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Woes of a vegetarian
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Veggies going abroad do not have much of a choice in food
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Even the Lonely Planet agrees that authentic vegetarian food is to be had only in Indian hotels Vasanthi
EAT SHOOTS AND LEAVES Travel is a big hassle for vegans
Everything seems great... you managed to catch the connecting flight (and so did the blessed baggage), the room has a splendid view, the weather is perfect, the kids are not (yet) driving you up the wall... for a moment, it appears like heaven on earth.
But of course, the feeling lasts only until you open the menu card. It's really sad, tragic even, that after spending a small fortune to get to a hip `phoren' location, the average Indian vegetarian suddenly realises that there isn't much to eat between the aperitif and dessert.
Menu cards in many parts of the world read like an inventory of the local zoo — there's everything right from lowly crustaceans to highly evolved mammals — only, they're all either dazed or dead. Sticking to Chinese or Italian restaurants (two cuisines which are highly Indian-veggie friendly, at least back in India) won't really get you anywhere either; for the rice/noodles is usually served swimming in some vague, fishy oil, while the flakes that garnish the pasta smells suspiciously beefy.
Which leaves you with exactly two choices — bread and juice. Bah! Travelling all those miles to eat daily bread?!
No meat, fish, eggs
While vegetarianism as a movement is gaining popularity, its practitioners aren't exactly evenly distributed throughout the world. Naturally, travelling to those parts where it's not particularly fashionable is going to cause you some trouble. "Being veggie in Cambodia and Bangkok is quite tough because they think non-veg is only red meat.
Fish is considered a sea vegetable!" laughs Vasanthi, a social worker. "I've faced this problem in Norway too, where you get shrimps as veggie stuff in your salads!"
"In the Philippines, when you ask for steamed rice, hoping you can't go wrong with it, they bring you a bowl of steaming rice and then put some dried beef in it," says Ramya, a journalist.
"No meat, no fish, no egg almost means no proper food in many parts of Continental Europe. Though it's true that you can survive on bread and cheese, it kind of takes the thrill out of a holiday.
After all, aren't vacations about good food too," asks Kumaran, an IT professional. And so, ironically, in the very lands where milk and honey supposedly flow on the streets, vegetarians go about looking sad, hungry, and a little angry with themselves for not having bought along sufficient quantities of pickles and papads. Which, of course, is something well-seasoned travellers never fail to do.
Ready -to- eat
"Typically, I stock myself with MTR ready-to-eat-stuff. Or else, by now, I should be comfortably wearing the complimentary tank top!" quips Vasanthi. "We generally find a Thai or Chinese restaurant, ask for plain white rice and add the instant mix to it.
That's my recipe for a diet-free holiday," she says. "Our veggie holidays are quite amusing," says Kumaran. "Since our daughter, like us, is hard-core `thayir sadham', we drop into some unsuspecting friend/family's house and ask for yoghurt and rice. In fact, we have the (slightly notorious) distinction of having eaten curd rice both in front of the Louvre and the London-eye," he laughs.
Now, is it any wonder then that veggies world over get excited when they spot an Indian restaurant, the only place where they might find food that delights the conscience and tickles the taste buds? "Even the Lonely Planet agrees that authentic vegetarian food is to be had only in Indian restaurants," says Vasanthi.
And the rate at which desi food joints are burgeoning, holidays in the future (hopefully) need not be a French-fries, soy-burger, donut nightmare.
APARNA KARTHIKEYAN
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