Marisa McClellan from Slashfood recently attended a wedding where fake chicken (complete with wooden skewer “bones”) and seitan spareribs were served as the main course. While she appreciated the newlyweds’ ecofriendly mind-set, she wasn’t totally sold on their menu choices:
I’m impressed with the creativity that people possess that leads them to conjure up workable meat substitutes. However, I think that I’d prefer to have a meat-free meal than one where the main dish was one built on fake meat. How do the rest of you feel? Fake meat or no meat at all?
Several commenters said that they veer away from faux meat, but many vegetarians and omnivores alike shared enthusiastic recommendations of their favorite fake-meat products—such as Morningstar Farms ground-beef-like Crumbles, Soyrizo veggie chorizo, and Field Roast “grain meat” sausages.
My own favorite fake-meat product is Gardenburger’s BBQ Riblets (I wouldn’t make veggie chili without them), but I certainly wouldn’t serve them at a formal event. Has anyone been to a vegetarian wedding where the menu was a bit more elegant and interesting?
I was invited to a vegan wedding recently (but was unable to attend). The choices of entrees on the reply card included stuffed portobella mushrooms and stuffed butternut squash. They also had an assortment of apparently delicious appetizers. I’m not sure I see the point of just using fake meat when there are so many other options out there, especially for a wedding.
I agree–I think the people who think a meal requires meat are not going to be impressed or fooled by faux meat. Much better to do an elegant, truly veggie entree like carrbororcupcake describes. Frankly, banquet hall rubber chicken generally sucks anyway, I can’t imagine you improve it by using fake banquet hall rubber chicken.
Well, I’m a vegetarian so obviously I’m biased here, but having been to my share of weddings where all I *could* eat were a few side dishes, I think it would be fairly petulant of guests to complain that the main dish is something that doesn’t *look* that great to them but that they could easily eat and would probably enjoy.
No fake meat – ick!!! I’d much prefer a real veggie entree, than a meat substitute.
I’m veg too, and I think there are plenty of wonderful vegan options that could be had at a reception. I go to veg pot lucks a lot, and I wouldn’t even bring frozen fake meats to that kind of an occasion. However, I don’t include tempeh in the fake meat category, and it can be used in a variety of elegant dishes. That said, I wouldn’t judge someone who chose to use fake meat at their reception. It seems on par with the usual frozen chicken fingers or pre-made quiches seen at a lot of receptions.
I went last month to a lovely wedding reception with a beautifully designed vegan menu. No meat substitutes were served – just lovely, tasty vegetable concoctions. However, there was nowhere near enough calories – maybe a total of 400 food calories over a 10 hour destination wedding. Usually one can count on wedding cake if you’re still hungry. Instead, there was about 1/4 cup of a tasty ’soy’ pudding. Luckily, the wine was freely-poured, so everyone was still in good spirits. My husband and I woke up starving the next day. My advice, if you’re planning a vegan menu, include supplemental caloric foods for those guests that depend on food for energy. If you’re attending a vegan wedding, pack a sandwich or two.
ElissaInPlaya: That’s exactly the problem… a proper vegetarian meal is not just a nice plate of vegetables. There needs to be enough fat and protein to make it satiating and nutritive — meat substitutes are usually a good source, as are well-prepared tofu, tempeh, or seitan… but the bottom line is that what meat eaters might consider a “perfectly nice” vegetarian meal is not always sufficient.
I’ve been to a few weddings where there were lots of precooked heat n serve foods, I’ve never been to a vegetarian wedding though. Maybe the choices were meant to introduce non meat foods to a meat eating group. I’ve been off of meat for 2 weeks now and I have to say, seitan ribs sound pretty good right about now. =)
“My advice, if you’re planning a vegan menu, include supplemental caloric foods for those guests that depend on food for energy.”
This reminds me of my advice to those planning a “vegetarian option” dish for a large event like a wedding – a plate of steamed vegetables isn’t adequate food for an adult human for, say, 10 hours. Protein, fats, and complex carbohydrates are all essential to avoid getting hunger pangs an hour after the meal. Steamed veggies are great, but if this is the only meal option that will be offered (as it so often is when meat-eaters who believe vegetarians are a different species who don’t require protein or more than a few hundred calories a day), warn your veg guests ahead of time so they can come prepared with an aluminum foil packet of baked tofu to add to their dish surreptitiously when the snooty aunt isn’t looking.
We had a vegan wedding catered by Devra Gartenstein, author of the Accidental Vegan, of Lucky Palate at the time, and now of Patty Pan Grill (Seattle). The menu included greens with carmelized onions, stuffed squash, shuck bread, and salad, among other things. We even have photos of my carnivore brother-in-law eating.
The gluten-free, vegan cake was made by Flying Apron Bakery (of Seattle). A photo of it appears on their special orders link on their website.