#also alchol is banned in jainism but thats a WHOLE other conversation

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Pocnatural Cultural Exchange Day 1 - Food. (headcanon under cut)

this is gonna be a bit of a jumbled mess so bear with me.

Ok so I'm reimagining Sam and Dean as half-Gujarati, with their mom being Indian and Jain, and their dad being white. For background, you all can read more about the Jain diet here, but basically it's strict lacto-vegetarism (no animal products except milk) and no root vegetables such as potatoes and onion. A decent amount of Jains in the West do become vegan, but it's not a requirement. Before you start wondering, the food still tastes great and the cuisine evolved without the need of these ingredients.

Here, as Dean did grow up somewhat with his mother in his early years, he remembers and misses her. For this reason, he adheres strictly to the diet, learning to cook via blogs on the internet and cookbooks, doing his best to substitute ingredients. Sam, on the other hand, doesn't really care about all this as he doesn't remember his mother at all. So he does not follow the rules of eating, and has no issue eating whatever John puts in front of him. John does his best to accommodate Dean's eating (he understands as he also misses his wife), but he sometimes forgets, and when that happens Dean goes to bed hungry.

When Dean and Sam reconnect and travel on the road, Sam always makes sure to buy food that Dean can eat and Dean shares stories about his mother in return. Sam, the lore nerd, goes to the library to find out more about his heritage, especially the parts that Dean doesn't know or cannot remember, and in doing so he feels closer to his mother who he never really met.

Eventually Mary does come back, and when she does, the three of them grow closer by cooking and sharing meals together. Also she doesn't die here again btw, this is a happy ending.