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Saturday, Apr. 14, 2007 / 7:08 p.m. ~Culinary Conundrum~ When I was a brand new vegetarian I went looking for substitutes for some of my favorite foods, like the pork-filled potstickers I had loved so much. I found some, veg only, filled with cabbage and shiitake mushrooms, ginger, garlic, good stuff all, and I bought plenty. At some point, though, Whole Foods discontinued this brand, and if only I could remember the name of said brand, but alas, I cannot. Devastated, was I, in a way. Something yummy, quick to prepare (steam, or drop in soup, and eat!), and readily available, if a bit expensive, was now out of the realm of my dietary possibilities. I searched other stores, to no avail, finally giving in to the only brand I could find, one Ling Ling, awful stuff that. Two weeks ago today I finally found a plethora, a virtual cornucopia of frozen gyoza potstickers, vegetarian all!, at a local Asian/Hispanic Farmer's Market. A huge store, one whole third of which was some of the most beautiful produce I've seen in years, not the organic like at Whole Foods, but lovely and affordable. I stocked up on oranges and apples and shiitakes and other goodies before hitting up the frozen aisles, where I found in the Japanese section the aforementioned gyoza, all to suit my vegetarian lifestyle. My culinary conundrum. Alas, I bought three separate brands, three very separate varieties, three very separate quality Asian dumplings, and I have just finally thrown away the lesser of the three, after eating all I could of a bowl of the steamed wrapped dumplings. Awful, just terrible. The second ingredient is TVP, textured vegetable protein, which I remember Linda McCartney extolling, the benefits anyway, in her cookbook, and any time she opened her mouth to speak. Oh, TVP, the vegetarian's dream come true. Well fuck that, Linda, may she rest in peace, fuck that all to high hell and back. It's crap. It tastes all textury, not vegetabley, and it's rather horrid in large amounts, as in this one brand of potsticker. I want VEGETABLES, and 'shrooms, and natural seasonings, not some fake meat crap. I ate all I could (and my stomach is fully distended, a big bloat going on - ergh!) before I threw away the last few of the package, something I rarely do. Food is precious, sacred, all food, and none is worthy of discarding... except in circumstances where it is barely edible. Like today. I feel rather ooky now, from this bowl of gyoza consumed rather begrudgingly, with yummy dumpling sauce and everything. I still see those little balls of TVP, very much looking like ground pork, very confusing, very wrong, and very off-tasting, very ick, and blech, and now the remains in my garbage. I know, I know, I need to cook them myself, buy the stupid wrappers already made, buy my own shiitakes and cabbage and ginger and garlic, if that's what I want inside, and just do it on my own, stop trying to find those perfect potstickers which are no longer on shelves anywhere, and why? But I am the lazy vegetarian, and even though two weeks ago I bought fresh food and cooked it for myself for an entire week to two, I am now out again, and the shopping must be done again, and yet, and yet, and yet, I have no energy for such. Could be worse. Having food to throw away is quite the luxury, of this I am well aware. Life goes on. Cost of the War in Iraq
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