Having attended a small liberal arts college, I've seen my share of vegan potlucks. The other night, at a dinner party thrown by some students and alums, I had a helping of some fairly tame looking black beans that turned out to be palate-peelingly spicy. I said as much to someone else at the party and they replied, "Yeah, they're hippie hot." That comment served to stir up a question I've always pondered at potlucks and dinners throughout the years: why is it that vegan and vegetarian potluck offerings are often very heavily seasoned? Is it just me? Please tell me that there are others out there that have experienced this. Is it perhaps that some inexperienced vegan cooks fear that their food will be bland and sometimes overcompensate with spices? I don't know. I have nothing against vegan cooking on the whole. Truth be told, a friend from college makes better vegan baked goods than some of the non-vegan bakers I know. They made me a believer. I'm not suggesting that all vegans are hippies either. I'm just wondering if other folks have had similar experiences with spicy silken tofu quiche and such.
3-09-2006 @6:07PM Joe Starkey said... too many foods today are just "spiced" and have no taste other than the spices. Way too many cooks and prepared foods are over spiced to taste less ness. We've stopped buying several brands of the diet "TV" meals to take to work simply because all you can taste is the pepper and other spices.
Joe Starkey
Abilene, TX just so you know it's not hot I object to.
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3-09-2006 @6:55PM Wesley Vincent said... I have had the opposite experience. We had a vegetarian resturant run by a Seventh Day Adventist woman. While the food was healthful, it was also bland and totally devoid of any spices. Every time I ate there, I kept thinking this would be so much better with the addition a few spices to add flavor. Many non-vegetarians turn their noses up to anything made with Tofu. They see it as being bland and taistless. Many of them got that impression from inexperienced cooks who neglected to use any spices. Most cultures around the world use lots of spices in their foods. The exception is Northern Europe and their decendants here in North America.
Wesley Vincent
Albuquerque, NM
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3-09-2006 @8:16PM Zachary said... I'm not a vegetarian, but I do find a lot of vegetarian foods to be delicious because the lack of meat is often made up for by a lot of flavors and spices. I think it is safe to say that a lot of people end up overdoing the spice, and while I have never heard the phrase "hippie hot" I think it entirely appropriate. I love spicy food, but if the heat isn't in balance with the rest of the flavors then it's just hot, not good. A lot of the vegetarian/hippie people I have known were in their early to mid twenties, and their lack of cooking experience but appreciation of spice has made for some difficult to eat food. A vegetarian friend of mine used to invite people over for "stir fry," which was basically steamed carrots and brocolli that were slathered with some kind of blazing hot stir fry sauce that he kept on hand. Obviously there are plenty of hippies out there who are accomplished cooks, so I can see how the phrase "hippie hot" could rub some folks the wrong way.
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3-09-2006 @10:01PM suburban misfit said... I have to agree. We have a bunch of vegetarian friends and they always, always, always make really spicy food.
When my husband and I were vege, though, I didn't heavily spice my foods. I don't know why some veges do.
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