Do vegetarians generally eat parmesan?

[Anonymous]

I invited some vegetarian friends over for dinner and needed to make a meal. I was surprised when I discovered parmesan is not vegetarian as calf rennet is used in its production. Do most vegetarians avoid parmesan and similarly produced cheeses? I hate to think how many times I've served pesto to vegetarians without realising.

[Anonymous]

There are plenty of places to get non-animal rennet from. We typically buy our parmesan from whole foods and it is easy to find it there with microbial or vegetable rennet. Trader Joes also does a great job in general of specifying which type of rennet each cheese has.

But there is no one clear answer for this - it will vary on how strict the specific vegetarian is.

[Anonymous]

Many vegetarians would have no idea how parmesan is made. Some may.

[Anonymous]

Look for cheese marked Kosher to know that there's only dairy and no meat in the product.

[Anonymous]

Like others said, it really varies person to person.

A lot of us try to ignore the animal rennet in cheese because otherwise it makes it almost impossible to eat cheese (outside of that we buy for ourselves, with the veg rennet). But some will be more strict or adherent. Best just to ask - and, as a lifelong vegetarian, thanks for being considerate and kind toward your guests' dietary restrictions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Like others said, it really varies person to person.

A lot of us try to ignore the animal rennet in cheese because otherwise it makes it almost impossible to eat cheese (outside of that we buy for ourselves, with the veg rennet). But some will be more strict or adherent. Best just to ask - and, as a lifelong vegetarian, thanks for being considerate and kind toward your guests' dietary preferences.

Fixed that for you.

[Anonymous]

Nutritional yeast is often used as a substitute for cheese

[Anonymous]

I don't, because it makes me super farty.

[Anonymous]

Never even thought of that. Thanks for bringing it up, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like others said, it really varies person to person.

A lot of us try to ignore the animal rennet in cheese because otherwise it makes it almost impossible to eat cheese (outside of that we buy for ourselves, with the veg rennet). But some will be more strict or adherent. Best just to ask - and, as a lifelong vegetarian, thanks for being considerate and kind toward your guests' dietary preferences.

Fixed that for you.

PP-Who made you school marm??

Many guests live with self imposed dietary RESTRICTIONS.

And since when do adults edit other people's writing, without being asked to?

You sound like a real peach!

[Anonymous]

I have never considered this, nor would I.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like others said, it really varies person to person.

A lot of us try to ignore the animal rennet in cheese because otherwise it makes it almost impossible to eat cheese (outside of that we buy for ourselves, with the veg rennet). But some will be more strict or adherent. Best just to ask - and, as a lifelong vegetarian, thanks for being considerate and kind toward your guests' dietary preferences.

Fixed that for you.

PP-Who made you school marm??

Many guests live with self imposed dietary RESTRICTIONS.

And since when do adults edit other people's writing, without being asked to?

You sound like a real peach!

For most people in the US, it's a preference. However most vegetarians in the world are religious vegetarians, and would consider it a prohibition. And then there are the rare cases of medical restrictions from eating certain foods.

So you're both right.

[Anonymous]

You can get vegetarian parmesan-equivalent cheese.

Ask your guests, though. I'm a lifelong vegetarian but eat products with gelatin, cheese with animal rennet, etc.

[Anonymous]

Rennet is used in FAR more cheeses than parm.

[Anonymous]

Kosher cheeses are always vegetarian- as a milk product like cheese cannot contain calf rennet. We get bricks of parmesan (and lots of other cheeses) at Shalom's in Silver Spring.