Scientific studies and the
Food societies around the world agree that
agree: a purely plant-based diet, which is
Vegetables, pulses, cereals, nuts, seeds
and fruit, is for people in all parts of the world
healthy and needs-based.
Let’s then opt for seasonal,
regional and organically grown ingredients
food and reduce the use of
industrially prefabricated food and sugar,
voilà: Then we have pleasure, health,
Environmental and animal protection in one!

Vegans (eat only plant-based foods) have a higher risk of vitamin B12 deficiency than vegetarians (also eat eggs, milk and cheese) and omnivores (also called “omnivores”, eat all animal and plant-based foods). But even these can develop defects. It is therefore also recommended that people on a mixed diet take vitamin B12 supplements from the age of 50 or if they smoke.

Algae and fermented products such as sauerkraut sometimes contain high amounts of vitamin B12 available to humans, but these amounts vary greatly. This fact has not yet been sufficiently researched and is therefore not reliable.

In some countries in the world, such as the USA and Canada, vitamin B12 is added to certain foods, such as flour or plant milk, even though the population mainly eats a mixed diet! This is not the case in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Herbivorous animals ingest vitamin B12 on pasture through plants contaminated with feces or by eating their own feces and eat insects on leaves or in fruits. In factory farming, vitamin B12 is always added to animal feed. This means that people who eat a mixed diet generally also take vitamin B12 as a dietary supplement, albeit via the animal route.

Soy is one of the oldest and most protein-rich cultivated plants known to mankind and products made from it such as tofu, tempeh, soy milk and soy sauce are great foods with thousands of years of tradition in the food cultures of their countries of origin and have become an integral part of our diet. Nevertheless, a plant-based diet is also possible without soy if you want or need to because you are one of the rare soy allergy sufferers. Other pulses such as chickpeas, beans and lentils also contain a lot of protein, although not quite as much as soy.

However, the majority (approx. 80 percent) of the soy grown worldwide is used as feed in intensive livestock farming and is genetically modified. This means that large quantities of soy are consumed via milk, eggs, cheese or meat. Find out more at wwf.de

We only use soy products from regional organic producers, such as “Taifun” or “Schwarzwald Miso”, which only use soy grown in Europe. So if you eat soy as part of a purely plant-based diet in the form of tofu, tempeh, soy milk or soy sauce and not via the animal route, you are saving the rainforest!

After many years of favoring the man-the-hunter hypothesis, today evolutionary biologists predominantly support the cooking hypothesis: The rapid development of the human brain was accelerated by the fact that it was the first animal to start cooking.

Teeth, stomach acid and intestinal length originally identify humans as frutarians, although their survival was greatly aided by the fact that they established themselves as omnivores. By cooking, he was also able to make woody roots and indigestible cereal grains usable and provide his brain with important carbohydrates.

Grain was easy to store and could therefore prevent periods of famine. Meat in cooked form is also easier to digest than in its raw state and provides energy-dense fat, which was an important aspect of survival during periods of scarcity in previous generations.

Our problem today in Western civilizations is rather that our food is too energy dense and, together with a lack of exercise and too much sugar, leads to obesity and the resulting diseases of civilization. We are therefore no longer dependent on meat at all, in contrast to some primitive peoples or regions of scarcity that still exist today. So we people in industrialized nations in particular should adapt to these new circumstances and prefer a modern, contemporary way of eating.

The Israeli top chef Yotam Ottolenghi has an answer to this:

“My inexperience led me to believe that there were only a limited number of vegetarian dishes and that it wouldn’t take too long before I’d have eaten them all. But far from it! As soon as I opened my eyes properly, I discovered a whole world of ingredients and preparation methods. And it wasn’t just me! Many people, who had initially approached the subject somewhat reluctantly due to the feared restrictions, had begun to embrace the whole range of different culinary traditions, dishes and ingredients that now allow the vegetable to shine in new splendor.

Just like me, other chefs also feel confirmed by the abundance from which you can draw and which makes cooking with vegetables so exciting. …We enjoy browsing markets and specialist stores or looking online for unusual dried herbs or a particular curry mix. We read cookbooks and watch cooking shows in which new cooking techniques or sophisticated baking recipes are presented. We draw on the full potential and use the the many opportunities that the world has to offer.”

Source: From the foreword of his cookbook “Vegetarische Köstlichkeiten”, Munich 2014.

The claim to absoluteness that some people make and carry around like a trophy is often detrimental to a faster acceptance of a purely plant-based diet. As is often the case with former smokers, “converted” vegans forget that they themselves have often consumed animal products unquestioningly (for half or almost all of their lives). Of course, once you have allowed these thoughts to enter your mind, you can no longer get them out of your head. And then no longer realizes that the killed goose is needed for the “festive occasion”.

But eating is far more than just food intake and also more than just taste experiences.

Certain dishes and culinary traditions are associated with good (and bad) events and stories, often experiences from childhood. Taste preferences are only partially innate, but are predominantly learned and linked to a social and psychological evaluation system.

The majority of such evaluation systems equate “meat” with “masculinity”. This makes it difficult to get young men in particular interested in a plant-based diet.

“Meat” is still equated with prosperity in Germany, even though it is now available at very low prices. This is why flexitarians (part-time vegetarians and vegans) often feel that they cannot “expect” their invited guests to eat a purely plant-based dish on special occasions, as it could be interpreted as a lack of generosity on the part of the host.

But: every meal counts! One vegan day a week is better than none at all.

Anyone who has grown up in Germany has generally grown up with “home-style”, hearty food and has thus developed taste preferences that do not necessarily have to change fundamentally if you want to do without animal products.

“However, everyone can realize that this desire for ‘meat’ is not based on the meat itself, but is rather caused by the seasoning and refinement, i.e. the preparation, by biting into a raw, unseasoned and unprocessed piece of fillet. This is not what we crave, rather it is the roasted aromas from the roasting, the variety of flavors from the spices, the processing of the raw meat. The meat itself is primarily for texture and consistency.”

Source: From the foreword to the cookbook by Björn Moschinski, “Vegan Kochen für alle”, Munich 2012.

At VOGLHAUS, we therefore think it’s a good idea to “veganize” regional classics and favourite dishes, as we call them in-house, without making a big fuss about it. In this way, we succeed in making many non-vegans aware that a purely plant-based cuisine can produce more than just Asian-inspired wok dishes and quinoa casseroles. The condition for us is always that a dish must taste at least as good as the original.

For example, we offer “Zurich Geschnetzeltes”, which is traditionally prepared with veal and cream, using the exact seasoning technique of the original, only we swap the veal for lupin Geschnetzeltes or “Planted Chicken” www.eatplanted.com both of which are very similar in texture and thicken the sauce with almond butter and almond milk instead of cream. Tastes great, very similar to the great original. It saves us CO2 by a factor of 5 and saves the life of a calf. What is problematic about this?

At the VOGLHAUS, we take a relaxed, undogmatic approach to the topics of “vegan” and “organic” with our guests, because we are convinced that you can only save the world with pleasure.

Our meal figures, which have been rising for years, show that this is the right approach.

A discreet note on the menu is nevertheless good and important to help guests find their way around quickly: g for gluten-free, l for lactose-free, v for vegan. Vegetarian is obvious and does not need to be declared in detail. Organic is everything for us and goes without saying.

If you would like to find out more, you are welcome to take our brochures, which are on display everywhere, or to read them here on our website.