A woman tells us she is a vegetarian in the real sense -- no meat, fish or animal byproducts, even gelatin. In England she could buy dried mixes that could be reconstituted by adding water and then used to make sausages (Sosmix) and burgers (Veggie Burger Mix). She wonders if there are any similar products here, preferably available by mail order.

No problem -- a phrase that is certainly overworked these days but is appropriate here. We have Jack Bayle's Tengu Natural Foods, a mail order source for produce of the healthful kind. They have similar products from the U.S. but no sausage substitute since Americans do not tend to favor that flavor when they look for look-alike vegetable/meat products. Perhaps she wants to make bubbles and squeak which is a combination of potatoes and sausage, a dish that did not win popular support in America. However, Tengu does have Nature Burgers, a dry mix of bean and grain origin that is mixed with water to make patties that can be called burgers. Perhaps even better for her (if she can create a sausage seasoning) is textured soy protein, similar to okara, the tofu waste that has kept traditional Japanese floors shiny for centuries. High in fiber and protein and with hardly any fat, it is a dry mix that can take on any flavor. Add to a pasta sauce and it looks and feels just like ground beef. When mixed with lentils and gluten, she can make better hamburgers than the usual meat substitutes. They also sell Frozen Veggie Burgers with lots of organic ingredients that are ready for flipping on the grill or tossing in a microwave for two minutes. These have become quite popular with Japanese customers and reportedly with kids who lean toward double hamburgers for breakfast. She can also order frozen Tofu Hot Dogs that reportedly look, smell and taste like the hot dogs she may remember from the days before she became a vegetarian. Perhaps she can think of them as sausages.

She can also order what Jack tells us is absolutely the best bakery bread he has ever eaten, although he readily admits that it's best straight from the oven waiting to cool. The amazing thing is that there is no wheat flour in it. Instead it is made from sprouted wheat berries (wheat sprouts) that are grown for only a few days. Then the sprouts are ground into a paste and other grains are added. This makes the wheat grain more nutritious and easier to digest. It is called Alvardo Street Bakery Organic Sprouted Multi Grain Bread. It has won the highest order rate of any product Tengu has carried except soymilk. Most people order at least two loaves at a time, and there is one customer who always orders 14. It is imported frozen as sliced bread, bagels and hot dog rolls and is sold unfrozen with a seven day shelf life. It can be refrozen. Because it is made with wheat sprouts instead of wheat flour, people with wheat allergies are sometimes more tolerant of these bread products.