly they do not compute that fish are living until they die and it's not a peasant death with trawling

Catering-van-style food works in 2 kinds of circumstances
(1) if an event is so freeflowing and informal that there are no set times when everyone is expecting to get food, and so no big queues form because there's no timetable
(2) if there's 4 or 5 different choices of different food style.

It's miserable being at a wedding having to queue for 45 minutes for your food, and seeing all the people who were at the front of the queue moving on to whatever is planned for "after food" when you haven't been fed yet.

A hog roast or pizza van or similar can work as a food option during the evening do when the main catering was earlier in the day and you're only feeding the evening-only guests and the few people whose appetite exceeded what was given in the earlier meal. It really shouldn't be the main food. It's not designed for getting a large number of people served in a swift amount of time.

Sides is disrespectful when ppl spend so much to go to a wedding. Also pesto isn't vegetarian so at least make sure your caterer is aware. Someone else mentioned fish. Vegetarians do no eat fish strict or otherwise. Pescetarians eat fish

The name is pescetarian. They arent vegetarian if they eat fish

I used to call them 'Fish and Chipocrites' when I was young (I wouldn't now)!

But it is annoying when people perpetuate 'some vegetarians eat fish' because that's how fish ends up on vegetarian menus in many establishments. Use the correct term, or even just 'I eat fish but no other meat'. Don't call yourself a vegetarian while eating animal flesh, even if you are selective about it.

Do you mean because the cheese may not be vegetarian? Vegetarian pesto is available, if the cheese is correct.

Round here, hog roast is a pretty popular choice. Smells amazing. Though agree that the vegetarian choice needs protein.

I wouldn’t even mind if they said I eat vegetarian food and fish. I have had arguments in several restaurants/bars where they have tried to convince me that vegetarians eat fish.