So after the extensive preamble of the last 3 posts we get to the heart of the matter - my actual plan for experimenting with a meat-free lifestyle.

At the centre of this plan is my “Meat List” - quite simply a list of all the meat-based dishes that I really like; the things I might miss if I turn my back on a carnivorous lifestyle forever.

The plan itself is quite simple - to eat as many of these dishes as I can over the next month or so, for two basic reasons. First, in the event that I do cross over to the Veg Side for good, I will have said a fond farewell to the things I’ve enjoyed in the past. Secondly, and more importantly, it gives me a real chance to work out honestly how much I actually enjoy being a meat-eater.

Phase 2 of the plan comes in January when I’ll stop eating meat again. And then comes the interesting part of the experiment. I’ll either find that after a couple of months I really can’t live without meat, or I’ll decide that I don’t miss either the meat, or the previously-explored ethical quandries it entails.

So without further ado, here (in no particular order) is the list in full:

• Proper English Fish’n'Chips (sorry guys - no matter how hard you try, America cannot provide this)
• A really good steak (I’m thinking Argentinian or Brazillian steakhouse)
• Calf’s Liver (Hopefully still on the menu at Carluccio’s in Islington)
• A good beef lasange
• Bacon Butties (“sandwiches” for any Americans in the audience)
• A full English fry-up (including black pudding and pigs’ kidneys)
• Bangers’n'mash
• Steak and Kidney Pie
• A ‘Double Double’ from In’n'out
• A proper English roast dinner (Christmas should see to that)
• A Chicken Tikka Masala
• Whitebait
• Oysters (May not be possible really - wrong season)
• Corned Beef Sandwiches (I know, eww, but they got me through childhood and student days)
• Peri-Peri Chicken (I’ve missed Nando’s quite a bit)
• Peking Duck
• BBQ Pork Ribs

There are many more items which could go on the list, but that pretty much covers my favourites.

And with that, I’m taking a sorely needed vacation back in Blighty. Coming up in the New Year - the no-doubt amusing story of my move 40 miles north, lightly sprinkled with meat-free shenanigans.

Merry Denominational Religious Celebration and a Gregorian New Year to you all.

This article first arrived on the interwebnet on Friday, December 16th, 2005 at 10:21 pm .
It's arbitrarily categorised as being about: Eating, Sustainability, Thinking, Vegetarianism.
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