Health

Being vegan: ‘I jumped off the wagon and landed on a cow’

I asked a French waiter for a soya latte. It was like I had asked him to milk himself

Practically everything on offer in restaurants is meat or diary-based and I couldn’t exactly bring a pre-prepared vegan lunch with me. I really had no choice. Photograph: Thinkstock

Dominique McMullan
Fri Mar 11 2016 - 11:27

I have fallen off the vegan wagon. In fact, I have jumped off the wagon, and landed on a cow. In my defence, I was on my holidays.

As it turns out, the French aren’t exactly enamoured by the vegan lifestyle, and honestly the looks of pure disdain put me off my tofu. Have you ever tried asking a French waiter for a soya latte? I wouldn’t recommend it. It was like I had asked him to milk himself.

Vegetarian, never mind vegan, options are near impossible to find in the Alps. This is a region where melted cheese with salami is the speciality. It is cold in the mountains and you burn a lot of calories when skiing.

Practically everything on offer in restaurants is meat or diary-based and I couldn’t exactly bring a pre-prepared vegan lunch with me. I really had no choice.

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Okay, maybe there was some choice. I probably didn’t have to have the steak. Let’s just get this out of the way now. Once I realised that I wasn’t going to be able to get my hands on any vegan coffee, my every defence fell.

I was practically gleeful when I realised I had an excuse to indulge. In for a penney, I thought, as I lifted the slice of cow to my lips that first evening. And yes, it tasted completely delicious. As did the buttery toast, the hot chocolate, the croissants and the lasagne.

Surprisingly, at first bite the salty richness was a little strong, almost too much for my pure taste buds, but thankfully they soon adjusted and my gleeful animal binge continued.

Back on the wagon

I am now back at home and very much back on the vegan wagon. And, honestly, it wasn’t very hard. By the end of the week in

France

I felt sluggish and overindulged, and my meat-eating was significantly less enthusiastic.

Since being home, my skin and hair which was radiant (by my standards) before the holiday has been pretty awful. I’ve been getting spots where I wouldn’t normally and my skin has felt dry.

This is no doubt due to the excesses of the holiday. So now, day three at home and I’ve never been happier to eat a home-cooked Happy Pear vegan chilli.

For more information on vegan food, visit Peta.org.uk