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Vegetarianism: Roots In Europe?

This is harder to understand. So many amazing vegetables in the world and it is always courgettes and sodding aubergines. :mad: I hate courgettes and aubergines.:yellowc:
....they can both be prepared so they're nice....

Slice and roast courgettes in a baking tin with cherry tomatoes, quartered red onions and a few cloves of garlic. Really pretty good.
 
Aubergines sliced, salted then dipped in flour, egg then breadcrumbs. Shallow fried. It's surprisingly nice but a faff so I don't think I'll ever bother again unless someone unloads a ton of them on me for free.

I've taken to grating courgette when they're included in a recipe. You can also squeeze out a lot of the moisture from them before adding to the dish. By grating you'll avoid having to bite down on tasteless foamy chunks but still part of your five a day.
 
Yesterday I bought another dry-fryer or whatever they're called. Where you use hardly any oil to cook lovely crispy vegetables.

They're good for doing a huge pile of veg, then when you're sick of eating them making them into Posh Roast Vegetable soup.
 
Yesterday I bought another dry-fryer or whatever they're called. Where you use hardly any oil to cook lovely crispy vegetables.

They're good for doing a huge pile of veg, then when you're sick of eating them making them into Posh Roast Vegetable soup.

My Tefal Actifry is my favourite kitchen appliance by far. Love using it to make Poutine (posh cheesy chips), Patatas Bravas and onion bhajis.
 
..they can both be prepared so they're nice....
Tell that to the restaurants. ;)
Aubergines sliced, salted then dipped in flour, egg then breadcrumbs. Shallow fried. It's surprisingly nice but a faff so I don't think I'll ever bother again unless someone unloads a ton of them on me for free.

I've taken to grating courgette when they're included in a recipe. You can also squeeze out a lot of the moisture from them before adding to the dish. By grating you'll avoid having to bite down on tasteless foamy chunks but still part of your five a day.
Yes, I made a moussaka (sp?) once which involved meticulous preparation of the aubergine and it was nice but still not really worth it. Normally it is just served as tasteless slimey chunks mixed in with the tasteless foamy chunks (love the description by the way) of the courgette. Nice tip though on grating, if they are ever in a recipe I usually just put something else in instead but I will try that next time.
 
...aubergine and it was nice but still not really worth it. Normally it is just served as tasteless slimey chunks mixed in with the tasteless foamy chunks...of the courgette.

I’m reminded irresistibly of Boswell quoting Dr. Johnson:

"It has been a common saying of physicians in England, that a cucumber should be well sliced, and dressed with pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out, as good for nothing."

Boswell: Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides

maximus otter
 
This is harder to understand. So many amazing vegetables in the world and it is always courgettes and sodding aubergines. :mad: I hate courgettes and aubergines.:yellowc:

Courgettes are zucchini and aubergines are eggplants. Personally I am very fond of a good baba ganoush, and rate the eggplant quite highly. I lean towards being anti-cucumber, and I marginally prefer zucchini to the insipid cucumber, but women seem to literally love them, and even use them in cooking beyond salads.
 
I’m reminded irresistibly of Boswell quoting Dr. Johnson:

"It has been a common saying of physicians in England, that a cucumber should be well sliced, and dressed with pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out, as good for nothing."

Boswell: Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides

maximus otter

Have to admit I like cucumber.
 
Yes, I love a cucumber, especially pickled but grated with a bit of raspberry or balsamic vinegar is lovely too. I grow my own some years and they are even better. Most veg depends on how it is prepared. Hint to restaurants - this almost never involves boiling it and shoving it on a plate.
 
Not a huge fan of cucumber, but made a starter last night of thinly-sliced cucumber and black olives, drizzled with olive oil and served with a generous dollop of hummus and warm pitta bread. Wasn't bad at all.
 
I've recently started including cucumber in stir-fries if I do something vaguely Chinese-style. Works well as part of a mix of other ingredients. Fry 'til they get a little bit of colour. And as a sandwich ingredient with some cheese, pickle, ham, whatever, it has a pleasing lubricating quality if not much else, & in a salad, definitely.

Babaganoush & fried aubergine can be lovely but never formed a love of courgettes & practically never buy them. When you look at cheffy tv shows, hardly any of them seem to use courgettes..
 
I thought avocado was the in thing? No hipsters here at all?

Can't stand cucumber, they dominate the whole dish/sandwich/salad. But I don't mind courgette in a vegetable soup.
 
Possessed of volume, mass, dampness and nothing else: a courgette is what would appear if a sorcerer were to materialise fog.

maximus otter

Have you had a cold recently? Courgettes definitely have a flavour, and not that mild either.
 
Can't stand aubergines, but every veggie insists on putting them in. Bleargh.
Similarly, I don't like courgettes, avocado and other 'trendy' veg.
All these things have the texture of slug and no taste at all.
 
Isn't avocado technically a fruit? Anyway, dunno what you've all done to your taste buds but I can taste all those veg just fine.
 
I made something with avocado in it the other week. I'm not a fan btw - they don't taste of anything to me - but there it was in the recipe, so...

Inside it had strange dark fibres running through the flesh, like roots. I immediately thought of morgellons.
 
My Tefal Actifry is my favourite kitchen appliance by far. Love using it to make Poutine (posh cheesy chips), Patatas Bravas and onion bhajis.

Full recipes and details, please.

They also do a nice stir fry. I picked up a cut-price one on way home from work so will be lobbing that in.
 
I am no Hipster but, when I picked up a bargain-bag of avocados this summer, I experimented with the much-promoted avocado toast, wondering about its strange popularity. For the uninitiated, it turns out to be mashed avocado dressed with EV olive oil, lemon juice, salt and chilli-flakes, piled onto lightly-toasted sourdough or other artisan bread. I came to the conclusion that it was just a lazy, journalistic obsession to promote clicks of the faux-controversial, love-it-or-hate-it kind in the face of an invented scarcity saga. It merits neither love nor hate.

Gazpacho prompts similar why-bother thoughts. The vogue for that dates back to around the time some proto-hipster considered the colour would suit bathroom fittings!

The morgellons variety should be binned, along with any showing much, if any signs of darkness. Caught at the right moment, avocados make a good light starter with feta cheese or haloumi, a little raw onion and dressing.

My favourite way of eating them is the simplest: out with the stone and in with the Worcester Sauce. They need no additional oil. Balsamic Vinegar, Pomegranate Nectar and Soy Sauce or Aromatic Bitters are variations, alone or in combinations.

Aubergines have a habit of drinking-up ridiculous amounts of oil. Oven-baked slices can quickly dry out and become bitter, so they do need careful watching. Sauté is the way to go, allowing them to both soften and lightly brown. Bland in themselves, they are an excellent vehicle for fresh, aromatic herbs and garlic, a natural partner for cheese, tomato and pasta. One of my favourite veggie options! :dinner:
 
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My favourite way of eating them is the simplest: out with the stone and in with the Worcester Sauce. They need no additional oil. Balsamic Vinegar, Pomegranate Nectar and Soy Sauce or Aromatic Bitters are variations, alone or in combinations.
A proper guacamole is also good. Finely chop one red onion, de-seed a red chilli, one or two large ripe tomatoes. Roughly chop together with avocados, 4-6 say, add salt, lime juice to taste. Really rather good.

If you blend it smooth with a food processor it's just as nice.
 
I've recently started including cucumber in stir-fries if I do something vaguely Chinese-style. Works well as part of a mix of other ingredients. Fry 'til they get a little bit of colour. And as a sandwich ingredient with some cheese, pickle, ham, whatever, it has a pleasing lubricating quality if not much else, & in a salad, definitely.

Babaganoush & fried aubergine can be lovely but never formed a love of courgettes & practically never buy them. When you look at cheffy tv shows, hardly any of them seem to use courgettes..

Yeah, cucumber is good in a stir-fry.
 
I am no Hipster but, when I picked up a bargain-bag of avocados this summer, I experimented with the much-promoted avocado toast, wondering about its strange popularity. For the uninitiated, it turns out to be mashed avocado dressed with EV olive oil, lemon juice, salt and chilli-flakes, piled onto lightly-toasted sourdough or other artisan bread. I came to the conclusion that it was just a lazy, journalistic obsession to promote clicks of the faux-controversial, love-it-or-hate-it kind in the face of an invented scarcity saga. It merits neither love nor hate.

I am such a hipster that I was using avocado instead of butter on my toast back in the late 1980s. I briefly experimented with different types of melted cheeses on it too. Australians use a small amount of vegemite and butter as a means of adding a salty umame flavor instead of actual salt. That goes surprisingly well with a fried egg and a few bacon crumbles for breakfast, with maybe a nip of a spice on top.

The morgellons variety should be binned, along with any showing much, if any signs of darkness. Caught at the right moment, avocados make a good light starter with feta cheese or haloumi, a little raw onion and dressing.

What exactly are the morgellons variety of avocados? I know what morgellons is, but what exactly is a morgellons variety avocado? One grown with GM? I could draw a tenuous connection with the first cultivation of avocados in Spain in the early 1600s and the first record of morgellons in Southern France in the 1650s, but I thought the link to Lyme Disease was more promising.
 
What exactly are the morgellons variety of avocados?

Just a reference to David Planckton's post above:
"Inside it had strange dark fibres running through the flesh, like roots. I immediately thought of morgellons."

Those avocados are certainly off-putting! :yuck:
 
Vegetarianism is first mentioned by the Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras of Samos around 500 BC

:botp: It is generally accepted by scholars that the first vegetarians were the Jains of India in 800B.C. It is likely that the ideas were transposed between the Greeks and the Indians by way of Egypt, which had a long term, if not ancient trade with India via the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. Pythagoras is said to have studied in Egypt.
 
Read in the paper today that 1 in 8 Britons are vegetarian or vegan, with about a quarter almost cutting out meat entirely, and more than that cutting down significantly. It's the future! It's also annoying when you can't find the veggie ready meals because meat eaters have snapped them up for variety in their diet.
 
Read in the paper today that 1 in 8 Britons are vegetarian or vegan, with about a quarter almost cutting out meat entirely, and more than that cutting down significantly. It's the future! It's also annoying when you can't find the veggie ready meals because meat eaters have snapped them up for variety in their diet.

Does 1 in 8 include pescetarians?
 
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