tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33131521.post2356497178175826984..comments2024-03-28T22:59:24.437+11:00Comments on where's the beef? Vegetarians in Melbourne: May 17, 2009: Buddha's Day & Multicultural FestivalCindyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07147906610629741961noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33131521.post-29684260756180763542009-05-25T16:20:20.406+10:002009-05-25T16:20:20.406+10:00Hey Sarah, glad it's not just us vegos who find th...Hey Sarah, glad it's not just us vegos who find this weird. :-)<br /><br />Hey Steph, I just googled ba cheng and your photo of it came up first. :-)<br /><br />Hey, thanks Cooper! Great to have you visit. :-)<br /><br />Agreed, Pip - it's not even part of the traditional dish, to my knowledge.<br /><br />Thanh, the anchovies were certainly intentional - the chef drew the audience's attention to the extra flavour that the anchovies would bring to the dish.<br /><br />I wasn't really referring to a scarcity of vegetarian food at restaurants in general. Most of the 200+ Melbourne restaurants that we've visited cater for us just fine - some of them brilliantly - so presumably profitability is not a major issue. In that context I'm surprised some of the particular chefs and restaurants featured in this session aren't more veg-friendly.<br /><br />Faux anchovies - that would have been hilarious, Johanna! I agree that the set-up of those demo kitchens is really neat.<br /><br />Hi be'ershevaboheme6! We're pretty lucky that festivals like this roll around every year. :-)<br /><br />Will, thank you for supplying extra info about the other sessions! I was originally hoping to stick around for Tony Tan's demo, but I will console myself with my copy of the Vegilicous booklet, since it includes the recipe. :-)Cindyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07147906610629741961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33131521.post-56891319069669309212009-05-25T10:20:38.716+10:002009-05-25T10:20:38.716+10:00Yeah, those anchovies were just wrong. It did regi...Yeah, those anchovies were just wrong. It did register with me briefly, but forgot to follow up on that with Glen. They repeated their session later that day, but I don't remember them mentioning anchovies the second time around. And to be honest, I wasn't too impressed by the chefs who did mention that normally they would add this or that meat product to it (there were only 1 or 2 that mentioned this but I don't remember which ones now).<br /><br />Regarding your last comment about some Buddhist Cooking, well there was, that was the last session of the day with Ah Ming Ku from the Fo Guang Yuan Art Gallery which was a fairly good session. Also, last year they had a session by the chef from Vegie Mum in Doncaster.<br /><br />The session after Fifteen's by Tony Tan was actually pretty good with the Sri Lankan Cashew Curry dish. He's a pretty impressive chef! I'm always more impressed with meals that don't require the use of "mock" meats that are really flavoursome. <br /><br />Also, I think if you were there Saturday you would've been quite impressed with Geovanna's 2 sessions (first one with her 2 daughters, and second one by herself).<br /><br />Also, in my Thai Vegetarian cookbooks there is actually a Vegetarian Shrimp Paste. Perhaps that's what they meant? Probably not the case, but anyway...<br /><br />I think the situation with restaurants and their Vegetarian offerings could always be better. On the one hand, i'm glad that a large portion of Melbourne's restaurants do offer Vegetarian dishes, but I always think that they could do much better flavourwise.<br /><br />Really glad you and Michael enjoyed the day on the whole (despite the anchovies)! And it was great to finally meet you two after having followed this blog for awhile now.<br /><br />I remain hopeful that more restaurants will offer more Vegetarian/Vegan alternatives in the future as more and more people do offer Vegetarian alternatives.William Luuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05635339030504040058noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33131521.post-2078366060137230592009-05-24T12:18:35.785+10:002009-05-24T12:18:35.785+10:00All that food looks AWESOME (ok, minus the sardine...All that food looks AWESOME (ok, minus the sardines) and I'm totally jealous. That mock beef soup that came up last looks especially delicious...be'ershevaboheme6https://www.blogger.com/profile/17573582489528181899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33131521.post-72888779603827470442009-05-24T10:56:04.502+10:002009-05-24T10:56:04.502+10:00maybe one day we will get there - looks very inter...maybe one day we will get there - looks very interesting<br /><br />can't believe the anchovies - you talked about so much faux meat I thought you were going to say these were faux anchovies<br /><br />and love that cooking demo pic with the mirror - fantastic ideaJohanna GGGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08594201473931487490noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33131521.post-25131875185337400462009-05-24T09:57:01.761+10:002009-05-24T09:57:01.761+10:00Was the anchovies an oversight or intentional? If ...Was the anchovies an oversight or intentional? If intentional, what was the purpose of it?<br /><br />I think you don't see more vegetarian dishes at restaurants because probably the numbers just don't add up. Until it becomes profitable for them to do so, they won't. But it's a catch 22 because if you don't entice customers to your restaurant with vegetarian dishes, it will never be profitable.thanh7580https://www.blogger.com/profile/12101572834580539226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33131521.post-34007220559283754692009-05-24T09:51:05.903+10:002009-05-24T09:51:05.903+10:00not cool is right. it really bothers me when peopl...not cool is right. it really bothers me when people who have been TRAINED to cook professionally cannot demostrate any imagination when it comes to meat free meals. seriously - the anchovies weren't bloody neccessary!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33131521.post-7772355533262261732009-05-24T08:55:58.903+10:002009-05-24T08:55:58.903+10:00I am so bummed I missed this. That 'duck' wrap loo...I am so bummed I missed this. That 'duck' wrap looks amazing. <br /><br />Also, this blog is fantastic!Cooper.http://www.veganplates.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33131521.post-1753688264449684492009-05-23T20:39:24.259+10:002009-05-23T20:39:24.259+10:00ugh, anchovies as vegetable. yuck gross.
the lotu...ugh, anchovies as vegetable. yuck gross.<br /><br />the lotus leaf and rice thing Michael had is quite similar to ba cheng, which is one of my favourites (and often uses banana leaves)stephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09751546842854214664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33131521.post-44059170925116192042009-05-23T13:57:58.951+10:002009-05-23T13:57:58.951+10:00Eek! @ the anchovies and shrimp paste. I find it ...Eek! @ the anchovies and shrimp paste. I find it weird that in so many recipes (nigella, bill granger etc) they have "vegetarian" meals with shrimp-filled curry paste, fish sauce etc.<br /><br />xox SarahSarahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00261274546097701065noreply@blogger.com