The term that now means ‘vegetarian’, su, originally referred to raw white silk cloth; later it came to mean anything that was plain and unadorned.4 In a gastronomic context, su first signified uncooked food or a diet of wild vegetables, then any food that was simple, coarse and unrefined, contrasting with the luxury of meals in which meat played an important part.5 Eventually it came to mean eating only plant foods.
