Vegetarian/vegan characters

[tephralynn]

I'm working on what I will write for NaNoWriMo this year and I have hit a bit of a stumbling block. When pondering one of my main characters it occurred to me that, due to her species, she'd logically have to be at least vegetarian, if not vegan. She's a fantasy character based off a qilin/kirin which is noted for, among other things, not eating

Comments

[msmcknittington]

Pottage. It's basically vegetables and/or legumes and/or grains boiled/stewed over a fire for a really long time, until it kind of breaks down into a mush. People ate more meat in 18th-century America than they did previously in Europe, because it was more easily available, but I don't think anybody's going to think your character's a super weirdo for eating lots of pottage-y, gruel-y things.

Here are a bunch of medieval vegetarian recipes. There's one for turnip pottage, and some for compost, which doesn't have a thing to do with gardening, but involves cooked root vegetables or fruit in vinaigrette or wine sauce. There's also frumenty, which is basically a wheat version of polenta or cornmeal mush

[msmcknittington]

Dammit. I wrote you a really long comment, but because I included a link, it got screened. Here it is without the link

[tephralynn]

LJ is being "helpful" again, and also having some notification issues. :P

Ah, my New England childhood history classes definitely left me with an impression of more meat in the diet. It's good to know that she won't get the side eye for her eating habits, the poor thing will get that enough for other reasons.

I might be able to give her dairy, some of the legends for the mythological beast I'm basing her off allow for "milk and honey". Of course others say all she needs are moonbeams and dew on flowers.... :D

I should have remembered about peas being overachievers, goodness knows I shelled enough of them as a kid when we had a very, very large garden. I suspect my adult character will expand their growing area that first year, they normally maintain enough for good crop rotation so they can plant more but will need the extra space for rotating the next year. I hadn't really thought of that before, thank you. :)

And thank you very much for the recipes.

[cat63]

To add to the comment above, also edible fungus, assuming your adult character knows which ones are safe to eat - and those can be dried to keep over the winter if they have the facilities (basically some sort of rack over a steady low heat source).

[tephralynn]

I hadn't thought of fungus. Google has lead me to a couple nice sites for native fungus (and plants in general) for the region so her diet suddenly got a lot more interesting. Thanks!

[cat63]

Glad to have helped :)

[sauced_again]

If I do choose "the hard way" what sort of symptoms would the baby/toddler have to show they can't handle meat?

Okay, I'm assuming you mean the species doesn't manufacture the correct enzymes to digest meat, not just that she's unaccustomed to it. I'd say you're on the right track with what you've listed -- symptoms you might find in people who can't digest lactose or gluten. Personally, meat puts me to sleep, but that's rare and might not be enough of a sign for your adult character.

It could be an interesting plot point that the adult has to mingle more with the townsfolk in order to trade for grain and such.

[tephralynn]

Yes, she's based off an herbivore, as much as mythological beasts can be classified that way, so meat is a problem. I don't imagine a sleepy baby would be much of a clue, but a fussy, gassy one being messy at both ends probably would be. Poor thing.

The townsfolk are going to be a bit concerned about my character turning up in town without being fetched for help. :)

[brockulfsen]

Lots of herbivores will eat meat given a chance. Horses and cows for example.

[tephralynn]

My family had a pony that stole hotdogs from kids that would stop to pet the ponies at the fair. So a small amount occasionally might not have an immediate effect, true.

Where I'm dealing with a kirin, which is a magical herbivore known for not eating flesh at all however....

[browngirl]

I will try, when I get home, to give you the titles of the New England cookbooks I own. They provide a fascinating look at New England foodways in the 1700s through the earliest 1900s; there was a fair amount of meat in the diet, but a lot of it was cooked with vegetables in dishes from which it could just as well be subtracted, such as baked beans.

Also, I have had more than one vegetarian friend describe the symptoms when they have eaten meat/meat products after a long time or lifetime of abstinence from them. The results basically could be summed up as bad stomach and intestinal upsets, with gas, diarrhea, pain, nausea, etc. A baby might show this as 'colic' as in 'chicken broth makes the baby colicky'.

[tephralynn]

Old cookbooks are awesome. :)

My poor kirin baby, the hard way to find out she can't handle meat is pretty hard on her.

[browngirl]

I can either be on a computer or at home but not both, but check this book out:

http://www.amazon.com/First-American-Cookbook-Facsimile-Cookery/dp/0486247104

[tephralynn]

Thank you, it looks like an excellent book. :)