Damn right…

So, for a vegetarian, I put a ridiculous amount of effort into making sure the meat eaters in the family get the works. I’ve done some pretty adventurous stuff. Pounded out meat, massaged marinade into things; cut, chopped and kneaded; fried, broiled, baked, sautéed and curried…. Stuck three quarters of my arms up a turkey’s behind… And my personal best: peeled and deveined a shrimp (not just the one BTW, kilos of the stuff).

Why? Hmmmm… good question. No one makes me. My family for the most part are super supportive about my choice. Now. Oh don’t get me wrong; they’ve tried to mock the vegetarianism out of me over the years. I’ve been told everything from ‘you’re not saving any animals by going meat-free, we’re just eating your share’; to ‘you’re a shame upon the family name’. All in jest of course; don’t worry I wasn’t ill-treated at a kid or anything. Well, not EXACTTTTLLY ;).

I think one of my biggest mistakes was letting people convince me not to pursue a career in food. For a large part of my career, I enjoyed what I did instead though, I really did, so I forgot what a big deal food was to me. Of course on said career path you come upon some shyte jobs now and again. And you need something you love to get you through. I mean besides booze ;).

So I started to cook. I mean really cook. Not just the cook-because-you-have-to, everyday b*ll*cks. Although to be perfectly honest, I enjoy that too. And then I discovered that people’ll eat anything when they’re hungry; and I had a whole ton of single and foodless friends. So I experimented. Then I had some ‘good cook’ friends. So I competed. And pretty soon the only person I competed with was myself (no I’m not bragging, I just find that no one can push me as hard as I can push myself). And people liked my food as I may have mentioned *blushing bashfully like you brought that up and not me*. And what’s not to like about someone liking something about you :)? Approval has always motivated me, lets be honest.

So today I’ve raised that to a level I don’t want to step away from. I don’t taste any of the stuff of course, so I look closely at people while they taste my food. We’ve discussed previously how most people in my immediate family are much too polite to tell you things like ‘this sucks’. But involuntary expressions don’t lie! So I stalk those. And when I yell at them, they sometimes volunteer some constructive criticism. So overall, I’ve progressed on my experimentation. Because its fun, and it makes me happy, and I’ve learned stuff. And it puts food on the table. Literally.

Am I pleased with myself? Helllzzz yeah. Do I plan to continue it? For sure. And yes of course I do all this on the veggie food as well. Its a particular challenge to me to make veggie mains that rival their meaty counterparts. But lets face it, when you want large-scale approval; you get it for the meat. Expanding the target audience you ask? Damn right!!