Veg or Non-Veg?

The most agonizing moment I face is when a stewardess or a railway caterer asks me about my food preference.

The question is quite simple: Veg or non-veg? And my answer to it is invariably “veg”. But that leads to a tortuous soul-searching about my gastronomic identity. Veg? Really?

I was brought up by an orthodox Tamil Brahmin mother who scorned carnivores of any species and did not touch onion and garlic on certain days to avoid the wrath of gods. She raised me on a breakfast of eggs on the ground that the doctor had recommended them for the (then) underweight boy and they were therefore medicine and not food.

I owe my present formidable size to that diet of eggs. My mother was totally unaware of the debate over fertilized and unfertilized eggs. Even If the eggs I ate were fertilized she would have insisted it was no sin to consume them as medicine.

The same logic prevailed when she kept swallowing cod liver oil capsules.or forced malt flavored shark liver oil down Yours Screaming Truly's throat.. Eggs? Fish oil? Medicine, not food. Thus our status as orthodox vegetarians remained unsullied.

I grew up resenting my mother’s aversion to my favourite vegetables onions and garlic. It was okay if she didn’t want to eat it but she insisted that we avoid them on festivals and other religious days. For instance, she told me that the two vegetables were taboo on Tuesday and Saturday lest we invite the wrath of Lord Hanuman.. I am sure Hanuman had better things to do than to breath down people’s neck to find out whether they are eating onion or garlic.

So I decided to become a rebel and turn into a carnivore after I joined college. But it wasn’t easy. My cultural conditioning as a Tamil Brahmin made it impossible for me to eat anything that moves on two, four or more legs. I opted for fish.(Thank you shark liver oil of my childhood!),

During my student days at an Italian university I was Dr.Jekyll for the first five days of the week surviving on bread, pasta, cheese, vegetables and fruit. But on Friday when the University cafeteria served fish, I became Mr.Hyde greedily forking it into my mouth.

My Bengali friends assured me that I still remained a “begetarian” as fish was neither meat nor chicken and was therefore veg. I need not feel guilty, they said. I did not feel guilty but the identity crisis began taking root.

Wait a minute! Did I say I lived on bread, pasta, cheese, vegetables and fruit.? Did I check whether the curdling agent of cheese was not calf rennet or some other animal product? And did I take a close look at the sauce for pasta? Nope.

My idea of vegetarianism is simple. Any food in which animal products are not visible is
vegetarian. I never bother to check whether my vegetable soup or my risotto had a meat stock base. Thus I blissfully consume French onion soup and stock Worcestershire sauce at home. Why shouldn’t I? After all, my orthodox mother never bothered to find out whether her sugar was bleached with animal bones.

My daughter is a chip of the old block. Once opening a jelly packet she found the advisory that it contained animal products. “Papa, do you see any animals in the jelly” she asked me. “No” I replied puzzled. “Oh well,” she said and popped the sweet into her mouth.

But my stomach still churns when I see someone making a meal of chicken or lamb. Does that make me a vegetarian?

And when asked about my food preference in a plane or train I can’t
say “Ovo-lacto sometimes pescatarian vegetarian who doesn’t give a damn about the stock used in his soup’ That would probably make the stewardess rush to the emergency exit with a parachute or make the railway caterer jump off the train in a fit of insanity.

So my answer to the question “Veg or non-veg?” is always

“Veg”.

Originally Posted by Balajee

The most agonizing moment I face is when a stewardess or a railway caterer asks me about my food preference.

The question is quite simple: Veg or non-veg? And my answer to it is invariably “veg”. But that leads to a tortuous soul-searching about my gastronomic identity. Veg? Really?

I was brought up by an orthodox Tamil Brahmin mother who scorned carnivores of any species and did not touch onion and garlic on certain days to avoid the wrath of gods. She raised me on a breakfast of eggs on the ground that the doctor had recommended them for the (then) underweight boy and they were therefore medicine and not food.

I owe my present formidable size to that diet of eggs. My mother was totally unaware of the debate over fertilized and unfertilized eggs. Even If the eggs I ate were fertilized she would have insisted it was no sin to consume them as medicine.

The same logic prevailed when she kept swallowing cod liver oil capsules.or forced malt flavored shark liver oil down Yours Screaming Truly's throat.. Eggs? Fish oil? Medicine, not food. Thus our status as orthodox vegetarians remained unsullied.

I grew up resenting my mother’s aversion to my favourite vegetables onions and garlic. It was okay if she didn’t want to eat it but she insisted that we avoid them on festivals and other religious days. For instance, she told me that the two vegetables were taboo on Tuesday and Saturday lest we invite the wrath of Lord Hanuman.. I am sure Hanuman had better things to do than to breath down people’s neck to find out whether they are eating onion or garlic.

So I decided to become a rebel and turn into a carnivore after I joined college. But it wasn’t easy. My cultural conditioning as a Tamil Brahmin made it impossible for me to eat anything that moves on two, four or more legs. I opted for fish.(Thank you shark liver oil of my childhood!),

During my student days at an Italian university I was Dr.Jekyll for the first five days of the week surviving on bread, pasta, cheese, vegetables and fruit. But on Friday when the University cafeteria served fish, I became Mr.Hyde greedily forking it into my mouth.

My Bengali friends assured me that I still remained a “begetarian” as fish was neither meat nor chicken and was therefore veg. I need not feel guilty, they said. I did not feel guilty but the identity crisis began taking root.

Wait a minute! Did I say I lived on bread, pasta, cheese, vegetables and fruit.? Did I check whether the curdling agent of cheese was not calf rennet or some other animal product? And did I take a close look at the sauce for pasta? Nope.

My idea of vegetarianism is simple. Any food in which animal products are not visible is
vegetarian. I never bother to check whether my vegetable soup or my risotto had a meat stock base. Thus I blissfully consume French onion soup and stock Worcestershire sauce at home. Why shouldn’t I? After all, my orthodox mother never bothered to find out whether her sugar was bleached with animal bones.

My daughter is a chip of the old block. Once opening a jelly packet she found the advisory that it contained animal products. “Papa, do you see any animals in the jelly” she asked me. “No” I replied puzzled. “Oh well,” she said and popped the sweet into her mouth.

But my stomach still churns when I see someone making a meal of chicken or lamb. Does that make me a vegetarian?

And when asked about my food preference in a plane or train I can’t
say “Ovo-lacto sometimes pescatarian vegetarian who doesn’t give a damn about the stock used in his soup’ That would probably make the stewardess rush to the emergency exit with a parachute or make the railway caterer jump off the train in a fit of insanity.

So my answer to the question “Veg or non-veg?” is always

“Veg”.

dear balajee,
now they have started advertising in papers in the matrimonial column calling for vegetarian brahmins now you know where they got it from right, children in school start this with their friends coaxing them to eat or get shunned, then they move on to the college where they would love to be with the adda again so cannot show preferences, and i remember so many muslim friends and my mom used to insist not even drinking tea in their house, and i had to hide the fact all the time, i cannot loose out on my friends, for the sake of these norms, it was one day a friend of mine was shouting at the top of her voice screaming not bothering about her neighbors or place nothing she was very worried about her status, reason, her daughter turns up home with a class mate a boy and after all that shouting the girl says mom you should had thought about these things before you got me an admission in the co-ed, how true, image maintenance is tough, and food that you love has to be consumed like thug is another unbearable offence to self, lovely post enjoyed it, but then...sunkan

Dear Balajee Sir,

HAHA.So u are a Fishtarian, is it ? So that makes me carnivorous.Dont u know most ladies here are Veggies, so this blog will not get the hits.HAHA.

I like anythiong that swims or wlaks on any number of legs.I will post a seperate blog regarding this matter, as i have a lot to say.I face the same problems day in and day out, with wife being a veg and me a non veg.

Good one.Regards.kamal

Sunkan, but then what? I don't consume fish like a thug. My mother, though she was orthodox brahmin had lot of Christian friends. She never shied away from playing host to my christian friends that too in the dining room which also doubled as pooja room. While in theory she was not liberal in many ways, in practice she was.If you have to hide some food habit, it is better to give it up.

Dear Kamalji, looks like your comment is prophetic. I am not getting that many hits. But strange, the veggie ladies are swarming over a beefeater like you. As far as you eating creatures with any legs is concerned I only hope youll spare the two-legged creatures.

Originally Posted by Balajee

Sunkan, but then what? I don't consume fish like a thug. My mother, though she was orthodox brahmin had lot of Christian friends. She never shied away from playing host to my christian friends that too in the dining room which also doubled as pooja room. While in theory she was not liberal in many ways, in practice she was.If you have to hide some food habit, it is better to give it up.

balajee i was about to say whether you will get any response much here and kamalji just told that, i second him here...sunkan

Dear Balajee,
My answer to your question is: "I am a Eggetarian" (I do not eat garlic & eggs..but unseen eggs are ok)
Let me explain..I am the only Indian in my compnay. A team lunch at work is always followed by a tray of yummy cakes. The first time, I was not offered the cake, because my boss knew I was Vegetarian & I do not eat eggs.I had to sheepishly agree that I eat unseen eggs in cakes. So they call me Eggetarian.

Regards
USHA

Hi Balaji,

nice post....always in dilemma, veg or non veg. But your description for fish to be vegetarian food is really amazing, i think egg can also come in vegetarian food as it is also called as white potato sometimes. But i appreciate your idea not bothering about the soup base whether it is meat stock or veg stock. Its true vegetarian have a lot of problem. Today i went out for some shopping with a chinese friend. We didn't get any indian or western restaurant in our reach. So, we went to a chinese restaurant which claims to serve vegetarian food. My friend ordered some noodles with green veg with soup. Here starts my questions what oil they have used, what is the flavoring agent and cook answered to my satisfaction but still there was doubt. It is really difficult to eat out if you try to have pure veg.

Originally Posted by Balajee

Dear Kamalji, looks like your comment is prophetic. I am not getting that many hits. But strange, the veggie ladies are swarming over a beefeater like you. As far as you eating creatures with any legs is concerned I only hope youll spare the two-legged creatures.

Dear Mr.Balajee,

Ask me what to post here.Main Bhugat Bhogi hoon.All the ladies here are veg.And they need veg humour too.HAHA.

Well, that is strange they ignore the saint Balajee posts, and read the devil kamalji's posts.what can i say to that.You will soon get used to the taste here.I just loved yr blog,so dont worry, the trickle will turn into a torrent.The first one got 5 stars didnt it ?

Man im jealous really of yr sucess here.So send me a bottle of my poison soon to me by courier, if the imported one is not there, local one will do.Regards.kamal

dear balajee,
i njoyed readING uR poSTand ur explanation of fish eating.
truly speaking iam non vegetarian ,and vegetarian......ha ha ha,,,this IS BCAuSe i eAT ON HalF oF ThE days only.
and when we go out for shopping on those days i end up eating only french fried and coke ,my husband being nonveg aLL 7Days njoys non veg buger sitting in front of me.

sunkan jee's and kamaljee's comments r also good.
njoyed
bye ,
shashi.