Australian lab-grown meat hits the shelves in Singapore
June 5, 2024 1:02 PM Subscribe
Australian lab-grown meat with "perfect" texture hits the shelves in Singapore. The first product from an Australian cell-cultured meat company has gone on sale in Singapore, where the Japanese quail cell parfait can be found in high-end restaurants.
A parfait is one form of pâté, where the liver is whipped and cooked to get it to set in an airy, spreadable texture, so I’m guessing liver mousse, or cultured-liver-cell mousse.
posted by GenjiandProust at 1:49 PM on June 5 [1 favorite]
posted by GenjiandProust at 1:49 PM on June 5 [1 favorite]
Does it count as vegan ?
Is it vegan or vegetarian?
No, cultured meat is real meat. It's crafted from animal cells, making it distinct from vegan or vegetarian options.
With that said, no animals are harmed in the creation of Forged products. Those who follow vegetarian or vegan diets for ethical reasons may want to explore this new category of meat.
What is Forged Parfait made of?
Forged Parfait is made of cultured Japanese quail, butter, eschallot, tapioca starch, port wine, garlic, brandy, vegetable and fruit concentrate, olive oil, salt and thyme. For those with allergies, note that Forged Parfait does contain milk and eggs.
More info. photos here;
posted by yyz at 1:53 PM on June 5 [3 favorites]
Is it vegan or vegetarian?
No, cultured meat is real meat. It's crafted from animal cells, making it distinct from vegan or vegetarian options.
With that said, no animals are harmed in the creation of Forged products. Those who follow vegetarian or vegan diets for ethical reasons may want to explore this new category of meat.
What is Forged Parfait made of?
Forged Parfait is made of cultured Japanese quail, butter, eschallot, tapioca starch, port wine, garlic, brandy, vegetable and fruit concentrate, olive oil, salt and thyme. For those with allergies, note that Forged Parfait does contain milk and eggs.
More info. photos here;
posted by yyz at 1:53 PM on June 5 [3 favorites]
I am not a vegan, but this is still an animal product, although further removed from an actual animal than normal meat. It might count as “cruelty free” for things like foie gras.
posted by GenjiandProust at 1:55 PM on June 5
posted by GenjiandProust at 1:55 PM on June 5
They've also made a wooly mammoth meatball.
the first ever meatball made from extinct animal DNA, ...We made the meatball using a mix of woolly mammoth DNA with fragments of African elephant DNA, as the closest living relative.
Hmmmm wooly mammoth..
What could possibly go wrong?
posted by yyz at 2:02 PM on June 5
parfait is one form of pâté, where the liver is whipped and cooked to get it to set in an airy, spreadable texture, so I’m guessing liver mousse, or cultured-liver-cell mousse.
Ahh! Shucks-- I was watching the restaurants glamour video of the dish thinking "Holy heck, they've managed to figure out the actual texture, that's indistinguishable from real muscle" but turns out its 'just' the moose they're piping over it.
Best of luck to them, would be a game-changer of a problem to solve.
posted by Static Vagabond at 5:23 PM on June 5 [1 favorite]
I guess when you are really rich, people will convince you that grout is a culinary choice.
Looks like grout to me.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 6:49 PM on June 5
Looks like grout to me.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 6:49 PM on June 5
I would just like to say after 60+ years of reading SF&F I am now comfortable in my world after
Australian lab-grown meat hits the shelves in Singapore
I am finally home.
posted by skyscraper at 7:57 PM on June 5 [1 favorite]
Australian lab-grown meat hits the shelves in Singapore
I am finally home.
posted by skyscraper at 7:57 PM on June 5 [1 favorite]
I think the assumption behind lab-grown meat is
A) it can scale to being less expensive and less polluting than at at least other meat sources if not other protein sources, (I hope that is true, but don't have the knowledge to evaluate it).
and
B) If item A) becomes true, that it won't destroy that meat's appeal ala Thorstein Veblen's insight into how we don't actually care about the product but it's signalling of social status. Hence why clear and colored glass haven't replaced gems, because it is the very costliness that makes them desireable. Or why sailboats still exist.
but, I think we will know the answer to A and B soon enough.
posted by No Climate - No Food, No Food - No Future. at 1:13 AM on June 6 [1 favorite]
A) it can scale to being less expensive and less polluting than at at least other meat sources if not other protein sources, (I hope that is true, but don't have the knowledge to evaluate it).
and
B) If item A) becomes true, that it won't destroy that meat's appeal ala Thorstein Veblen's insight into how we don't actually care about the product but it's signalling of social status. Hence why clear and colored glass haven't replaced gems, because it is the very costliness that makes them desireable. Or why sailboats still exist.
but, I think we will know the answer to A and B soon enough.
posted by No Climate - No Food, No Food - No Future. at 1:13 AM on June 6 [1 favorite]
I'm skeptical of this specific product, because of the exotic meat choice and high price point, but it's encouraging to see any steps forward for cultivated meat, which as a vegan I see as the only real chance for a significant reduction in worldwide animal abuse and death (I wish we could win people over to just not eating animals, I really do, or frankly just have governments legislate to ban most meat farming on ethical grounds, as we have outlawed other forms of cruelty, but I don't think it's going to happen).
The meat industry will fight this tooth and nail, as they do with propaganda against modern plant-based protein products, but if the production cost can be lowered enough (which is a huge if, and may never prove possible) then this should at least wipe out the worst of the worst when it comes to animal abuse, factory-farmed chicken and pork.
posted by usr2047 at 3:29 AM on June 6 [1 favorite]
The meat industry will fight this tooth and nail, as they do with propaganda against modern plant-based protein products, but if the production cost can be lowered enough (which is a huge if, and may never prove possible) then this should at least wipe out the worst of the worst when it comes to animal abuse, factory-farmed chicken and pork.
posted by usr2047 at 3:29 AM on June 6 [1 favorite]
Whether lab grown meat takes off or not, the future is definitely one where there will be a kid in school that brags about how they can buy a real turkey for thanksgiving and everyone will hate and or envy them. Well either that or we're all dead.
posted by dis_integration at 7:17 AM on June 6 [2 favorites]
posted by dis_integration at 7:17 AM on June 6 [2 favorites]
I think the assumption behind lab-grown meat is
A) it can scale to being less expensive and less polluting than at at least other meat sources if not other protein sources, (I hope that is true, but don't have the knowledge to evaluate it).
The article strongly suggests that it’s not commercially viable for beef, chicken, and other non-luxury meats. I guess we can hope production costs will drop significantly as the technology matures. I’m a meat eater, but a lot of that is things like turkey meatballs, which don’t rely on the actual muscle structure for texture and mouthfeel. I’m pretty happy with the Beyond and Impossible products as well, except for their over-processed nature (and they aren’t suitable for simmering in a soup really).
posted by GenjiandProust at 7:47 AM on June 6 [1 favorite]
A) it can scale to being less expensive and less polluting than at at least other meat sources if not other protein sources, (I hope that is true, but don't have the knowledge to evaluate it).
The article strongly suggests that it’s not commercially viable for beef, chicken, and other non-luxury meats. I guess we can hope production costs will drop significantly as the technology matures. I’m a meat eater, but a lot of that is things like turkey meatballs, which don’t rely on the actual muscle structure for texture and mouthfeel. I’m pretty happy with the Beyond and Impossible products as well, except for their over-processed nature (and they aren’t suitable for simmering in a soup really).
posted by GenjiandProust at 7:47 AM on June 6 [1 favorite]
Whether lab grown meat takes off or not, the future is definitely one where there will be a kid in school that brags about how they can buy a real turkey for thanksgiving ...
Do Pilgrim-droids Eat Electric Turkey?
posted by symbioid at 9:54 AM on June 6 [1 favorite]
Do Pilgrim-droids Eat Electric Turkey?
posted by symbioid at 9:54 AM on June 6 [1 favorite]
Now lab grown meat on top of GMO foods all over the store. Not a surprise that people have so many different kinds of illnesses.
posted by greenstockpro at 6:46 PM on June 7
posted by greenstockpro at 6:46 PM on June 7
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Does it count as vegan?
Truly confused by what a parfait is and why it needs "quail cells" (I thought a parfait was an ice cream treat, which I guess would use eggs, but eggs aren't meat, exactly). They're being so incredibly vague, besides calling them quail cells. I'd love to see what it looks like on the kitchen counter.
posted by dis_integration at 1:42 PM on June 5 [1 favorite]