Just over a week ago, Starbucks announced that they are testing a new ready to go menu called Mercato, but it was only when PETA tweeted about it on Tuesday, that something quite peculiar caught our attention.
An item on the new menu is called "cauliflower tabbouleh salad."
Yes, you heard that right. Starbucks decided to get creative with the Levantine favorite and are now testing it with riced cauliflower instead of burghul (cracked wheat), and adding arugula leaves and cucumbers.
Tweeting about the new menu, PETA also labelled the dish a "new" vegan item.
Wait, what? Isn't traditional tabbouleh vegan to start with?
It actually is, BECAUSE LEVANTINE SALAD USUALLY IS! But since vegan is all the rave right now, let's call water 'vegan' too, shall we?
Leh?
"So they had to make me feel as though Tabbouleh weren't already vegan by switching burghul with cauliflower ... why?"
Cauliflower tabbouleh? Really?
Tabbouleh ruined.
OK, maybe Starbucks is attempting to make the dish gluten-free. So maybe just not add the burghul then?
Whatever the case may be, it's not the first time people tried to make changes to Middle Eastern dishes and honestly the results haven't always been encouraging:
It's also not the first time people tried to pass something vegan as vegan:
The struggle is real
Case in point, we take our food and culture very seriously, so please STOP MESSING WITH IT!