Calling all vegetarians

[Atlantic]

I find that many albergues have a cooker but no pots. If walkers depend on finding a cooker and pots they may be disappointed. The vegetarian is then forced to use restos which have nothing they can eat, as Katherine reports;

It is true that restaurants are important for those with the cash to have all their meals there, tho' the vegetarian runs the risk of only being offered the food already discussed. That is the main point.

With a stove etc, even a midday meal can be made, of the right type for those with special needs. But I also realise that many on the Camino Francés are not normally walkers, and may not be interested in independence.

Also on the more remote caminos, little pueblos often have no restos.

So you pays yo' money and you takes yo choice!

[backiej]

I'm a pescadarian, (I eat fish) no meat. But, I am also diabetic and cannot take too many carbs. I was worried about eating enough protein so I took sheets of nori (the seaweed you find wrapped around sushi) which is very light weight. It can be expensive from health food shops but OK from Asian shops. I also took shelled hemp seed.
But do you know something. I walked like I never walked before and soon I began eating like I hadn't eaten in a long time; that is I started to believe that I must adjust to the Camino and not the other way around. I ate what I wanted when I could and I ate pork when there was nothing else. Yes after 20 years I gagged a bit but I put myself on Camino and I found that it was better to acept what the Camino wanted for me rather than go against it. One vegan cyclist, who wouldn't eat eggs or cheese got so ill that she had to cut short her Camino and go home. Just a thought.
Jackie

[Sil]

The Camino has been kind to me. I have been a vegetarian for over 35 years and I have never knowingly eaten meat on any of the Caminos I have walked (I've walked to Santiago 6 times and have also walked to Rome). There have been a couple of occasions where I've shaken tuna off lettuce leaves - they always put tuna in salads - but other than that I've eaten well and stayed healthy.

[backiej]

Hi Sil
I would love to walk to Rome. Did you walk from Canterbury? How long did it take? Do you need to speak French and Italian. I would love to hear about your journey.

[unadara]

Hi Sil
I would love to walk to Rome. Did you walk from Canterbury? How long did it take? Do you need to speak French and Italian. I would love to hear about your journey.

Are there good sites to assist a Pilgrimage to Rome ? Sandy says he is also planning a pilgrimage there ? I suppose we can't start a thread about Rome in a Santiago Forum ? pm me backiej if you get any useful starters.

[Leslie]

If anyone wants it I can open a seperate section on the pilgrimage to Rome, not a problem. The forum software needs to be updated and have a few tweeks at the start of Jan anyway.

[unadara]

Thanks Leslie we can all keep track of Sandy on his plans for 2012 and maybe we will be inspired ourselves.
Una

[HuskyNerd]

Leslie, this sounds great. I know there are folks out there (i.e. Sil) who could add expertise to this. It'd be nice to have a section on the Via Francigena to gather all these disparate thoughts. If you can do that I'd start a thread there in June and make notes of the walk. Thanks!

[Leslie]

Done, forum created for Via Francigena.

[Sonadora]

I met two vegetarian pilgrims last week, one who was on his 7th camino. Both said that on a winter pilgrimage, you must eat what is served, and it will probably contain pork. There are more options in warm months, but you will do well to pack many snacks!

[Petro]

I walked th French Camino in 2008. I am not a vegetarian but I do not eat red meat. I cooked for myself as far as possible and for the rest survived on bread (pan) with cheese, and salad whenever on the pilgrim menu. Most places are also willing to fry up an egg or two. I survived and lost a lot of weight in the process.

[nathan]

the irony of the situation is that spain is famous for it's produce but the culture of eating out (non tapas) is to have meat. The basque region has the best food in Spain. Sorria produces the best lentils and bottles vegetables(look out for the brand navvarrico). the white aspagus that is on most menus is supreme.one tip for all pilgrims veggie or not is to look beyond the pilgrim menu.sometimes three courses of mediocre food are surpassed by one plate of well cooked food from the "normal" menu. the cost differance will not be enormousThe cities of bougos and leon are famous for thier food, everybodies needs are catered for.
my advice is based on owning a deli in central london...we serve hundreds of kilo of hot/cold salads a week and more sandwiches than i can count. 70% of all our out put is vegetarian. the pulses/lentil/vegetables /meat and cheese are often spanish.
Alternate years i spend the month of august in northen spain on product reaserch/tasting trips. it was on a number of these trip that i criss crossed the caminos...both french and northern routes.
enjoy the food , get that buzz of the coffee and abbandon your self to the delights of spain



happy walking my friends

[BHinSanDiego]

On a similar vein of vegetarians finding food to sustain them, the one problem I see of bringing some type of small cooking stove is fuel, I just don't think the fuel would be that easy to find along the Camino, even if one could find the proper fuel would the cannisters fit the stove, that is the connection between the two, after a while the stove could become dead weight.