01-23-2006, 11:28 PM
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Vegetarian cuisine
Vegetarian cuisine is cookery of food that meets vegetarian ethical principles and health standards. In terms of lacto-ovo vegetarianism, which is the most common type of vegetarianism in the Western world, this means food which excludes ingredients for which an animal must have died, such as meat, meat broth, cheeses that use animal rennet (some vegetarians will eat all cheeses and others none, because of its milk content), gelatin (from animal skin and connective tissue), and for the strictest, even some sugars that are whitened with bone char (e.g. cane sugar, but not beet sugar).
Although not essential, certain special ingredients such as tofu and TVP have often been associated with vegetarian cuisine. Although tofu and TVP play a key role in many 'mock meat' dishes, a person can be vegetarian for life and never touch them.
Ignoring the different types of vegetarians (lacto-ovo vegetarianism versus veganism, for example), one can roughly divide vegetarian cuisine into two categories:- Meat analogues, which mimic the taste, texture, and appearance of meats, and are used in a recipe that traditionally contained meat. Meat analogues vary in quality and similarity to meats, and may be bought commercially or made at home.
- Traditional meals that have always been vegetarian.
Many vegans will simply also use analogues for dairy and eggs in traditional Western recipes. These analogues are both commercially available and homemade from recipes. But just as lacto-ovo vegetarians might never touch meat analogues, some vegans may eat, for example, traditional Chinese or Indian dishes that were vegan before the term even came into popular usage.
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