Day 64 (5.9.12): Vegan Peanut Thai Wrap (The Flexitarian's Compensation)

Vegan Peanut Thai Wrap

Status: Bought (Northern Lights)

Satisfaction: 10

Associated with: Eating Animals, by Jonathan Safran Foer

I read this book a few years ago while I was going through my slow food/vegetarianism/food journalism/post-Pollan phase. In it, Foer explores the corruption of the meat industry, playing off a Sinclair-ian sort of appeal to the reader that ends with an overwhelmingly singular conclusion: Foer is now a vegetarian, and you should be, too. Needless to say, the gesture was a good one--but considering that it felt more like a diary entry than a really persuasive argument, I'm opting for a more lenient attitude. But getting vegan foods every once in a while makes me feel like I'm making up for my lack of seriousness towards this whole issue, hence my salute to Foer's mission through this little lunch.

Day 4: Falafel Wrap (Please Stop that Dynne)

Day 4: Falafel Hummus Tzatziki Veggie Wrap

Status: Restaurant (Panini Cafe)

Satisfaction: 8. A good, solid falafel fix.

Associated With: The Phantom Tollbooth (the Awful Dynne)

Try saying the word "falafel" slowly out loud. Falafel.

Now try saying it five times at a moderate speed (or, for that matter, try typing it five times in a row--it messes with your brain). Falafel falafel falafel falafel falafel.

What you probably got, if you were saying it right, was probably something like "flahhfull." Or, if you slow it down just a bit more like I do, you'll get something that sounds like "felt awful"--which, for a food name, is not a terribly appealing one.

Nevertheless, that's just what you get. Felt awful. And anytime anybody talks about anything being awful, my mind inevitably pops to the Awful Dynne. You know the one...

"What is a DYNNE?" asked Milo when he had recovered from the shock of seeing him appear.

"You mean you've never met the awful DYNNE before?" said Dr. Dischord in a surprised tone. "Why, I thought everyone had. When you're playing in your room and making a great amount of noise, what do they tell you to stop?"

"That awful din," admitted Milo. 

"When the neighbors are playing their radio too loud, late at night, what do you wish they'd turn down?"

"That awful din," answered Tock.

"When the street on your block is being repaired and the pneumatic drills are working all day, what does everyone complain of?"

"The dreadful row," volunteered the Humbug brightly.

"The dreadful RAUW," cried the anguished DYNNE, "was my grandfather. He perished in the great silence epidemic of 1712."

So there you have it. I wouldn't be surprised if, with such a terrible-sounding name, falafels make a din--excuse me, Dynne--all of their own.