I haven’t seen fake cheese that tastes good yet. A good tip is not to try to make vegan food taste like non vegan. Just enjoy the vegan foods as they are.
PS I’m trying the whole “give up beef” thing plus “be vegan one day of the week”.
Comment on Why Should I...
terranoid@lemmy.cafe 5 hours ago
There are better fake cheeses these days. It’s easier to give it up than it ever was. And tons of pizzerias now offer vegan cheese pizzas.
But honestly giving up beef alone should be commended, just for environmental/climate reasons.
hOrni@lemmy.world 4 hours ago
stoy@lemmy.zip 4 hours ago
A good tip is not to try to make vegan food taste like non vegan. Just enjoy the vegan foods as they are.
As a non vegan/vegetarian, I agree fully. By trying to replicate something else, the result often appears like a worse alternative.
I enjoy plenty of vegetarian and vegan foods, but don’t try and tell me that a plant based burger tastes the same as a normal burger, that just ruins the experience.
Play to your own strengths and don’t pretend to be something you are not, by doing that you reduce the stigma of vegan and vegetarian labels becoming associated with lower quality.
The concept of being vegetarian one day a week sounds like a brilliant idea, not sure that I would go the entire way to vegan across a full day, but a few vegan meals in a week wouldn’t be so hard.
jackod@lemmy.nz 1 hour ago
While I understand your argument and fully agree that there are plenty of normal vegan dishes that hold there own, this point always comes from the non vegans 😅
Meat tastes good, and going vegan often means giving up favourite dishes that you grew up with. Having the mock alternatives means that when you do get that itch, you can still kind of scratch it. I also dont think it is fair to write them all of as inferior, there are some pretty incredible options these days.
rayf@lemmy.zip 4 hours ago
Exactly. I really dislike the taste of beef patty. But i tried a patty looking vegan product. It gave me the same bad taste.
Jiggle_Physics@quokk.au 4 hours ago
Non vegetarian here. A vegan friend served me some vegan burger and I was absolutely shocked at how good it was. Did it taste exactly like beef? No. However it hit most of the spots to sate a craving I may have for one. The vegan cheese pretty much perfectly emulated american “cheese”, which I don’t personally use, but on a burger has a specific place. I have also introduce TVP into my normal diet. If you cook it right it can act as a very good alternative to crumbled ground beef. My friend makes a vegan chili dip that, if not told, almost everyone just assumes contains beef.
Other vegan cheeses I have tried are awful, even some expensive ones. My best friend doesn’t process animal protein, so was basically forced into eating vegan style. We have made some recipes from chefs online, mostly using various types of mushrooms, that are to emulate steak, that have been very good.
lookingforanALFpolycule@lemmy.world 2 hours ago
giving up beef alone should be commended, just for environmental/climate reasons.
Yes, but the post is about veganism, which is the ethical principle that it’s wrong to exploit animals. Cows enslaved for milk are in most cases worse off than those enslaved for their flesh as they are repeatedly impregnated, have their children killed, and are still slaughtered at a fraction of their lifespan just like the flesh cows.
ArmoredThirteen@lemmy.zip 4 hours ago
I’ve never cut beef out entirely but it is surprisingly easy to dramatically reduce how much one uses. Nearly everything that’s good with beef is also good with other meats. I also found doing meatless Mondays to be a great way to experiment with vegetarian/vegan dishes without feeling like I was missing out on anything and then I could take that knowledge into other days
I think a big problem is a lot of people are not confident in their ability to cook. They maybe know how to make a couple of their favorite childhood dishes and a couple things they picked up along the way, maybe. It’s hard to replace a burger with a portabello if you don’t know how to critically approach cooking temps and times so it ends up awful, or trying to cook a passable ratatouille and not knowing how to use a knife or having any spices in the cupboard
StaticFalconar@lemmy.world 4 hours ago
So I dont have to be a level 8 vegan to not be a POS?
imetators@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 hours ago
We got a vegan Margherita for us 3hrn my vegan friend was visiting. Couldn’t notice a difference to a normal cheese pizza.
JustEnoughDucks@feddit.nl 55 minutes ago
Also, here in Belgium, vegan Gouda is literally cheaper per kilo than actual, cheap Gouda.