When Nothing Was Missing
The other night we had dinner at TAQ in Ann Arbor.
I went there fully intending to order their vegan tacos, but when I saw the nachos go by, that’s all I could think about. They weren’t vegan, but almost everything on them already was. So I asked if they could leave off the chicken, the cheese, and the sour cream.
What arrived was a pile of thick tortilla chips topped with creamy black beans, fresh guacamole, pico de gallo, and salsa verde.
On paper, it doesn’t sound remarkable.
But every ingredient was so well prepared that I never once thought about what wasn’t there.
The chips were thick enough to hold everything without turning soggy. The black beans were rich and creamy. The guacamole tasted freshly made. And the pico de gallo...
It instantly reminded me of the pico I had in Mexico. Bright, fresh, spicy, and alive.
It made me wonder if we’ve been asking the wrong question about vegan food.
So often the conversation is, “What’s replacing the cheese?” or “What do they use instead of sour cream?”
Maybe that’s not the right question.
Maybe the better question is, “How good are the ingredients that are already there?”
When tomatoes are ripe, onions are crisp, cilantro is fresh, beans are perfectly seasoned, and guacamole is made with care, the meal doesn’t feel like it’s missing anything. Your attention is on what’s in front of you, not what’s absent.
I don’t think this is just true of vegan food.
I think it’s true of good cooking.
Sometimes we lean on cheese, butter, or heavy sauces because they’re an easy way to add richness and flavor. But when the vegetables themselves are exceptional, they don’t need to hide under anything.
As we walked back to the car, a man sitting on the sidewalk asked if we had any leftovers.
I handed him my box.
“It’s all vegan,” I said.
“That’s okay,” he replied with a smile.
As we kept walking, I realized I’d described the food by what it wasn’t instead of what it was.
Now I wish I’d just said,
“It’s delicious!”
