The Official Adam Pascal Love Thread, part 14, version 2.0 — Page 28

It's made from animal collagen.

What's vodka sauce? I assumed one thing, but the meat part through me off.

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Updated On: 10/20/07 at 01:11 AM

I'll eat products with glycerin and mono- and diglycerides because those can also come from a vegetable-based source.

that's how I rationalize not worrying about rennet in cheese... some rennet is non-animal based.

And animal hooves, ew. Oh well, I just can't give up my frosted cinnamon pop tarts & other gelatin containing foods.

Sorry, I edited to correct. Not animal hooves, just animal bones. Um, if that makes it any better.

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Vodka sauce is really a cream sauce, at least in my understanding, but it has tomato, vodka, and usually prosciutto in it. To make it, you make a basic cream sauce, then add vodka and tomato paste.

I'm wondering how to make a non-dairy cream base, although I think they make non-dairy creamers now. You could use that, soy butter, and some flour to thicken it. It does usually have cheese in it too, I don't know if there's any substitute for that, really

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Updated On: 10/20/07 at 01:20 AM

I'm slowly starting to do more research into which companies practice animal testing, and start weeding those out of my life. I try to be as careful as I can, but I know there are inevitably some that I miss and buy anyway. It even bothered me that they tested that new allergy drug on Edible Enemies on rats, even though it's an important medical advancement.

Gelatin is made of hooves, as far as I know...

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You know, I thought they did taste a little bit different, but figured that with my throat closing, I wasn't the best judge. They've been telling me that nothing has changed. Not just recently, but that the fries have never changed, which given very publicly-available information, is a bold-faced lie.

Most of those non-dairy creamers actually do have dairy in them -- ironically, the exact protein to which many people with dairy allergies are allergic to. They were originally created and promoted as "non-dairy" for the sake of people who avoid dairy because of the fat content. There's a substitute for almost anything now, though. The only thing I can't seem to find one for is condensed milk. I met someone over the summer who was a very highly trained chef and knew some people who were food scientists. He said someone like that could probably figure out an alternative, but that for a lot of reasons, it's potentially impossible.

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Emcee, I meant non dairy creamers like the one by Silk. I'm not sure if those contain traces of milk, but I'm fairly sure that they don't.

It's easy to drive yourself crazy with these types of issues. It all comes down to your level of comfort, and how much one is willing to sacrifice. Everyone has a tipping point

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Most people I know feel that way. And on an intellectual level, I understand and respect that. But they won't be using this new allergy vaccine, for example, to benefit the rats they're testing it on - so why should they suffer for it?

Emcee - you can actually make a substitute for condensed milk in a few different ways. I've never tried them, though, so I don't know how they'd compare to the real thing.

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Updated On: 10/20/07 at 01:36 AM

so why should they be sacrificed for it?

Well, I guess it really all comes down to whether or not one believes that humans are, in some way, on a higher level than animals and thus are entitled to more privileges. I personally do, but I respect the opposing opinion as well.

Those Cherrybrook cake mixes (BEST. CUPCAKES. EVER.) are dairy-free and egg-free. Vegan baked are interesting; sometimes they're REALLY good, but other times they taste sort of like nothing, because of everything that's omitted from them. A lot of the good vegan cookies have a sort of fruity taste to them as opposed to say, chocolate, because of all the fruit juices that are used. They're pretty good, though. I've just recently found a new company that makes some great cookies.

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I've always thought that sweets would be the trickiest things to do vegan... I don't think I ever would go vegan, but I'd be interested to try some vegan desserts, for curiosity sake.

While I wouldn't give up dairy & eggs, I would love to only buy local/free range milk & eggs. I'll probably do it when I'm living on my own, but I know that it's generally more expensive, so that could be an issue.

With regards to all things non-medicine, I'd personally judge it on a case-by-case basis. I don't have a problem with animal testing if they're testing a new ingredient in something and/or the company has reason to believe there's even a slim chance their new product might cause a severe reaction, but from the little I've read, a lot of animal testing is performed unnecessarily. Of course, it's difficult to judge on a case-by-case basis if the consumers aren't fully aware of all the information surrounding a product, and if you feel strongly about the issue, it's probably easier to make more of a general anti-testing statement. However, as a general rule, I do have a major problem with animal dissections in schools on principle, and I think teachers saying that those who object can do an alternate assignment is such a cop-out. Like any middle- or high-school kid is going to want to be the one outcast.