Don’t call it “vegan carbonara”! We’re sure that you, too, at least once, have witnessed one of the many controversies over the names of vegan dishes: Why do some people who consciously choose to eliminate meat and animal derivatives from their diet decide to name vegan alternatives with names similar to those of non-vegan dishes or ingredients? Behind this choice, which is justified and absolutely sensible, lie several reasons.
The keyword: recognizability
Try to imagine yourself in the refrigerator section of any supermarket, looking for a plant-based alternative to a ready meal, perhaps lasagna. Finding the label “vegan lasagna” would leave no doubt, but what if it were called “layers of pasta filled with a soy-based cream, stuffed with a vegetable substitute for minced meat”?
Obviously, we’re exaggerating, but the essence of the argument is this: using names for vegan dishes that recall those of omnivores makes them immediately recognizable. This approach gives a clear idea of what to expect in terms of flavors, textures, and aromas. The same applies to any recipe: talking about “vegan grandma’s cake” immediately lets us understand what type of dessert we’re discussing, albeit with the necessary variations.
Especially at the time of purchase, it’s a significant help: buying a “vegan speck-flavored sliced product” undoubtedly facilitates the identification process of what is being added to the cart. Much more so than a “smoked-flavored sliced product,” which does not give consumers any clue about what to expect. The point is that we live in a world where the vegan choice is still a niche within a custom and tradition made up of many non-vegan foods. Therefore, it’s inevitable that plant-based dishes and products evoke flavors and textures with which we are all familiar.
Legitimizing vegetable alternatives
Within the food market, plant-based alternatives are increasingly numerous but still represent a tiny part of the available products. Their value in terms of innovation is undisputed, but depriving them of their name could somehow block the rise of a market in solid expansion.
Defining a product as “vegetable steak” or “oat milk” (even within the complex regulatory framework of meat and milk sounding) legitimizes it in the eyes of consumers, making it a worthy alternative to the animal counterpart. Let’s remember that depriving something of its name is equivalent to depriving it of its position within the food market.
Vegans fight the substance, not the taste
Another aspect too often underestimated concerns the very essence of vegan philosophy: being an ethical choice linked to the desire not to contribute to animal exploitation, it inherently has nothing to do with the desire to renounce the flavor of omnivorous food.
One can be vegan while still loving the taste of mozzarella on pizza, the flavor of tiramisu cream, or the aroma of meatballs in sauce on Sunday: those who eliminate meat and animal derivatives from their diet certainly do not do so because they dislike the flavors of the ingredients or dishes of the non-vegan tradition.
In short, vegans fight against the substance of non-vegan dishes and ingredients, the suffering that their production entails, not their taste. That’s why it should not surprise us if some vegans decide to try plant-based foods that resemble those of animal origin in every way: food is also tied to memories and moods, as well as to family traditions that we hold dear. Becoming vegan does not mean renouncing all this.
Obviously, it often happens that, after making this life choice, people refuse to consume products that remind them of those of animal origin: the awareness of the aberrations that their production entails is often more than enough to make them repellent. It happens, but not to everyone: many vegans view a cruelty-free product that reminds them of their favorite cheese or a plant-based burger capable of satisfying them as much as a meat one favorably.
From our point of view, the moment animal suffering has been banned from the table, the rest are indisputable individual choices, which, as such, must be respected.