When I met my husband I was a duck confit, pork belly sort of girl. I lived in Seattle and he lived in rural England. Jim was divorced and I was perpetually single. He was a musician and I was unable to carry a tune. But when he told me he was a vegetarian – my heart skipped a beat with the unexpected news though my attraction and interest in him did not waiver. In fact, I saw his vegetarianism as a challenge – Not that I wanted to convert him to my meat eating ways but I wondered how two people with so many odds stacked against them could have a relationship.
Jim was touring in a band that made frequent stops in Seattle and I had the luxury of owning my own business that gave me the freedom to meet him on the fly, anywhere. Jim was not an opinionated, political vegetarian. He never preached vegetarian enlightenment, he just didn’t eat meat nor did he bat an eye when I engaged in nose to tail eating.
Eating out was never a problem. We steered clear of obvious no-nos like steakhouses and I sincerely enjoyed his vegetarian restaurants as much as he enjoyed my restaurants of choice. I would tell him I went both ways, as much as I loved my meat I’m not one to shy away from a tasty veggie burger or a hearty nut roast.
We got married and stopped eating out at the same time – our courtship was over and like a lot of couples we fell into our sacrosanct roles: I do the cooking, he does the dishes. Initially our meals were basically vegetarian, I would just add a touch of pork or chicken as seasoning to my portion.
After the initial zeal of our first year of marriage I was becoming tired of cooking meat for just myself. In addition, I was realizing I felt healthier when I did not eat meat. I was able to digest better and didn’t feel bloated anymore. Shockingly, I was starting to enjoy straight up vegetarian food. I found myself buying vegetarian cookbooks and the variety and level of my cooking went through the roof.
After 3 years of marriage, and through no intentional coercion from my husband it looks like now I’m a vegetarian. Except for the occasional burger lapse.