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Monday, March 06, 2006

Over the weekend I learnt something that for sure shocked me and now has crimped my eating choices further...

I was at Carabbas with my friend for lunch on Friday. Being a vegetarian most American/Italian/Mexican restaurants have only one choice for me...Soup and Salad. As much as I hate salad I eat it to survive. I can avoid going out to lunch but well for that I must also cook the previous night to do dabba and I am not all that enthu about it...So I decided to go the usual option...

Minestrone and Cesar Salad...

The waitress understanding that I was vegetarian informed me that Minestrone has chicken broth in it and Caesar dressing had anchovies...Which are a type of small fish.

I knew for a long time that most of the soups in this country are done with chicken broth and as a rule I have started to ignore chicken broth and drink the bloody soup anyway...But Fish??? What will my father think? Ayago...No way...Immediately I changed it to Italian dressing...

The point is...So many times in so many restaurants I have mentioned clearly that I am a vegetarian and every waiter has ignored to tell me that 90% of the Caesar dressing has anchovies in it!!

Also French onion soup has beef broth...Which I had relished for over a year before another kind hearted waitress informed me about! Beware what you are eating especially if you are a vegetarian...Be clear and ask more than two times if the dish contains "NO MEAT."

So much for my most tolerable salad...I think I will never have that one again!

8 comments:

Fosix said...

well from my point of view, a dish is considered vegetarian until i can actually see the meat inside it :P

btw, why worry about what your dad will think ? if he doesnt know about it, he wont have to think about it right ?? :D

second_wind said...

I think all us vegetarians have in some form have had seafood, chicken,beef,pork here......but ignorance is bliss sometimes :)

Anu Russell said...

Fosix,

Somehow I cannot do that...The minute I know there is meat in something...I just cannot eat it...Besides my becoming a vegetarian was partly influenced by my dad!!!

Second wind,
You are very correct...It just annoys me that so many people (waitress) do not care about it...and don't inform us about the true contents...looking back maybe I can sue them...especially the french onion guys...I may eat anything...but never beef or pork...not religious...but I love cows and hate pigs!

Fosix said...

everyone calls me a pig... so i guess you hate me too :P

Trevor Penn said...

When we were "fresh off the boat", my friend A went to McD's for lunch... He came home full of praise for the "paneer tikkas" in the cheese burgers... LOL !!!

M, ordered for bean chimis and he got beef instead... He ofcourse relished them before i had a bite and told him that it was beef...

Anu Russell said...

Fosix,
Yes, if you were on my plate...I might hate you too...or rather do the nauseated sound effect and turn my face away from my plate...I might also scream and create a scene... :)

Seashells,
Similar situation...one newbie at school told me, another newbie that Bean Chalupa's at Taco Bell was awesome and offered to order one for me...He did...Shudh Brahman that he was...Brought back two beef tacos...One bite and I knew it was meat...poor fellow...Had been eating that for almost a week...

I felt bad for him and for myself for having tasted beef for the first time...But now I realize that I have eaten Beef/Pork/etc...so many times without my knowledge...

Hey like what Fosix says...if you don't know then you have nothing to worry about!

Fosix said...

all you vegetarians enjoy meat, chicken and fish whenever you taste it accidently... and yet, you still keep complaining about it... *sigh*... why cant you just be honest with yourself and say "oh i tasted meat, it was nice, but i plan to remain a vegetarian"...

Anu Russell said...

GRRR...That is true...that is exactly my point...I loved French Onion, loved Ceasar Salad, Loved Beef Burrito...until I knew it was meat!!!