I've always assumed this type of cheese has animal retin in it every time- I've certainly never seen it saying "suitable for vegetarians" in the supermarket.
But a lot of restaurants will classify a meal as vegetarian even if it's topped in parmasean. Even in places where I generally trust their classifications because certain other things, like chocolate cakes or other cheesy dishes, are NOT always classified as veggie, which implies that they've done their research.
Are these places getting it wrong or is some parmasean suitable? And if so, do you know where to buy it?
2006-10-12 04:10:37 · 15 answers · asked by - 5 in Food & Drink ➔ Vegetarian & Vegan
Micheal H, out of curiosity- will you eat in restaurants that are not solely vegetarian?
2006-10-13 00:45:02 · update #1
Here is a place that you can see vegetarian parmesan cheese. It may be the kind that is used at your restaurant that you eat at. It is made with vegetable rennet rather than animal! I hope that this helps you!
http://www.belgioioso.com/VeggieParm.htm
2006-10-12 04:16:23 · answer #1 · answered by fatiima 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
generally resturants get it wrong. You will find virtually no combined resturants that have a veggie approval, because they have cross contamination.
A veggie cannot eat in a combined resturant, very few exceptions to that rule. I don't know of one.
If you can't find a veggie parmasean in all the supermarkets how is a chef gong to find it in thier limited wholesaler supplies.
We run a veggie B&B and so go to wholesalers for some stuff, I doubt if they have veggie parmasean, the choice will be a couple of products, not the 20 you see in supermarkets.
Ask next time you go into a resturant, chances are they will look at you daft and say something like "isn't all chesse veggie, would you like some fish with that ?"
If a chef can just about stretch to one veggie menu item, because the AA inspector tells him he has to to get more than 1 star, then the chef is hardly going to consider the details.
Why would a normal chef know about veggie food, they don't. And they don't consider the source of sub-ingredients because for them the moral veggie or vegan stance is not an issue. So they don't think of questioning the source. or sauce ;-)
2006-10-12 05:44:27 · answer #2 · answered by Michael H 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Real and imitation Parmesan cheeses are made from rennet, which comes from cow's stomach's. Vegetarian Parmesan cheese uses a different coagulant. For a restaurant to label a meal "vegetarian", look for the logo of the Vegetarian Society (of whatever country you live in) on the menu. If they don't have the logo, chances are they're using real (or cheap imitation) Parmesan rather than a vegetarian alternative.
2006-10-12 04:29:12 · answer #3 · answered by lizzit 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think you can get Italian Parmesan that is veggie friendly, but you can definitely buy vegetarian Parmesan-style hard cheese which makes an acceptable substitute - you can get it in Sainsbury's.
If you have any doubts about your restaurants then just ask for your meal without the parmesan.
2006-10-12 12:20:21 · answer #4 · answered by lauriekins 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are vegetarian parmesans - but that doesn't mean that restaurants have necessarily gone into that much depth.
Since the law on declaring gm foods was brought in, restaurants should be able to tell you what is in the food. Demand to know whether or not the parmesan is a vegetarian one - they might not be able to tell you, but at least they'll know that their customers are concerned about it.
2006-10-12 04:20:34 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Most restaurants just don't get it...unless they are for sure veggie friendly. Unless the cheese (any cheese) specifically says that it is made with a veggie based rennet it is not vegetarian. I wouldn't say they are getting it "wrong", I'd say they are just very uninformed.
It isn't just cheese that restaurants don't get...when you order rice in many Mexican places, it is made with chicken broth but somehow it makes it into the so called "veggie" burrito.
2006-10-12 04:30:04 · answer #6 · answered by Loli M 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Restaurants that use cheese never classify this as an animal product. Most people don't know what Rennet is. Most vegetarians don't know what rennet is and don't know that they are using a slaughterhouse product.
2006-10-12 04:16:44 · answer #7 · answered by moviegirl 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Parmigiano-Reggiano is a grana, a hard, granular cheese, cooked but not pressed, named after the producing areas of Parma and Reggio Emilia, in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. It is widely described by connoisseurs as the king of cheeses.
Parmesan is the common term for any cheese similar to Parmigiano Reggiano DOP. The word parmesan is derived from French referring to the original Italian Parmigiano Reggiano, such as Grana Padano, a hard, grainy Italian cheese close to Parmigiano Reggiano.
Traditionally, cows have to be fed only on grass or hay, producing grass fed milk. Only natural whey culture is (allegedly) allowed as a starter, together with calf rennet. The only additive allowed is salt which the cheese absorbs while being submerged for 20 days in brine tanks saturated to near total salinity with Meditteranean sea salt. The product is aged an average of two years. The cheese is produced daily, and it can show a natural variability.
2006-10-12 04:20:27 · answer #8 · answered by moghusai 4 · 1⤊ 3⤋
Here is a list by types of cheese and the brands that do not use animal rennet.
http://cheese.joyousliving.com/CheeseListType.aspx
2006-10-12 04:44:42 · answer #9 · answered by KathyS 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
hi, i work in a veggie restaurant and our parmy is made with a veg rennit. it looses a little in texture to the original. it is possible to get replicas of most cheese using veg rennit.
www.cheese.joyousliving.com
2006-10-15 12:53:41 · answer #10 · answered by purest s 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋