I have lots of vegetarian friends
So I have become adept at making stews and curries with Quorn chunks. The worst faux-meat items I've seen are the execrable attempts to counterfeit bacon. Really, don't bother.
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Wed 3 Feb 2010, 10:25, 2 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

The ones which look like they have been drawn with wax crayons?

(TheColonel, Wed 3 Feb 2010, 10:26, Reply)

^
This.
(Bear Pookie The Frankly Challenged. Halloween is coming to town., Wed 3 Feb 2010, 10:27, Reply)

Those faux bacon things are like dog chews.
In looks anyway, never tried one. What's the point of being vegi, and craving bacon?
(Bear Pookie The Frankly Challenged. Halloween is coming to town., Wed 3 Feb 2010, 10:26, Reply)

That's a fucking stupid question.

( Noeli overtheshoulderboulderholderthingstraplatchboobs, Wed 3 Feb 2010, 10:30, Reply)

Not really.
Surely part of turning vegi means wanting to explore new shit. Not have a chemically enhanced pig smelling bit of soya and God knows what.
(Bear Pookie The Frankly Challenged. Halloween is coming to town., Wed 3 Feb 2010, 10:33, Reply)

Some vegetarians crave bacon because it tastes good.
Meat substitutes aren't supposed to be perfect replicas of the product they're substituting. People have the view that this stuff's shit, and it is compared to the meat versions, so don't eat it, easy. It's perfectly fine for vegetarians who have their reasons for their dietary choice but want some variety and excitement in what they eat.
( Noeli overtheshoulderboulderholderthingstraplatchboobs, Wed 3 Feb 2010, 10:39, Reply)

Eat aubergine and lentil loaf,
topped with Haloumi cheese. One of my crowning vegi dishes.
(Bear Pookie The Frankly Challenged. Halloween is coming to town., Wed 3 Feb 2010, 10:41, Reply)

I thought
that that's precisely what they were supposed to be - the closest they could get to the original meat product. Is that really not so?
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Wed 3 Feb 2010, 10:42, Reply)

You've tasted them, right?
You're right, the closest they can get, but not a perfect substitute. I've just noticed I feel slightly defensive and a bit militant about this whole subject, probably because I spent most of my life being awkward and odd and an outsider just for being a vegetarian. Sometimes I wished I was black or gay. So I'm just gonna stop.
( Noeli overtheshoulderboulderholderthingstraplatchboobs, Wed 3 Feb 2010, 10:44, Reply)

I ate vegetarian food maybe four nights a week growing up.
We had extensive gardens and consequently enormous quantities of fresh fruit and vegetables - but what we ate weren't 'fake' versions of meat dishes, they celebrated the vegetables rather than trying to make them seem like meat.
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Wed 3 Feb 2010, 10:48, Reply)

The main reason I started eating meat
is because I was bored to death of vegetarian food. I welcomed the availability of substitutes because they increased the ingredients available. I think my point is that although they don't stand up to their meaty inspiration, as ingredients for vegetarians they're perfectly reasonable and good for increasing variety.
Edit: and omnivores that moan about them are banging an already very dented drum.
( Noeli overtheshoulderboulderholderthingstraplatchboobs, Wed 3 Feb 2010, 10:52, Reply)

Fair enough.
I had meat to liven up my diet....
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Wed 3 Feb 2010, 10:54, Reply)

So do I, now!
*high-fives*
( Noeli overtheshoulderboulderholderthingstraplatchboobs, Wed 3 Feb 2010, 10:57, Reply)