Did You Know Parmesan is Not Vegetarian?
My heart aces.
When I woke up this morning, I expected to have a pretty average day. I am currently working as a Junior Doctor in the Swiss Alps, which means waking up to the sun rising beneath the snow-covered mountains and enjoying the breathtaking view while having a first desperately needed coffee.
Never would I have imagined discovering something today that would cause me endless struggles with my moral concepts.
The emergency room was already crowded when I started working at 7 am. It’s the last weekends that allow for skiing and snowboarding. Snow has fallen a lot during the week and the swiss people (and also some tourists who choose to ignore the deadly virus spreading around the world) have decided to make use of the powdery slopes one last time.
The waiting room is therefore a typical potpourri of patients. I can see two people with a fracture of the tibia bone, one ankle that has completely lost its shape and multiple people waiting with cooling pads wrapped around their knees and elbows.
I work my way through the patients and still, I am not thinking about anything harmful that would make this day any special.
But then, lunch break starts. With my colleagues, I enter the cafeteria and my heart jumps — self-made pasta with red pesto is on the menu today. As a vegetarian, it is sometimes hard for me to find something eatable in the staff cafeteria. Apparently, most of my colleagues want to eat Schnitzel, sausages, Spaghetti Bolognese and co.
Underneath my mask I am smiling in excitement and of course, I apply huge amounts of parmesan onto my bowl of pasta. Can there ever be enough parmesan? I strongly doubt it.
I make my way to our table and happily dive into my dish.
“Hey Ruby, I thought you were vegetarian?”, says my colleague in a voice that sounds a little reproachful to me. Pretty hypocritic, I think, looking at the meatballs on her plate.
“Yes, Hanna”, I say, “that’s why I picked the veggie pesto.” Duh, obviously, I think to myself.
“But parmesan is not vegetarian”, she says. Hanna is one of those people who pretend to be your best friend, but then again you cannot really rely on her. Plus, she makes awkward comments, like this one. Of course, Parmesan is vegetarian — it’s just cheese, right? I never said I was vegan, so we are all good.
“Well, actually, for the process of making parmesan, special enzymes are needed. Enzymes are proteins, that catalyze a chemical reaction”, Hanna starts a monologue and I resist the urge to throw a meatball at her face. I know what enzymes are, I also studied medicine, Hanna. No need to explain the obvious.
“These enzymes are extracted from the stomachs of dead cows. And, actually, I have seen this in a documentary”, she gives us a knowing look, “I don’t watch much TV, but when I do, I always try to learn something new”
Ugh.
“They actually kill the cows especially for these enzymes. Can you believe that? The rest of the cow just goes to waste. I mean, if I eat a piece of actual meat, at least I know that the rest of the cow is not wasted, you know what I mean?”
Yes, Hanna, you’re a superhero. We all get it.
I look at my mountain of parmesan.
“Well, might be true Hanna, I still enjoy my parmesan though and everyone can decide by themselves what and what not to eat.” I snap at her. I wanted to sound calm and confident, but well, that failed on all levels.
I rush through the day and can’t stop thinking about the parmesan. Back home, I do a little research and to my disguise, Hanna was completely right.
Parmesan is not vegetarian, and neither are related forms of cheese.
Maybe I will reduce my consumption of parmesan or I will try to look for bioorganic ones, where I know that the cow has at least been treated okay.
I don’t know. I still think everyone should eat what he or she wants to eat and feels comfortable with.
No tips and no reproaches from my side. Take that, Hanna.
