Again a cultural difference. When you say "most vegetarians", you mean the vegetarians you know in the West. When even egg is not acceptable across the board, how can something from animal tendons be acceptable to them? Maybe a more generalized definition of "vegetarian" as applied in India would help? Any product, animal or plant, obtained without hurting or killing the animal. Then why not eggs, you might ask. The answer: Eggs in the past were eggs obtained naturally and one could never predict whether they were fertilized or not. So eggs were not considered "vegetarian" by all. That tradition has continued and it would be unrealistic to expect to change a basic concept, now that realities may have changed. How many vegans I know of who do not eat "vegetarian" eggs, only because they are not free range eggs! And those are not necessarily Indian.
There are of course many variants of vegetarianism. In my country (and at least in norhern west europe) the lacto-ovo has been selected as the "standard". Many vegetarians do not eat milk/egg but it is easy then for them (at least in restaurants) to avoid dishes having egg or milk. Some are vegans, some eat only raw food. Gelatine is not normally included in food (except in some desserts) and I do not even know if the "official standard" include gelatin or not. They have been a discussion about gelatine as it is commonly used in candy and also in the medicine industry. It was the vegan people who brought this issue up and haven't met vegetarians that would have that as an issue. On the other hand it is such rare thing that gelatin would be in a dish so maybe I haven't noticed. I asked about the gelatin as was thinking making a cake and no oven so it would have been convenient to make a non-baked cheese cake. With eggs I got confused because noticed that many ate cakes and other stuff having eggs as an ingredient. And you do not kill the hen when picking up the eggs, keeping the rooster separately (as we do on farms) you can know that the eggs are not fertilized . But maybe the main point is that why not tell these things when asking about food restrictions/preferences? I asked before the trip and only got this nonsense once again about veg and non-veg. (The other was veg, the other non-veg). I knew of course that non-veg means chicken (not yet sure about that lamb-mutton-goat thing ) and maybe fish. Why not telling that I eat veg and that means that in addition to your standard veg I do not eat eggs, mushrooms etc?
CrayoNess, while I totally agree with you about being clear about dietary requirements, you need to understand that people who have not travelled outside are often not aware about such diverse understanding about what is "vegetarian" and what is not. Maybe a good point would be to have compulsory intercultural training for all employees who are travelling abroad, so they know what they are going to face. They also need to be told that, unlike in India, it is better to be very clear about what one feels, when outside and that this is better appreciated than saying "no" just to appear polite. As a German language trainer, when we teach about visiting a restaurant abroad, I always make it a point to tell them that they have to clearly define their concept of vegetarian. I have had instances in restaurants where I asked for vegetarian soup and was given potato or leek soup with "Speck" in it and told that it had vegetables - potatoes in it. It was months before someone informed me (on my first ever stay abroad) that chips are cooked in lard. Believe me when I tell you, it can become quite frustrating as well as exhausting if one has to go into such fine details at every meal. It could be one reason why someone might think "it's alright. I shall eat whatever I can" and not bother about going into detailed explanations. Some might find it embarrassing.
I think I got it . I/we need to be more clear and explain what is meant with veg food in this country. Ie no animal broth/lard/meat/fish included but there may be egg or mushroom (that is considered here as veg) and that is why important to check/bring this up. And also to tell that is totally fine to bring up any food restrictions you may have. And that food will smell/taste completely different than you are used to. Actually funny when my (one of my closer) indian friend (who has been staying for quite long periods in Finland) told me that she always tell the newcomers that "close" their noses when eating to not notice the smell. Actually the same advice I give to people visiting India first time . Guess the food issue can be closed for now. Then the next question that have been mind boggling me. When I decided to stay in apartment (instead of hotel) I got several times the question "do I cook?". I was completely confused as an adult, mother of four and they made it sound like "do you know how to run a spacecraft" or similar. I mumbled something vaguely and changed the subject. I cook of course on a daily basis as everyone else living on their own. I did not do very much cooking in the apartment as had lunch in the office and usually only took a sandwich or something in the evening as was so exhausted after long days. From where did that question come from?
May be thoughts running in their minds about: 1. Availability of the kind of food you would like to eat? 2. Helping find a place where the owner would not mind if you brought in or cooked non vegetarian food? Some house owners are very finicky about this. Those are the only two thoughts that come to mind. Or do they imagine that people in the West always eat ready packed, "stick in the microwave" kind of food?
It eas a serviced apartment (like a hotel) so the apattment owner had no say in my food preferences. During my first trp (staying in a hotel) no choice regarding food so why now concerned? One explanation that I got from an indian friend was that many think thatwhite ladies have staff at home and never cook.
I'm not going to write a novel about the culture/culture shock thing here. All I want to know is why these people from India didn't dive into the desserts at the cruise??? Why on earth will anyone do that. Imagine walking past a chocolate cake and not eating it. Every trip to Europe and I've indulged! I have skipped the non vegeterian lunches for the yummies. Who needs all that protein anyway? I truly applaud their self control. OP, Hire me. I'll do full justice to the buffet even though I may skip everything else and land at the dessert table!
These occurrences are common in Indian scenario. However I would advise you to gauge and trust people so that your personal safety does not get compromised. You never know what is cooking in somebody's head.
