Making a Mockery of Meat.
November 15, 2008 12:35 PM Subscribe
Meat analogue or faux meat comes in a variety of forms with plenty of ways to cook it. Although not the first, Seth Tibbott invented Tofurky back in 1986, with KFC getting in on the action earlier this year.
My girlfriend has been a veg all her life. Me? Basically a carnivore... and although I don't find much of it tastes like meat, I do really enjoy the dishes at King's Cafe. Having said that, I am undecided on how I feel about the frozen products which look very much like the meat they are modelled after. Some even have beaks and eyes.
posted by gman at 12:48 PM on November 15, 2008
posted by gman at 12:48 PM on November 15, 2008
All hail seitan, dark lord of the underbelly. mmmm.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 12:51 PM on November 15, 2008 [2 favorites]
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 12:51 PM on November 15, 2008 [2 favorites]
(seriously..I made a huge batch the other day...delicious)
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 12:51 PM on November 15, 2008
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 12:51 PM on November 15, 2008
The major problem I see with the fake meats (which I eat sometimes, though I'm not a vegetarian) is that they're sold as a substitute for meat. None of them bear any resemblance to actual meat, but taste fine... even good if you don't have the idea that it's "supposed" to be meat.
posted by cmoj at 1:13 PM on November 15, 2008
posted by cmoj at 1:13 PM on November 15, 2008
Can be pretty tasty, for sure, but it never takes me long to start craving the real thing. Taste and texture will never be like the real thing as far as I am concerned.
posted by scarello at 1:13 PM on November 15, 2008
posted by scarello at 1:13 PM on November 15, 2008
Taste and texture will never be like the real thing as far as I am concerned.
This falls under "feature, not bug".
posted by baphomet at 1:23 PM on November 15, 2008 [3 favorites]
This falls under "feature, not bug".
posted by baphomet at 1:23 PM on November 15, 2008 [3 favorites]
Domestic faux are kept in extremely small cages and fed ersatz, so I prefer to hunt wild faux with a staple gun. They all taste bland, however.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 1:24 PM on November 15, 2008 [4 favorites]
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 1:24 PM on November 15, 2008 [4 favorites]
The thought that vegans could be encouraged to go to a restaurant with CHICKEN in its name is kind of a weird marketing strategy.
posted by desjardins at 1:28 PM on November 15, 2008
posted by desjardins at 1:28 PM on November 15, 2008
The 'mock duck' I've had at some Buddhist places is spectacular. I agree that posing it as a "meat substitute" is a bit unnecessary, but it can still be extremely tasty.
I also laugh at my own attempts to eat a more wholesome, back-to-the-earth type of vegetarian diet that relies heavily on TVP, the product of such a back-to-the-factory industrial process.
posted by Adam_S at 1:31 PM on November 15, 2008
I also laugh at my own attempts to eat a more wholesome, back-to-the-earth type of vegetarian diet that relies heavily on TVP, the product of such a back-to-the-factory industrial process.
posted by Adam_S at 1:31 PM on November 15, 2008
I wish KFC would do that in the US. I lurv unchicken.
posted by brundlefly at 1:32 PM on November 15, 2008
posted by brundlefly at 1:32 PM on November 15, 2008
Fast food outlets offering non-meat options (besides tired salads) should be, to my mind, not as much about attracting vegetarians (or vegans, which is probably unrealistic) but about not turning away that substantial segment of the population that may have at least ONE non-meat eater in the family. Our family prefers not to eat fast food but on the road or in a pinch, will take the outlet with at least one palatable veg option and so McDonald's and their ilk lose sales to three omnivores every time.
posted by Morrigan at 2:20 PM on November 15, 2008
posted by Morrigan at 2:20 PM on November 15, 2008
This falls under "feature, not bug".
To you maybe. But if it's being chimed as a meat substitute, then it better taste like meat and not the chewy gluten or tofu that it is.
posted by scarello at 2:29 PM on November 15, 2008
What kills me is walking into a food court here in Toronto and pushing past a lineup at McDonald's far longer than any other.
posted by gman at 2:30 PM on November 15, 2008
posted by gman at 2:30 PM on November 15, 2008
scarello, some meat substitutes taste like meat, some don't intend to. Sometimes you feel like a nut....
posted by Morrigan at 2:33 PM on November 15, 2008
posted by Morrigan at 2:33 PM on November 15, 2008
I don't know Morrigan, I guess it just comes down to personal taste bud's, but I have never had much success with any of them tasting very authentic. I still find them tasty if done up right, especially this recipe here I guess I am looking at it from the perspective of a serious meat lover who has tried a few times to become vegetarian. The failure of these substitutes to satisfy has always drawn me back to my carnivorous ways ;)
posted by scarello at 2:38 PM on November 15, 2008
posted by scarello at 2:38 PM on November 15, 2008
I think this is true in a lot of scenarios. Families on the road, business lunches, etc.
I can't count the number of times my department (IT) has done a team lunch, and completely overlooked the fact that we have dozens of vegetarian staff (primarily from India)
What? You don't eat fried chicken? What about pepperoni pizza? No? What about the cheese pizza? — it only has a little bacon on it. What?
There are also people like myself. While I'm consummate carnivore, I'm only going to eat a burger if it's good - I might set foot into a McD's once in a while if they had a halfway decent veggie burger or mushroom burger or whatevs.
posted by device55 at 2:42 PM on November 15, 2008
I can't count the number of times my department (IT) has done a team lunch, and completely overlooked the fact that we have dozens of vegetarian staff (primarily from India)
What? You don't eat fried chicken? What about pepperoni pizza? No? What about the cheese pizza? — it only has a little bacon on it. What?
There are also people like myself. While I'm consummate carnivore, I'm only going to eat a burger if it's good - I might set foot into a McD's once in a while if they had a halfway decent veggie burger or mushroom burger or whatevs.
posted by device55 at 2:42 PM on November 15, 2008
taste bud's what?
posted by longsleeves at 2:45 PM on November 15, 2008
posted by longsleeves at 2:45 PM on November 15, 2008
Meet Chik'n. It likes to touch young women in the crowded subway of Tokyo.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 2:49 PM on November 15, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by kuujjuarapik at 2:49 PM on November 15, 2008 [1 favorite]
CALLING SOMETHING SAUSAGE IS NOT CALLING IT MEAT. "SAUSAGE" IS A SHAPE OF FOOD, NOT ITS CONTENTS. SAUSAGES ARE CONVENIENT SHAPES FOR PRODUCING, STORING, AND CONSUMING PROTEIN BASED FOODS.
when somebody says they're eating "fake meat" they mean they're eating something which is hopefully proteiny, a bit fatty, and a bit salty. that is all. nobody pretends that fake meat tastes like normal meat.
posted by beerbajay at 3:00 PM on November 15, 2008
when somebody says they're eating "fake meat" they mean they're eating something which is hopefully proteiny, a bit fatty, and a bit salty. that is all. nobody pretends that fake meat tastes like normal meat.
posted by beerbajay at 3:00 PM on November 15, 2008
Veg sausage is also a little less greasy, which can be a plus, depending on your tastes.
To be fair, some soy-based faux meats can be hard to digest for some folks (those who have problems digesting beans and related foods). I don't know if this is an issue with TVP or seitan.
posted by Morrigan at 3:22 PM on November 15, 2008
To be fair, some soy-based faux meats can be hard to digest for some folks (those who have problems digesting beans and related foods). I don't know if this is an issue with TVP or seitan.
posted by Morrigan at 3:22 PM on November 15, 2008
Meh, either way, I have a couple of strip loins in my fridge that are going on the BBQ tomorrow. I will save the seitan for my weekly break from the beef ;) Try out that recipe if you like folks, its pretty tasty.
posted by scarello at 3:56 PM on November 15, 2008
posted by scarello at 3:56 PM on November 15, 2008
None of them bear any resemblance to actual meat, but taste fine...
Yeah, exactly. The best vegie meat-equivalents I've found - speaking as someone who eats real meat all the time - are the ones that don't try too hard.
I quite like tempeh products, for instance (mmm... mycelia...), especially the fake bacon ("fakon"!), complete with its white stripe of fake fat (actually just more tempeh). Nobody could mistake it for the real thing, but it's still quite delicious, especially if you ruin its fat-free nature by frying it up in butter. Excellent shelf life, too.
(The cats like fakon as well. I only give 'em little bits, in case it disagrees with carnivores' digestive tracts.)
posted by dansdata at 4:12 PM on November 15, 2008
Yeah, exactly. The best vegie meat-equivalents I've found - speaking as someone who eats real meat all the time - are the ones that don't try too hard.
I quite like tempeh products, for instance (mmm... mycelia...), especially the fake bacon ("fakon"!), complete with its white stripe of fake fat (actually just more tempeh). Nobody could mistake it for the real thing, but it's still quite delicious, especially if you ruin its fat-free nature by frying it up in butter. Excellent shelf life, too.
(The cats like fakon as well. I only give 'em little bits, in case it disagrees with carnivores' digestive tracts.)
posted by dansdata at 4:12 PM on November 15, 2008
Fake chicken and tofurkey (at least the one I tried) aren't bad, and fake hot-dog products are often better than the real deal, but sometimes it's better not to try to make it taste like a meat (particularly bbq and ground beef). Seasoned tofu is OK when you don't try too hard to convince yourself (or anyone) it's something else.
But KFC? Why would their culinary approach to fake meat be any better than their approach to real meat?
posted by krinklyfig at 4:35 PM on November 15, 2008
But KFC? Why would their culinary approach to fake meat be any better than their approach to real meat?
posted by krinklyfig at 4:35 PM on November 15, 2008
I use soy sausage to get that flavor in dishes. Sausage as Americans (maybe others, don't know) know it tastes like a delicious blend of herbs, and adding generic protein with the same flavoring can really help a dish out.
posted by a robot made out of meat at 6:30 PM on November 15, 2008
posted by a robot made out of meat at 6:30 PM on November 15, 2008
particularly bbq
TofuBQ is delicious. Tofu has a great texture for sandwiches, and the sauce provides all the flavor. The KFC approach to fake meat would be to deep fry it and salt it heavily with some kind of herb rub. It'll still be bad for you, but with less cruelty and more ecologically efficient.
posted by a robot made out of meat at 6:33 PM on November 15, 2008
TofuBQ is delicious. Tofu has a great texture for sandwiches, and the sauce provides all the flavor. The KFC approach to fake meat would be to deep fry it and salt it heavily with some kind of herb rub. It'll still be bad for you, but with less cruelty and more ecologically efficient.
posted by a robot made out of meat at 6:33 PM on November 15, 2008
The real challenge with fake meats is finding the ones you like. I'm usually very happy with Boca and Garden Burger. Tofurkey and Yves make me want to kill a hippie. (Joke! I was a junior hippie in my day.)
Complaining that it's fake "meat" seems silly to me. Who demands human flesh for an authentic molé meal?
posted by shetterly at 6:48 PM on November 15, 2008
Complaining that it's fake "meat" seems silly to me. Who demands human flesh for an authentic molé meal?
posted by shetterly at 6:48 PM on November 15, 2008
What's a "robot made out of meat" doing eating vegetarian? Sorry, I had to say it :) I shudder at the thought of fake KFC...
posted by scarello at 6:49 PM on November 15, 2008
posted by scarello at 6:49 PM on November 15, 2008
Even more shocking: Pamela Anderson and Ryan Gosling are Canadians.
posted by munchingzombie at 7:36 PM on November 15, 2008
posted by munchingzombie at 7:36 PM on November 15, 2008
Tofurkey is foul, but if you are what you eat then I am presently 2/5ths Quorn. For me it was like a gateway drug to vegetarianism. I thought then (and think now) that the breasts and tenders taste BETTER than chicken.
posted by xthlc at 8:06 PM on November 15, 2008
posted by xthlc at 8:06 PM on November 15, 2008
TofuBQ is delicious
Eh, well, I think it depends on what you expect from bbq. I like things like racks of ribs and whole chicken. I can go without meat for the most part, but good barbecue is a hard thing to abandon. Smoked, slow-cooked meats are not easily duplicated.
Garden burger is OK, but I don't have any sort of expectation that it will taste like ground beef. Some are better than others. One of the best I had was at a restaurant that made their own.
posted by krinklyfig at 9:31 PM on November 15, 2008
Eh, well, I think it depends on what you expect from bbq. I like things like racks of ribs and whole chicken. I can go without meat for the most part, but good barbecue is a hard thing to abandon. Smoked, slow-cooked meats are not easily duplicated.
Garden burger is OK, but I don't have any sort of expectation that it will taste like ground beef. Some are better than others. One of the best I had was at a restaurant that made their own.
posted by krinklyfig at 9:31 PM on November 15, 2008
And don't forget about Tuno, which Kellogs killed when it bought out the manufacturer, but which made a quite believable tunafish salad facsimile.
posted by 1adam12 at 11:19 PM on November 15, 2008
posted by 1adam12 at 11:19 PM on November 15, 2008
The major problem I see with the fake meats (which I eat sometimes, though I'm not a vegetarian) is that they're sold as a substitute for meat. None of them bear any resemblance to actual meat, but taste fine... even good if you don't have the idea that it's "supposed" to be meat.
If you bought a turkey burger, you wouldn't expect it to taste like a hamburger, you would expect it to taste like turkey, only in burger form. If you bought a tofu burger, you wouldn't expect it to taste and feel exactly like a cowburger, would you?
The "burger" is the form, the texture, the recipe ingredient, the part of the meal. When you make any kind of burger, you expect that you might add spices and onions to the thing, then fry or broil it, and then eat it on a bun with stuff like ketchup and lettuce and tomato, and maybe have french fries on the side. You expect it to be a salty, greasy thing on a bun that you eat with your hands.
If you buy fake bacon, you expect to be buying something built a lot like bacon in terms of texture and so on, something you could fry and eat with eggs like bacon, but probably not so much like bacon that it would fool you. It is a substitute for bacon in your meal, not a bacon replica.
They could give these things entirely new names, but then they'd have a hard time explaining to you what to expect, so instead they give it a name that tells you it's something like familiar food X, only it's made of Y. Maybe some manufacturers go too far in their claims and leave the impression that their veggie versions of meat X are exactly like meat X, but I don't think that's the rule.
posted by pracowity at 4:04 AM on November 16, 2008 [1 favorite]
If you bought a turkey burger, you wouldn't expect it to taste like a hamburger, you would expect it to taste like turkey, only in burger form. If you bought a tofu burger, you wouldn't expect it to taste and feel exactly like a cowburger, would you?
The "burger" is the form, the texture, the recipe ingredient, the part of the meal. When you make any kind of burger, you expect that you might add spices and onions to the thing, then fry or broil it, and then eat it on a bun with stuff like ketchup and lettuce and tomato, and maybe have french fries on the side. You expect it to be a salty, greasy thing on a bun that you eat with your hands.
If you buy fake bacon, you expect to be buying something built a lot like bacon in terms of texture and so on, something you could fry and eat with eggs like bacon, but probably not so much like bacon that it would fool you. It is a substitute for bacon in your meal, not a bacon replica.
They could give these things entirely new names, but then they'd have a hard time explaining to you what to expect, so instead they give it a name that tells you it's something like familiar food X, only it's made of Y. Maybe some manufacturers go too far in their claims and leave the impression that their veggie versions of meat X are exactly like meat X, but I don't think that's the rule.
posted by pracowity at 4:04 AM on November 16, 2008 [1 favorite]
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posted by baphomet at 12:41 PM on November 15, 2008