“What do food do you miss?”

“What would be the first thing that you would eat that’s not vegan?”

I’ve gotten asked this quite a bit.

If you would have asked me a year ago, I would have instantly said sushi, fancy cheeses or some sort of dessert.

But learning about over fishing of seas, I don’t think I would choose fish any more. (Plus vegan sushi is just as fabulous).

My taste buds would love the taste of cheese, but I honestly don’t think the rest of my body would be happy if I had any sort of dairy after not eating it for over a year.

And I am lucky enough to live in a large urban area that has lots of great local choices for vegan baked goods like donuts and cakes and brownies and carrot cupcakes.

So fortunately my non-vegan choices are honestly pretty easy to come by. It’s not if the alternative is available… it’s where and when is it available.

While most substitutes have really grown on me  (and sometimes I like them better than non-vegan versions), there is one thing that I would love to eat again….

Escargot.

From France.

So that would be my one cheat. But it would have to be at some little local roadside cafe in the middle of Paris, France. I don’t want some Americanized version at a fancy restaurant. I want the real deal abroad.

Sitting out on the little two person table with my beau.  Drinking French red wine and being served fresh escargot on the neat little tray.

While I haven’t had escargot since traveling to Paris in 2017, I remember it being my favorite cuisine, and I still think about it to this day. I have yet to travel outside the U.S. while eating on a plant-based diet, but I know that I have some feelings about being lenient on my diet if I did get the chance to travel abroad. But let’s save those thoughts for a different time.

I know so many vegans (and non-vegans too, I guess) gag at the thought of eating snails, but that just means more for me when I am able to travel to France again.

 

Your full-time plant eater (except escargot in France),

 

AJ