ÜBER DEN TELLERRAND
Advent with a happy ending
Advent is here, the goose takes flight …
… before it’s roasted golden bright.
Christmas roast – yes or no? This is precisely the question I asked myself many years ago, when I was still a semi-inveterate flexitarian, shortly before the much-loved Christmas season with all its fanfare and meat feasts. I can still remember the surprise and shock shown by my whole family when, after receiving the obligatory Advent calendar, I told them that I was going to go vegan for the whole month of December. With a smug smile on his face, my father held out his hand to me and said, „Without your Christmas goose, you’ll never make it!“ – and the bet was sealed.
Santa Clause is coming to town …
The first few days leading up to the Christmas party at the sports club were pretty easy – after all, all I had to do was give up the meat and indulge in my delicious salads, creative vegetable casseroles and my vegan neighbour’s vegan cookies. On the day of the party, however, the sight of the gloriously prepared all-you-can-eat buffet resulted in a serious bout of weakness, which I could only stave off by getting out my Tupperware box, specially filled for such crisis situations. With my chest swollen with pride, I conquered one Advent door after another, feasting on my own steadfastness with vegan meatballs, meatless burgers and purely plant-based vanilla crescents. Each day I gained more knowledge about vegan cuisine and, lo and behold, somehow the challenge of BEING ALLOWED to abstain from all animal products was becoming more and more enjoyable.
Surprise visit … with a happy ending, of course
Unfortunately, three days before Christmas Eve, a surprise visit from my childhood sweetheart Tamara, who had come all the way from Italy, was announced, but even this didn’t result in me caving in or cheating in any way. I served beef and tomato bruschetta, courgette involtini with cashew cheese sauce, spaghetti bolognese with seitan and a delicious vegan tiramisu to finish. Her hunger for more, along with my own, led me to believe that carnivorous delight need not be a foreign concept to vegans.
Incidentally, on the day of the lavish Christmas feast itself, my father congratulated me not only on Tamara, but also on winning the bet that I wouldn’t consume even a single bite of the perfectly roasted Christmas goose. This flood of compliments ultimately paved the way for me to continue leaving my mark on this earth with animal-product-free soles.
