Vegan and vegetarian cooking can require different things. People who are vegetarians, generally, do not eat meat, while people who are vegan avoid eating any animal products at all. Cooking for these two different diets will require a deeper understanding of what type of diet a person maintains, different ingredients available to use and possible products to avoid.
Basics
All vegan meals are vegetarian, but not all vegetarian meals are vegan. According to the MayoClinic.org, vegans avoid eating not only meat, they also do not eat eggs or dairy products such as dairy based cheese, milk, cream cheese, sour cream and butter. Also, for some vegans it is even important to abstain from the intake of honey. Therefore, if one meal is being cooked for both a vegan and a vegetarian, it should be made totally vegan.
Considerations
When beginning to cook vegan and vegetarian dishes, it is important to remember that there are many products on the market that can be substituted for animal products. Many of the products are made from the soy bean plant and can be used to replace traditional animal produces. When looking for products to use in vegan and vegetarian cooking a local health food store will have many of the products that different recipes may ask for, but may be harder to find such as egg replacer, some substitute meats and cheeses and things such as nutritional yeast flakes. Although a trip to the health food store might help a person find all the necessary ingredients, many of the vegan and vegetarian substitutes can be found at a traditional grocery store.
Types
There are vegan and vegetarian products that can substitute for milk, yogurt, cheese, ice cream, ground beef, chicken, hot dogs, burgers, bacon and sausage. Different vegetarian and vegan brands can be found at many traditional grocery stores. Products that have been certified vegan will have a certified vegan "V" wrapped in a heart on the label.
Significance
There are recipes for vegan and vegetarian meals in abundance on the internet and there are books specifically on the topic in bookstores. In most vegan and vegetarian cookbooks, there are explanations of how to cook different foods and ingredients for those people who are new to this kind of cooking.
Cooking vegan and vegetarian foods does not mean that recipes a person previously used have to be thrown out. Old favorite recipes that contain meat and dairy products can generally be adjusted. When cooking with these recipes, vegan and vegetarian items will have to be substituted for the meat and dairy produces formally used.
Warning
When cooking for vegetarians and vegans it is important to remember that some foods contain animal products that people do not generally think about. TeensHealth.org notes that some cheeses are not vegetarian because they contain rennet. Rennet is derived from the stomach lining of dairy-fed cattle, making those cheeses non-vegetarian. Also, gelatin, a product made from meat byproducts, is found in some foods, which people who tend to think are vegetarian or vegan, such as marshmallows and different candies, notes TeensHealth.org. Therefore, when cooking for vegetarians and/or vegans it is important to read the ingredients.
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