Thought that I was getting good at this Vegan thing until...
It is very daunting going into a restaurant and not being able to decipher anything on the menu. Especially with my diet. I was getting a bit cocky as I'd had a good run with meals (surprise, surprise) I normally point at dishes on the tables of other diners. I like this as it's not considered rude and you can cruise the tables and sus out the meals. I then accompany this with my rant:
"I am a vegetarian" - "I do not eat pork" (pork seems to come under another category) - "Do not cook with meat stock" - and "Make it free of animal produce". This is what I attempt to communicate via my phrase book before every meal.
So, there I was in Xian, I big trendy city. They have adverts in English (well Chinglish at least) and Chinese. They are the gateway to the Entombed Terracotta Warriors (aka mucho tourists), so I thought it may be easy to get my point across. They've fed a lot of whiteys.
I walk past a little restaurant which has many staff wearing matching uniforms. The Chinese use McDonalds as their aspiration for supreme food service. I open my Mandarin phrasebook and ask for rice - I'm told no. I look around and only see noodles on the tables. I ask for noodles. I'm told yes. I then choose 2 ingredients which I assumed would be cooked with the noodles - spinach and tofu. I then wait for my order. Firstly, came the biggest plate of spinach known to man. But it was beautiful. Cold but with sliced chillies and a sprinkling of sesame seeds. I gathered at this point that I would know be getting 3 separate meals. Next came the noodles, plain in a bowl. That's ok, I can mix them altogether myself. Then, like a throwback to a 70's birthday party came a strange mound - simialar to a meringue with a raspberry sauce. The smell was somewhat hideous - not at all like raspberry sauce. It was then I realised I was looking at the regional delicacy (as I'd read about it) ........ Tofu soaked in pigs blood.
"I am a vegetarian" - "I do not eat pork" (pork seems to come under another category) - "Do not cook with meat stock" - and "Make it free of animal produce". This is what I attempt to communicate via my phrase book before every meal.
So, there I was in Xian, I big trendy city. They have adverts in English (well Chinglish at least) and Chinese. They are the gateway to the Entombed Terracotta Warriors (aka mucho tourists), so I thought it may be easy to get my point across. They've fed a lot of whiteys.
I walk past a little restaurant which has many staff wearing matching uniforms. The Chinese use McDonalds as their aspiration for supreme food service. I open my Mandarin phrasebook and ask for rice - I'm told no. I look around and only see noodles on the tables. I ask for noodles. I'm told yes. I then choose 2 ingredients which I assumed would be cooked with the noodles - spinach and tofu. I then wait for my order. Firstly, came the biggest plate of spinach known to man. But it was beautiful. Cold but with sliced chillies and a sprinkling of sesame seeds. I gathered at this point that I would know be getting 3 separate meals. Next came the noodles, plain in a bowl. That's ok, I can mix them altogether myself. Then, like a throwback to a 70's birthday party came a strange mound - simialar to a meringue with a raspberry sauce. The smell was somewhat hideous - not at all like raspberry sauce. It was then I realised I was looking at the regional delicacy (as I'd read about it) ........ Tofu soaked in pigs blood.
posted by Lisa Gibbs at 11:42 PM
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