"Chicken's not meat!!"

That would be my late maternal grandmother's reaction to my declaration that I didn't eat meat, including chicken. I always found this hilarious, and could never figure out why someone would not consider chicken meat.

Well, my question was answered when I found this pamphlet in an antique shop on Wickenden St. today and opened up to the first page. The first three recipes in this "meatless meals" guide, published in 1974, are for "Broiled Chicken in Foil," "Polynesian Chicken," and "Chinese Chicken with Vegetables." It then goes on to declare: "The Department of Agriculture lists eggs, milk and cheese as tops in all-around protein values. Next on its score card is meat, followed by fish and poultry." A-ha! Chicken was "poultry," not "meat." And I'm guessing this was a very indoctrinated distinction and that I was confusing my grandmother as much as she was confusing me. Grandma, wherever you are, I get it now!

This pamphlet also makes clear why vegetarians have always been objects of ridicule and their diet looked at as something akin to dirt and leaves. Look no further than this recipe for "Stuffed Date Salad":

-18 pitted dates
-3 tablespoons peanut butter
2 grapefruit or 1 large can of grapefruit sections

Fill dates with peanut butter. Make a bed of lettuce on each plate and arrange on top three stuffed dates and grapefruit sections. Serves 6 at lunch.

Here's to all the vegetarians in 1974 who persevered in the face of vomit like "Stuffed Date Salad." You are in inspiration!