Indian and Western vegetarians look for entirely different things in meals

Indian and Western vegetarians look for entirely different things in meals. Can we still take a leaf out of their books, wonders Vir Sanghvi.

Allain Passard is one of the world’s greatest chefs. His Paris restaurant, L’Arpège, has held three Michelin stars for ages. Some years ago, Passard announced that he was removing meat from the menu of L’Arpège. There would be a little fish but the menu would be based on vegetables.

At L’Arpège, chef Alain Passard (above) serves vegetarian meals, in which farm produce is the star. (Photo: Getty images)(AFP)

Spice is nice: Indian vegetarian food is not very focused on ingredients. Do you care what kind of peas go into your mattar-paneer?

At Grace in Chicago, dishes like banana cashew (above) and chocolate matcha (below) form the vegetarian menu.

Chocolate matcha at Grace in Chicago.

At Eleven Madison Park (above) a vegetable dish may be cooked inside a pig’s bladder (Photo by Chris Goodney/Bloomberg via Getty Images) (Bloomberg via Getty Images)