What if vegan food really tastes better... to everybody?
After 15 years of animal-free living, I finally ate a little meat.
After 15 years of animal-free living, I finally ate a little meat.
To those who think of vegans as people on a diet they secretly want to cheat on, it will likely do no good to point out that I didn't do it on purpose. But it's true.
What I did was act stupidly at a venue passing around free taco samples. I'd had a vegan one and unthinkingly grabbed a similar-looking one off a tray.
Well, like they say, when life hands you meat, make . . . uh . . . anyway, I'm writing about my embarrassing lapse because there were some interesting takeaways.
First, what didn't happen: My body didn't, as I'd wondered if it might, set off red-alert "foreign intruder" alarms. And, contrary to the highly publicized accounts of some so-called ex-vegans, it didn't instantly thrill to the sensation of animal protein in the bloodstream (some 30 minutes before it would actually get there, digestively speaking).
Lastly, I didn't decide, "Oh, since I've consumed meat, might as well just give up on this trying-to-live-consistently shtick."
What did happen was that, as I was crunching through the tasty toppings, I waited for a seitan or mushroom flavor to come through. It didn't. It was as if there was a big empty taste area, a dead space, if you will.
That's when I started wondering what I was eating. I also wondered whether it's off-base to try to prove vegan food can taste "as good" as inherently unjust and unhealthy animal alternatives, because maybe, objectively, vegan food actually tastes better.
But who can judge? Well, how about the judges of food contests?
More and more, it seems, when vegan foods go head to head with non-vegan varieties, it's the animal-free option that tickles the tongues of mainstream eaters, especially if the latter are unaware they're eating something vegan. That was the case at a Honolulu chili contest: Chef Mama T won for chili tasted and approved by over 600 people. After the prize was awarded, she revealed that the chili was vegan.
Mama T's is one of several noteworthy chili-contest wins. Others include the Beverly Hills Farmer's Market in 2010, and Gainesville, Fla., in 2013. Vegan tacos won Brooklyn Brewery's 2013 taco competition, and the Grilled Cheese Invitational in Pasadena, Calif., handed a second-place trophy to a vegan sandwich.
Closer to home, the second-place winner at the first-ever Scrapplefest at Reading Terminal Market was a vegan scrapple.
So many vegan cupcakes have won Food Network's Cupcake Wars that the over-the-top Isa Chandra Moskowitz/Terry Hope Romero book title Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World now looks more like a factual observation. Small-town vegan baked-good contest wins are becoming commonplace.
Recently, Trader Joe's announced the 2016 winners in the seventh annual Customer Choice Awards. Not only did a vegan product (Speculoos Cookie Butter) top four animal-based items as favorite overall, but in the combined meat/meatless category, Traditional Carnitas, Chicken Sausage and Apple Smoked Bacon (oh, no, not BACON!) lost first place to TJ's vegan Soy Chorizo.
But if they're objectively better-tasting, why don't vegan foods always win? Maybe it's because meat- and (especially) dairy-eaters have saturated-fat- and casein-coated palates that need cleansing before they can taste and judge foods accurately. That process takes about three weeks.
If you're interested in cleansing your palate within a supportive, free program - or if, for any other reason, you want to learn more about vegan living - it's worth noting that the 30-day Main Line Vegan Pledge starts on Valentine's Day. (Anyone can join, and four out of five Sunday meetings are just across City Avenue in Bala Cynwyd. The other is in nearby Bryn Mawr.)
Dara Lovitz of the Peace Advocacy Network, which sponsors the program, says it gives "participants a full and rich experience" of vegan eating. Participants get "the tools they need to live an easy and healthy vegan lifestyle."
Some of those tools are delicious local vegan foods donated by the likes of VGE, Shakti Catering and Miss Rachel's Pantry. Other tools include mentoring and nutrition advice.
Meanwhile, your palate will get the cleansing it needs to adapt to the real taste of food.
So which group - vegans or non-vegans - is really eating the tastier food? Perhaps the only way to be sure is to try both.
OK, done that. Your turn!
V for Valentine-o: Christina Pirello kicks off a series of Christina Cooks vegan pop-up dinners at Caffe Valentino at 7 p.m. Feb. 12. More at philly.com/veganpopup.
"V for Veg" chronicles plant-based eating in and around Philadelphia.
@V4Veg on Twitter.