Annabel Langbein
How often do you go to a family gathering these days where everyone eats the same thing? My guess is almost never. Someone will either be vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, gluten-free or following keto, the latest diet fad.
For the cook, this usually means you need to prepare lots of different dishes in order to accommodate everyone’s various dietary preferences and requirements. This said, it’s actually a lot more stressful to have someone sit down and announce that they can’t, don’t or won’t eat the dish you have spent hours cosseting to deliciousness that is now sitting ready to serve on the table. Had you been advised prior, you could easily have been prepared. (Rule number one to all invited guests — advise any dietary requirements well in advance.)
Plant-based diets are on the rise. In America, fully a quarter of 25-34-year-olds say they are vegans or vegetarians (to put this into context, in 2015 one survey put 3.4 per cent of the American population as vegetarian and just 0.4 per cent as vegan).
My own diet has shifted in recent years to more of a flexitarian approach, meaning I mostly eat plant-based or pescatarian but I’ll still enjoy poultry or meat on occasion.
The Economist has called 2019 “The Year of the Vegan” and the trend is gaining traction all over the globe. It’s not just the West that has taken up the vegan mantle, throughout South America, Asia, Eastern Europe, Israel and Africa veganism is on the rise and it has been estimated that during the next 10 years one in 10 people will become vegan.
People become vegan for many reasons, including the environment and climate change, personal health issues, ethical beliefs or a desire to stop animal cruelty. Veganism isn’t just a switch to a “plantbased” diet, it is a lifestyle that eschews not only meat and leather but all animal products, including honey, eggs, cheese, yoghurt, butter, wool, silk and feathers.
When it comes to Christmas dinner, having a vegan at the table is a great opportunity to introduce some new traditions. This menu offers a selection of vegan dishes that also happen to be gluten-free — add a side of salmon or a tender turkey for the traditionalists and it’s a fuss-free way to keep everyone at the table happy.