JD Vance bats for 'delicious' Indian vegetarian dishes instead of lab-made 'disgusting fake meat'

'If you're any vegetarian, eat paneer and rice and delicious chickpeas. Do not eat this disgusting fake meat,' said vice-presidential nominee JD Vance. (Image credit: AFP, Unsplash)

US Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance recently opened up about his liking of Indian vegetarian appeal on the podcast The Joe Rogan Experience. The 40-year-old, who is married to Indian American Usha Vance, said that he prefers traditional Indian vegetarian food to plant-based meats and called them "disgusting".

"I'm married to an Indian-American. They make very good vegetarian food," Vance said on the podcast and added how his wife Usha Chilukuri Vance's culture had opened up a world of vegetarian dishes he hadn't considered earlier. Over time, he came to appreciate the wide variety and depth of flavours in Indian vegetarian cooking. "If you're any vegetarian, eat paneer and rice and delicious chickpeas. Do not eat this disgusting fake meat," he said.

His host Rogan had begun the exchange by voicing scepticism about heavily processed plant-based meats and described them as "highly processed garbage," highlighting the health concerns of consuming them. "If you want to eat vegetables and be vegetarian, eat Indian food. They make really delicious vegetarian food," he stated.

Meanwhile, Vance also shared stories of his attempts to make vegetarian food to impress his wife. As a self-described “meat and potatoes guy from Ohio,” he confessed that his initial forays into cooking for his wife were less than successful. Recalling an early attempt at impressing Usha with a homemade vegetarian meal, he said, "I rolled out a flat thing of crescent rolls. I put raw broccoli on top of it. I sprinkled ranch dressing, and I stuck them in the oven for 45 minutes." The result, he admitted, was "disgusting."