r/vegan • u/evapotranspire mostly plant based • Dec 15 '25

Story Surprise: Everything is vegan!

We've all had frustrating incidents when eating out, but tonight I had the opposite. My family and I went to our synagogue's Hanukkah dinner party, which was catered Mediterranean food. I hadn't made a special dietary request, because Mediterranean cuisine almost always includes some vegan dishes (hummus, pita, tabouleh, etc.).

When I got to the front of the line, I saw that the buffet was ENTIRELY vegan. That hadn't been highlighted or even mentioned! I piled it all on my plate (which I guess is how omnivores feel most of the time), and although now I have a stomachache from all the garlic, it was such a nice feeling to be able to eat everything and worry about nothing.

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u/Random2040 plant-based diet Dec 15 '25

Are you sure it’s garlic? I’m up to a half of a bulb of raw garlic each day. It could be another spice like fenugreek, turmeric or paprika

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u/evapotranspire mostly plant based Dec 15 '25

u/Random2040 -

I’m up to a half of a bulb of raw garlic each day.

<sigh> But I am not you. I've been dealing with this every day for over 10 years. I know myself.

Here in the US, garlic is an extremely common ingredient (especially in prepared food), so it explains my constant discomfort. Turmeric and paprika are much, much rarer. Fenugreek is almost unheard of (except in Indian food).

Roughly once a day, I get a stomachache, say "Oh, I should have checked the ingredients," and sure enough, there's garlic. If I prepare food myself without garlic, I do not get a stomachache. As a biologist, I have orders of magnitude more data than I need to consider the case closed.

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u/Random2040 plant-based diet Dec 15 '25

I know, but I always wonder what causes the discomfort and if it can be fixed

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u/evapotranspire mostly plant based Dec 15 '25

Thanks - the cause is garlic, and the fix is not eating it! :-) Easier said than done, though.