The part where I tell my friends where to stick their sausage…
Despite the fact that I’ve never in my life eaten a Bratwurst, Bockwurst, or Currywurst, I get asked about them on a regular basis. What are they like? What’s the difference between a Cervelat and a Kalberwurst? What kind of chopped-up dead animal parts are in a Schublig? My inquisitors rarely accept “I don’t know” or “well, I think ‘kalb’ means ‘tortured baby calf’” as an answer.
The people who do this to me aren’t some mean group of vegetarian-hating trolls, but rather my closest friends and family. You see, I live in the German-speaking world (aka, The Land of Sausage), and most of my friends and family do not. Luckily, these friends and family come to visit us often (which I really, truly like), but unluckily, they seem to think that the sausage part of the menu at the restaurants here needs to be explained to them, in gory detail, every time we go out to eat. They tend to turn to me rather than my (meat-eating) husband for the answers because my German is better than his.
The first problem is, these questions make me feel horribly guilty, like I’m a terrible hostess. How selfish of me to never bother to learn the intricacies of German sausages! Never mind that I was a vegetarian for years before ever setting foot in the German-speaking world or learning a word of German. I should know these things for my guests!
The other problem is, I have to talk about sausages on a regular basis. I don’t want to talk about sausages. They are irrelevant to my little vegetarian world - unappealing, useless items. So from now on, I am on strike. I will not attempt to answer any more sausage questions ever again, so don’t even bother to ask. I will tell you about the local cheese or chocolate or beer with pleasure, but I am done with sausage-oriented conversation for good.
Unless you want to know how much I miss Boca Meatless Italian Sausages, that is…
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POSTED IN: Thoughts, Traveling While Vegetarian
2 opinions for The part where I tell my friends where to stick their sausage…
Zandria
Jan 1, 2007 at 4:11 am
Yes! I think you SHOULD go on strike! Why would they ask a vegetarian about sausage? Hellloooo!
You know, I eat Boca burgers all the time, but I’ve never tried the Italian Sausage version. I might have to do that (and give you my opinion) so that you can live vicariously through me. :)
Jul
Jan 1, 2007 at 5:18 pm
They’re definitely one of the fake meats I miss most from the US (not that I sit around pining after American fake meat products…). They’re great with garlic, peppers and onions, or in marinara sauce. Go try some now!
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