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Comment by Neliquat | Hacker News Reader

As an omnivore, nothing annoys me more than my well intentioned veggie friends trying to serve me the vegie version of everything. It's gross to me, and it represents what they are trying to distance yourself from. Its like christian rock. It makes both things worse, while attempting in good faith, to celebrate them. Just cook kickass food that tastes good and meets your needs.

Edit: just reread, and I sound dickish. I, of course, am flattered by their attempt at accomidation. But veggie bacon is bad, and someone needs to tell you. We still love you.

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I used to feel the same way before I went vegan. I don't try to push substitutes on non-vegans because I know their palettes aren't adjusted, but if I want to make a BLT, I have no choice but to use veggie-bacon. The rest of the sandwich is already vegan.

Most vegans aren't really trying to distance themselves from non-vegan foods, just the unfortunate consequences of producing those foods. Most vegans don't have a problem with pepperoni pizza, for example. Just the source of the pepperoni (and cheese.)

> But veggie bacon is bad

One thing to keep in mind is that many vegan substitutes can vary greatly in quality / flavour. For example, discounting all vegan cheeses because you tried one doesn't really work because they are all using different methods to achieve the same end, so the result (flavour, taste, texture) is different.

It's not like dairy cheese which is all basically using the same method / ingredients (and therefore the results can be more consistently close together, even among variations on the theme).

I have a strong stomach but the vegan cheese I've tried brought me to the brink of illness because it was so gross. Maybe I could have enjoyed it if it didn't present itself as "cheese" - like an uncanny valley effect. Cheese is one of the main reasons I fell of the vegan wagon. Can you recommend any cheeze that's palatable?

I've been vegan for half my life at this point, so take my recommendations with a grain of salt (I have no idea what cheese tastes like any more).

That said - there are several brands of nut cheeses that I really enjoy, whether or not they taste like actual cheese. I would recommend Dr. Cow, Treeline, Punk Rawk Labs and Miyokos nut cheeses.

I agree mostly, but you specifically mention veggie bacon (theres probably many kinds but what I like is rice paper cut and seasoned like bacon) and that thing specifically rock! I have more non-vegan family members and friends that have asked for the recipe after tasting it than anything else. It's also a lot cheaper, a lot healthier and as crunchy as you'd like it.

Just tell them. Most of them would be proud and happy to show you what good veg* cuisine looks like but they are worried to be judged and are feeling horribly guilty about the (largely false) sense that they constantly inconvenience others so want to do anything to avoid disappointing :-)

Regarding the Christian Rock, assuming I correctly understand what you mean, I disagree.

Well, I haven't checked all that many bands (maybe the majority is not as good as what I've listened to? ), but Switchfoot is good.

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