I am going to expand on my remark about going to a vegetarian meal. The conversation which followed was more than humbling.
A Ethiopian friend, after hearing about my decision to become a vegetarian asked: “You will miss all those great dishes. Why do you think you will miss meat?”
I explained that I couldn’t miss the delicious, life-giving feeling of eating meat. Although I enjoyed vegetables from time to time and didn’t want to deprive myself of that wonderful, predominantly American food, I valued the knowledge value of those foods as a guide. It was like having a nutritionist providing advice on the nutrient and vitamin content of food.
So, gradually over time, I have been enjoying foods which contain more and more animal products. Happy to know that I am not on this course of life, I am grateful to have friends who are on this course together with me.
However, this was a different story because the person I was with knew very well what she was talking about.
This was the part of my “coming out” story. A few friends had been encouraging me to consider adjusting to a vegetarian diet, which contains much less fat, cholesterol and sodium than the meat-based diet I had been previously familiar with.
This was something I had been asking for a number of years. Just as I was becoming comfortable with my new lifestyle, I asked if I could share my experience with my friends. I was only too happy to share my story with them and they too were kind of open-minded towards the idea of eating vegetarian.
With their permission, I was able to open my eyes and see the world around me in a different light. I saw that I was not my usual self, but I was alive, happy, content.
Though I still have my carnivorous instincts, I have become so very comfortable with my new life-style. I know my body is loving me and that my spirit is healthy and happy. I also feel quite confident about my future health because I know what my body needs.
Every day is a new experience. I am on my way to becoming a vegetarian, but I am not there yet. I still have to enjoy the food I eat, enjoy the society and the friends and the food I eat abroad.
I confine myself to the vegetarian life-style because I want to be healthy, I want to be happy, I want my body to be in its best-fanted state and I am determined to make it work the way it should.
If you could see me at the supermarket, you would probably think, too stuffed andBusiness! I can rarely streamline my life.
Nevertheless, in this case, a lifetime of eating out, I am starting to have some success.
I have made some life-balancing mistakes along the way. When I first began traveling to Europe, I tourists would spontaneously approach me with the question: ‘Is it really true what they say about the vegetarian lifestyle?’ To which I would simply reply: ‘Yes, it is true, but…’
A while later, in my own little world, it began: ‘Is it true what they say about the……?’
No matter how strange- sounding the following statement may sound, I am actually quite proud of making the correct answer in any case.
In addition to this, I also like to point out that anyone can make a difference right now in the kind of ‘products’ they are using. Just think: it is not a complicated concept.
We may tend to take meat out of the picture completely, but we are thinking more about health than we are about leaving it out. However, another good way to think about it is: what kind of meals will be served in this house? At the next opportunity, you may again address the topic and people would then be able to decide whether they would still prefer to stay or not.
Their answer will still be directed towards the dishes they would get there. Just being aware of this is something else that would be in your best interest.
Personally, I am quite British, having grown up in this island, but I have lived in the United States and Australia. I feel that I have really reached my potential here, so I came back and worked on a farm for a while, but I also got involved with producing this cookbook.
And now I am going to save myself as much of this as possible in the New Year. So today, I would like to introduce you the first of the house dishes;’ Koi fish and chips.
This dish is made with the best tasting fish, like wild Hawaiian salmon, that is ever cooked. Thick white breading is dipped in a mixture of sugar and barley malt powder. Then the whole fish is browned in a mixture of butter and lemon juice.
