Europe: Vegetarian Food
[This section is in the earliest stages of development: 20 July 2002]
I am always pleased to find a vegetarian restaurant, and excited to find a vegan restaurant. It saddens me that there are so few vegetarian and vegan restaurants to be found. In preparation for travelling, I must always research where I shall be able to eat. When I have to eat in a non-vegetarian restaurant, I feel suspicious when there is only a token vegetarian dish on its menu: is the dish really vegetarian, or is it simply meat-free? Do the staff honestly know what kind of oil / fat / ghee (fat used in Indian cooking, can be of animal origin, often made from clarified butter, but can be pure vegetable) is being used? I am happier eating in a restaurant with a good selection of vegetarian dishes, and happier still where at least one dish is marked on the menu as suitable for, or adaptable for vegans. When the word 'vegan' appears on a menu, I feel confident that someone in the restaurant knows what the word means. (Naïve, or what?)
Europe in general, in my experience, is a poor region for vegetarians, and is dreadful for vegans. At most coastal places, sea-animals (fish and shell-fish) are consumed extensively (under the term 'sea-food'), and there is no possibility of finding any sea vegetables to eat. Inland, virtually every national (British, French, German) restaurant serves up slaughtered factory-farmed animals, and every ethnic restaurant serves those same slaughtered animals prepared in a selection of its ethnic national dishes. As I write, a Thai restaurant will soon be opening in Durham. Will there be much on the menu suitable for vegetarians? Probably not. In all likelihood it will serve those same slaughtered factory-farmed animals prepared in a selection of ethnic Thai dishes; many of the sauces and stocks will be based on or at least contain rendered animals (especially fish); there will probably be a couple of token 'vegetarian' dishes on the menu that will be meat-free but also probably involve dead animals; the staff (some of whom will have made their career in catering) will know neither the difference between meat-free and vegetarian, nor what the term 'vegan' means.
There is a plus side: many chefs throughout Europe, when talked with politely (although I sometimes do not feel polite when asked by waiters/esses and chefs: "As a vegan, do you eat chicken or fish?"), and a day or two in advance (making quick city breaks a bit of a nonsense), tend to be helpful and willing to try to produce a vegan dish. Were I to visit the newly-opened Thai restaurant at a quiet time and talked with the chef, maybe .... Also on the plus side in this case is that, unlike British cooking, Thai food uses few dairy products. The bad news, however, is that commercially-produced creamed coconut usually contains casein (the protein in cow's milk). I know that, and maybe you reading this web page knew that, but how can a poorly-paid chef in a Thai restaurant in Durham (London, Paris, Berlin) rocket up the learning curve regarding a diet/lifestyle about which s/he has been poorly taught, if taught at all? There, therefore, is a Catch-22 situation here: to help the chef of the new Thai restaurant, I could try to inform him/her over a period of time, explaining what is implied by 'vegetarian' and 'vegan' in terms of dietary requirements; but unless I demonstrate my commitment by eating in the restaurant, there is no incentive for the chef to take any notice of me. Hmm! Get out of that one, Houdini!
Although there are places around the Mediterranean (such as southern France and parts of Italy) where milk products are less prevalent,.on the whole, Europeans tend to like eating/drinking dairy products: the milk of cows (and goats), and products such as cheese, yoghurt and other variations (e.g. butter, cream, kwark, marscapone, cottage cheese) made from the milk of cows, goats and sheep. In Britain, butter is used to prepare and/or serve a wide range of vegetables. Europeans tend to consume vast quantities of chocolate and ice cream. Chickens' eggs are also widely used, although a little less so than milk products. In Italy, quality (fresh) pasta contains chickens' eggs. Quorn, an industrially-produced fungal food, that I have twice been served (once in Durham's most prestigious restaurant in the Royal County Hotel, and once in Oxford) with the assurance that my dinner was suitable for vegans, contains chicken's eggs.
What hope, then, for the vegetarian and the vegan? These web pages, detailing vegetarian restaurants in various countries, may help vegetarians and vegans to find a few vegetarian restaurants in some of the cities I have visited. I have made it clear what information is based on my own experience, and what information is gleaned from books. I have a dislike of relying on information from only one source, preferring to cross-check wherever possible. If you make use of my information, I would expect you to do likewise. I revisit some of the places listed, and so I am able confirm the validity of the information. I also check on websites to try to strengthen validity. However, if you discover that some of my information is no longer valid, I should be most grateful were you to let me know. I shall send you a postcard by way of thanks.
Throughout
this website, I have generally used the term restaurant. In my youth, a
restaurant was an up-market place in which to eat, and the term 'fast-food
restaurant' was an oxymoron. My parents took me to cafes instead. Nowadays the
term restaurant has come to be used more widely for most eating places, and the
term cafe is used for an establishment serving hot (and cold, but not
alcoholic) drinks.
There are
painfully few vegan restaurants around Europe. On my website, I have tried to
give information, frankly, about how vegan-friendly a restaurant has been in my
experience.
Some
vegetarian restaurants, such as Margutta in Rome, and Hakuin in
Berlin, and Gardners 511 in London, have an ambience with which
professional people would feel comfortable. Others, such as the former Red
Herring in Newcastle and former Pot of Basil in Durham, and the
wonderful St. Ann's Well in the Malvern Hills, have a distinctly
'alternative' feel to them. I am not very competent at summing up an ambience
in one word, perhaps because I tend to feel at home in most vegetarian
restaurants.
A
significant number, although not a majority, of vegetarian restaurants are
daytime only, with a lunchtime focus for office staff. In Britain, Bruges and
Paris, vegetarian restaurants are less likely to be open on a Sunday. In
Berlin, some vegetarian restaurants are closed on either Sunday or Monday. I
have tried, where I can, to give opening times.
Often tucked
away from the main streets, vegetarian restaurants are not always easy to find.
I have tried to give some directions, including how to arrive by public
transport.
Often
relatively small, vegetarian restaurants tend to offer poor access for disabled
people and people in wheelchairs. I have tried to give access information for
everywhere visited.
I have also
tried to give some general information about how to buy vegetarian and vegan
food for self-catering (including picnics). In some cities (e.g. in Italy) it
is best to locate the fruit and vegetable open market (and a water fountain or
standpipe). In other cities, such as Paris and throughout Britain, an upmarket
supermarket (e.g. Sainsbury, Tesco, Asda, Co-op) is a good starting place.
However, trying to find somewhere to wash fruit and vegetables can be
problematic. In some places (e.g. Rome and Berlin) health food shops are especially
useful. In Britain, a high street health food shop, Holland and Barrett,
tends to carry Britton's vegetarian pasties (telephone conversation with
a Britton's manager: "Unless it's obviously not vegan, then
it's vegan."), Yofu soya yoghurts, and some other picnic items
labelled as vegan. Sadly, Holland and Barrett's own-brand labelling does
not indicate whether an item is suitable for vegans.
I hope that you find these pages interesting and useful.
