Someone once told me that culture was meat wrapped in dough
February 28, 2017 3:16 PM Subscribe
"Impossible Foods has created something extraordinary : a vegan burger catered to the most voracious of carnivores. It is the next chapter in America’s proud and disgraceful history with the burger, our most important cultural export. It promises to do a lot of good — but is it any good?"
That someone was not a vegetarian.
That someone was not a vegetarian.
Meh. I'm happy with veggie and vegan burgers not trying to resemble meat. Some of them are really darned good.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 3:39 PM on February 28, 2017 [16 favorites]
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 3:39 PM on February 28, 2017 [16 favorites]
MetaFilter: is powered by a blood farm.
posted by Splunge at 3:40 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Splunge at 3:40 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]
I thought it was a pretty good burger.
Like, I have had many worse actual meat hamburgers.
The thing I didn't like was the texture... as mentioned in the article, it didn't have quite the right the resistance, but I've also had a not-dissimilar texture from a normal ground beef burger.
I would happily eat another.
posted by danny the boy at 3:45 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
Like, I have had many worse actual meat hamburgers.
The thing I didn't like was the texture... as mentioned in the article, it didn't have quite the right the resistance, but I've also had a not-dissimilar texture from a normal ground beef burger.
I would happily eat another.
posted by danny the boy at 3:45 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
I, for one, welcome out vegan burger overlords! I've been vegetarian for about 3 years, and eat 99% vegan (non-dairy creamer, I will quit you!). I miss the taste and texture of meat (I quit meat for ethical reasons*, not for health). I've had some good burgers, but I want GREAT burgers. Juicy, drippy burgers. I'm hoping the Beyond Burger eventually makes its way to the Bay Area so I can actually try it. I haven't tried the Impossible Burger yet because I'm not willing to pay $20 to the place near my office that has it on the lunch menu.
*can't wait to get me some cloned-cell, vat-meat!
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 3:51 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]
*can't wait to get me some cloned-cell, vat-meat!
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 3:51 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]
This omnivore has BBQ'd up some veggie patties, and eaten them... and not made faces of disgust.
Whether they are made to taste like meat, or something unique, I ask only one thing: that they taste GOOD.
posted by Artful Codger at 3:56 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]
Whether they are made to taste like meat, or something unique, I ask only one thing: that they taste GOOD.
posted by Artful Codger at 3:56 PM on February 28, 2017 [5 favorites]
Are my senses being steered by what’s in front of me, or by my memory vault that, over time, has hardwired a near-perfect conceptualization of an In-N-Out burger into my system? It felt like the latter — it felt like I’d willed a cherished burger from my childhood into existence.
...
"The previous trajectory [of meat production] was basically limited by the inherent limitations of using animals as a technology for making these foods,” Brown said.
Guys, I just... I just love food writing so much
posted by peppercorn at 4:00 PM on February 28, 2017 [8 favorites]
...
"The previous trajectory [of meat production] was basically limited by the inherent limitations of using animals as a technology for making these foods,” Brown said.
Guys, I just... I just love food writing so much
posted by peppercorn at 4:00 PM on February 28, 2017 [8 favorites]
I'm hoping the Beyond Burger eventually makes its way to the Bay Area so I can actually try it.
It's at multiple Veggie Grill locations, according to KQED's Bay Area Bites blog: A Tale of Two Veggie Burgers: Impossible vs. Beyond
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 4:09 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]
It's at multiple Veggie Grill locations, according to KQED's Bay Area Bites blog: A Tale of Two Veggie Burgers: Impossible vs. Beyond
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 4:09 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]
I will also add that I can echo another part of the article in saying that hamburgers are not always about the meat. The prototypical hamburger flavor of your memories, at once driven and obscured by nostalgia, is probably as much about charcoal smoke or yellow mustard or fast food secret sauce or freshly sliced onion, or whatever describes your ur-burger, as it is about the flavor of cooked beef.
What I'm saying is I think the specific preparation of the impossible burger meat really matters.
As an aside I've really only ever had one hamburger that was almost entirely about the meat, by the other half of the Mission Chinese Food duo (the chef not mentioned late in the article), and well that was just unfair. Like it was so good it was really a lie to even describe it as a "hamburger".
I should also clarify that my previous comment of "pretty good burger" in normal human terms means... I think it's worth your time. I don't say that about too many things.
Catpie: Go have it after work at Jardinere. It's (slightly) cheaper than Cockscomb, and by many accounts better. I'm not... super interested in the Beyond burger to be honest. I think the descriptions of it are... too kind.
posted by danny the boy at 4:20 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]
What I'm saying is I think the specific preparation of the impossible burger meat really matters.
As an aside I've really only ever had one hamburger that was almost entirely about the meat, by the other half of the Mission Chinese Food duo (the chef not mentioned late in the article), and well that was just unfair. Like it was so good it was really a lie to even describe it as a "hamburger".
I should also clarify that my previous comment of "pretty good burger" in normal human terms means... I think it's worth your time. I don't say that about too many things.
Catpie: Go have it after work at Jardinere. It's (slightly) cheaper than Cockscomb, and by many accounts better. I'm not... super interested in the Beyond burger to be honest. I think the descriptions of it are... too kind.
posted by danny the boy at 4:20 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]
I would happily eat another.
I know we are supposed to love one another, but . . . .
posted by charlesminus at 4:39 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
I know we are supposed to love one another, but . . . .
posted by charlesminus at 4:39 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
Sharing my thoughts as someone who's eaten it and is a very avid meat lover. I had it at Cockscomb in SF a few months ago when it was first made available.
It bites and chews very much like meat, but it's unlike any other meat you've ever bitten into before. It's also a lot 'slidier' than real meats; the patty begins to fall apart a lot more easily, even though any one solid bite of a large piece of the patty feels like a bite of red meat. The flavor profile also reads 'meat' (as opposed to 'bean patty' or 'fish flesh' or something else) but you can't analogize it to any other meat you've tasted.
posted by shen1138 at 4:46 PM on February 28, 2017
It bites and chews very much like meat, but it's unlike any other meat you've ever bitten into before. It's also a lot 'slidier' than real meats; the patty begins to fall apart a lot more easily, even though any one solid bite of a large piece of the patty feels like a bite of red meat. The flavor profile also reads 'meat' (as opposed to 'bean patty' or 'fish flesh' or something else) but you can't analogize it to any other meat you've tasted.
posted by shen1138 at 4:46 PM on February 28, 2017
>I tried the Impossible Burger at three of them: one in L.A. at Crossroads, and two in San Francisco at Cockscomb and Jardinière, all acclaimed, upscale establishments. The price ranged from $14 to $19
(sound of needle being unceremoniously dragged off of record)
posted by Sing Or Swim at 4:52 PM on February 28, 2017
(sound of needle being unceremoniously dragged off of record)
posted by Sing Or Swim at 4:52 PM on February 28, 2017
This came up in the last thread too, but I think it's pretty disingenuous to be like we need to stop eating as much meat because it's terrible for the environment and if the actual costs were factored in a McDonald's hamburger would be $20...
...and then balk when the price of a fake meat burger is the same price as a real meat burger in the restaurants where they're sold.
posted by danny the boy at 5:02 PM on February 28, 2017 [15 favorites]
...and then balk when the price of a fake meat burger is the same price as a real meat burger in the restaurants where they're sold.
posted by danny the boy at 5:02 PM on February 28, 2017 [15 favorites]
I tried it at momofuku nishi in new york, and I enjoyed the experience. But it was definitely pricey, and not (in my oppinion) and amazing burger. A friend warned me before hand to expect a vegetarian McDonald's style burger, and that seemed like a reasonable description. Very good for what it was, but not a gourmet amazing burger.
I still want to get another.
posted by Phredward at 5:04 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
I still want to get another.
posted by Phredward at 5:04 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
Are products like this actually geared towards vegetarians, who are less likely to fetishize meatiness and more likely to see the more carnal aspects as repulsive, or are they geared towards encouraging the emergence of a new kind of non-meat eater?
posted by Selena777 at 5:11 PM on February 28, 2017
posted by Selena777 at 5:11 PM on February 28, 2017
You have to look at learning curves. Is the price going down like processors circa 1990 (50%/18mo)? Like solar panels (40%/24mo)? Or like beef, which goes down like 3-5%/yr? How commoditizable is it?
posted by hleehowon at 5:12 PM on February 28, 2017
posted by hleehowon at 5:12 PM on February 28, 2017
" they geared towards encouraging the emergence of a new kind of non-meat eater?"
Personally I feel like it's very much this. I think I'm the target, a person who is not at all a vegetarian but also willing to eat something that's better for the world without having to sacrifice my privilege. I eat meat because I like it the best, not because I'm intrinsically wedded to eating meat as a matter of principle.
posted by shen1138 at 5:17 PM on February 28, 2017 [8 favorites]
Personally I feel like it's very much this. I think I'm the target, a person who is not at all a vegetarian but also willing to eat something that's better for the world without having to sacrifice my privilege. I eat meat because I like it the best, not because I'm intrinsically wedded to eating meat as a matter of principle.
posted by shen1138 at 5:17 PM on February 28, 2017 [8 favorites]
Are products like this actually geared towards vegetarians, who are less likely to fetishize meatiness and more likely to see the more carnal aspects as repulsive, or are they geared towards encouraging the emergence of a new kind of non-meat eater?
I'm going to take a wild guess and say that the most receptive market for a product intended to be indistinguishable from meat is people who enjoy eating meat, rather than people who don't.
posted by zamboni at 5:21 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]
I'm going to take a wild guess and say that the most receptive market for a product intended to be indistinguishable from meat is people who enjoy eating meat, rather than people who don't.
posted by zamboni at 5:21 PM on February 28, 2017 [2 favorites]
Wouldn't those people... just eat meat, though?
posted by Selena777 at 5:29 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Selena777 at 5:29 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
Yes, unless they have ethical, cultural or financial reasons not to.
posted by zamboni at 5:33 PM on February 28, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by zamboni at 5:33 PM on February 28, 2017 [11 favorites]
I've been working on shifting vegan for the past two years, with mixed results. Down to eating meat and fish only once or twice a week, with specifically beef only about once a month, and eggs about once every few months. So, basically, I treat beef as a luxury food for rare (heh) occasions. And I'm still making incremental progress on these fronts.
Dairy has been the tougher nut to crack for me though - far more so than beef. Milk and cheese substitutes just seem so weak in comparison to the originals. If there were a decent milk substitute (and no, those watery soy- and nut-based milks just don't cut it), I think I could make a huge step forward in reducing my animal product consumption.
posted by darkstar at 6:14 PM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]
Dairy has been the tougher nut to crack for me though - far more so than beef. Milk and cheese substitutes just seem so weak in comparison to the originals. If there were a decent milk substitute (and no, those watery soy- and nut-based milks just don't cut it), I think I could make a huge step forward in reducing my animal product consumption.
posted by darkstar at 6:14 PM on February 28, 2017 [4 favorites]
>I tried the Impossible Burger at three of them: one in L.A. at Crossroads, and two in San Francisco at Cockscomb and Jardinière, all acclaimed, upscale establishments. The price ranged from $14 to $19
I was just doing my accounting and came across a reciept from this weekend's dinner with friends at Ethan Stowell's Bramling Cross in Ballard. I kept the itemized reciept after we split the cost, and was bemused to note that while I had spent $28 on osso buco, my buddy had spent $18 on his hamburger.
/gently replaces needle on tonearm cradle, lifts vinyl from turntable and inspects for a gouge
posted by mwhybark at 6:51 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
I was just doing my accounting and came across a reciept from this weekend's dinner with friends at Ethan Stowell's Bramling Cross in Ballard. I kept the itemized reciept after we split the cost, and was bemused to note that while I had spent $28 on osso buco, my buddy had spent $18 on his hamburger.
/gently replaces needle on tonearm cradle, lifts vinyl from turntable and inspects for a gouge
posted by mwhybark at 6:51 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
How many people become vegetarians because they don't like meat? I have to imagine it's vanishingly few. People become vegetarians for ethical reasons or environmental reasons or health reasons or religious reasons, not because the juicy, chewy, umami taste of a burger is anathema. I've never really understood why people disdain decaffeinated coffee, meat substitutes, gluten-free baked goods, and other efforts to re-create the experience of a beloved foodstuff for people who can't have the original. It's like saying there's no point in eating cashews that have been processed to remove the poisonous shell, or wondering why someone would wear non-sweatshop-made clothes even though they look similar to sweatshop-produced clothes.
posted by fermion at 6:52 PM on February 28, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by fermion at 6:52 PM on February 28, 2017 [9 favorites]
Artful Codger: "This omnivore has BBQ'd up some veggie patties, and eaten them... and not made faces of disgust.
Whether they are made to taste like meat, or something unique, I ask only one thing: that they taste GOOD."
I agree, but, me being me, having the right texture and mouthfeel is as important as the taste to me. My mouth has to say "Oooooo, meat!" to me for this to work.
posted by Samizdata at 6:55 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
Whether they are made to taste like meat, or something unique, I ask only one thing: that they taste GOOD."
I agree, but, me being me, having the right texture and mouthfeel is as important as the taste to me. My mouth has to say "Oooooo, meat!" to me for this to work.
posted by Samizdata at 6:55 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
(On a completely different note, it's pretty exciting that they have a vegetarian source of heme iron, as I'm given to understand that heme iron is much more bioavailable than non-heme. So this could be a big boon to anemic vegetarians everywhere.)
posted by fermion at 6:55 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by fermion at 6:55 PM on February 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
I can't tell from this article- does it contain any soy? It didn't get mentioned, but I'd like to know if I should bother looking for it or not.
I'm also wondering if their yeast heme production could eventually be used to make artificial blood (to avoid needing blood donations). I don't actually know what's hard about artificial blood though.
posted by nat at 7:38 PM on February 28, 2017
I'm also wondering if their yeast heme production could eventually be used to make artificial blood (to avoid needing blood donations). I don't actually know what's hard about artificial blood though.
posted by nat at 7:38 PM on February 28, 2017
I'm wondering if it gets closer to seeming like real meat if you add a bit of real meat into it. The result would also be environmentally less harmful, because people would be eating 50% beef patties instead of 100% full beef. Of course, people would be told about this beforehand.
I guess it would be not dissimilar to ethanol-gasoline blends.
posted by FJT at 7:41 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]
I guess it would be not dissimilar to ethanol-gasoline blends.
posted by FJT at 7:41 PM on February 28, 2017 [3 favorites]
As a ~12-year vegetarian and ~3-year vegan, these pictures remind me of how disgusting meat is. It is in no way appealing for me to imagine ripping open another animal and tearing apart its insides for pleasure. Seeing pea protein “bleed” beet juice is actually pretty off-putting. I would imagine the flavor is fantastic and would happily try either one in spite of the visuals, though.
posted by koavf at 10:47 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by koavf at 10:47 PM on February 28, 2017 [6 favorites]
Next clone actin and myosin and figure out how to assemble them.
posted by waving at 11:05 PM on February 28, 2017
posted by waving at 11:05 PM on February 28, 2017
This reminds me of the hilarious Parks and Rec episode where Chris Trager challenges Ron Swanson to a burger cookoff. Chris makes a turkey burger with all sorts of fancy things. Swanson cooks "a hamburger made out of meat on a bun with nothing."
Watch the clip to see who wins.
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 2:41 AM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
Watch the clip to see who wins.
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 2:41 AM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
I'm for pretty much anything that convinces it-ain't-a-meal-if-it-didn't-squeal people to eat less meat.
But I would not want to eat something that tasted like animal.
posted by pracowity at 2:45 AM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
But I would not want to eat something that tasted like animal.
posted by pracowity at 2:45 AM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
Yeah, after 20 years plus of vegetarianism, I can't even imagine eating meat again, and certainly wouldn't find a meat-like burger comforting. I've been tricked into eating meat one too many times to trust any vegetarian meat substitute that tastes like the real deal.
posted by Jilder at 4:47 AM on March 1, 2017
posted by Jilder at 4:47 AM on March 1, 2017
I have no problem with decaf coffee, until someone tries to give it to me. I need my caffeine! I bet there are meat eaters who feel similarly about veggie burgers. It's at least as bad to give a meat burger to a vegetarian without telling them- let's just not lie to people about what they're eating, ok?
posted by Anne Neville at 4:51 AM on March 1, 2017
posted by Anne Neville at 4:51 AM on March 1, 2017
>/gently replaces needle on tonearm cradle, lifts vinyl from turntable and inspects for a gouge
Don't worry. Those thrift-store Nana Mouskouri records are nigh indestructible.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 6:04 AM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
Don't worry. Those thrift-store Nana Mouskouri records are nigh indestructible.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 6:04 AM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
I don't have any problem with people seeking substitutes! But I suspect in my case even the best ones would be less satisfying than actual meat, so going vegetarian for me would just involve giving up meat entirely.
(I too wish they would get going with the vat-grown meat already).
posted by emjaybee at 7:08 AM on March 1, 2017
(I too wish they would get going with the vat-grown meat already).
posted by emjaybee at 7:08 AM on March 1, 2017
As long as making all this fake meat uses less resources than making real meat, I suppose it is a good thing. As FJT says, any reduction in meat consumption is a step in the right direction!
The fake meat made in the Netherlands is supposed to have a realistic texture, but I wonder how much energy is required to spin the machine that they use to make it.
Is eating insects a lower energy solution to protein requirements? I suppose they would need as much processing as any other source to create a meat-like experience.
posted by asok at 8:33 AM on March 1, 2017
The fake meat made in the Netherlands is supposed to have a realistic texture, but I wonder how much energy is required to spin the machine that they use to make it.
Is eating insects a lower energy solution to protein requirements? I suppose they would need as much processing as any other source to create a meat-like experience.
posted by asok at 8:33 AM on March 1, 2017
I'm super excited about the Impossible Foods project for all kinds of reasons, but I wonder if there's more downside than upside to the hype getting so far ahead of the availability. By the time most of us actually get to try the thing, we'll have been reading about it for at least 3-4 years. We'll have this image of it built in our mind that would probably be pretty hard for any actual burger to live up to.
I'm sure the hype is great for attracting VC, though, which they need to have a chance of actually making the thing available.
posted by gurple at 10:56 AM on March 1, 2017
I'm sure the hype is great for attracting VC, though, which they need to have a chance of actually making the thing available.
posted by gurple at 10:56 AM on March 1, 2017
I guess my issue is I just find this very unimaginative. Yes, it's pleasurable to eat a meat patty for many reasons, but we don't need to try to replicate it using vegetables. We can create patties with different feel and taste and texture that can be just as pleasurable, and even tastier. This to me feels like a success based on a flawed premise.
posted by cell divide at 11:13 AM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by cell divide at 11:13 AM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
asok: "As long as making all this fake meat uses less resources than making real meat, I suppose it is a good thing. As FJT says, any reduction in meat consumption is a step in the right direction!
The fake meat made in the Netherlands is supposed to have a realistic texture, but I wonder how much energy is required to spin the machine that they use to make it.
Is eating insects a lower energy solution to protein requirements? I suppose they would need as much processing as any other source to create a meat-like experience."
Not entirely. I did have pizza with Italian sausage seasoned earthworms on it one. Quite palatable.
posted by Samizdata at 12:07 PM on March 1, 2017
The fake meat made in the Netherlands is supposed to have a realistic texture, but I wonder how much energy is required to spin the machine that they use to make it.
Is eating insects a lower energy solution to protein requirements? I suppose they would need as much processing as any other source to create a meat-like experience."
Not entirely. I did have pizza with Italian sausage seasoned earthworms on it one. Quite palatable.
posted by Samizdata at 12:07 PM on March 1, 2017
Food is such a subjective experience as well as a common source of guilt for both nutritional, economic and environmental reasons. Working to create viable alternatives (maybe not for you, but for many others) that reduce some of that guilt is a good thing in my book.
posted by soelo at 1:13 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by soelo at 1:13 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
One of my colleagues previously worked at Impossible Foods before joining my team. As this was fairly recent, they actually sent her a big package (5 or 10 pounds) of the raw "burger" a month or so back, and she was kind enough to bring it into the office and cook it for all of us.
It was absolutely fascinating to watch the reactions of people based on their experiences with and attitudes toward meat. Three of us are vegetarians (me, my colleague who worked at Impossible Foods, and one other person who has been a vegetarian since childhood and never eaten beef in her life). The rest are carnivores to greater or lesser extents.
Trying it raw, the vegetarians were more or less fine with it. It wasn't something I'd want to eat a huge bowl of, but it reminded me a bit of a finely chopped beet salad. Lots of little crunchy/chewy bits and a strong iron flavor. The meat eaters were all repulsed by it raw and didn't want to think about eating it that way in the future.
Once cooked, the tables turned. It smells enough like beef that I had to fight my reaction to put it down without trying it. The first bite was a bit weird and slightly unpleasant, but after that I was able to adjust and enjoyed eating it. The lifelong veggie was absolutely disgusted -- I don't think she even managed to swallow the bite she'd taken. Her reaction was basically "if this is what people eat, I have not been missing anything good at all!" But the meat eaters all enjoyed it. The general reaction was that it was more or less like eating cheap supermarket beef, and they all said that all else being equal they'd probably eat it 3 times out of 4, saving real meat for more special meals. (Aside from the one stereotypical "vegetables are what food eats ha ha ha no seriously it's just wrong to ever try to make fake meat" person who refused to try it, but at this point I mostly feel pity for that level of insecurity.)
As far as who Impossible is making this for, it's not vegetarians or vegans. (2/3rds of us veggies agreed that we'd probably order it at a burger place to be social, but that honestly a really good bean burger is better than beef anyway.) The goal is to make something that meat eaters can have at least some of the time to limit the (really horrific) environmental impact of animal agriculture. It's being done to save the planet rather than to satisfy vegetarians. The goal is to get it on par or even cheaper than the meat it is replacing so that it becomes a more obvious default choice.
(I also learned a *ton* about the R&D that went into this, especially around the artificial heme production. Apparently the best place to get it is from the root structures of beans, but that's really difficult to manage at industrial scales. They found the second best place was from potatoes, and it turns out that the bits of the potato they needed to produce it was already being separated at large scale, as it was the waste product from potato starch production. So not only could they make a crucial component for their artificial meat from a plant, they were able to reduce existing industrial waste while doing so. Win/win!)
posted by fader at 1:50 PM on March 1, 2017 [19 favorites]
It was absolutely fascinating to watch the reactions of people based on their experiences with and attitudes toward meat. Three of us are vegetarians (me, my colleague who worked at Impossible Foods, and one other person who has been a vegetarian since childhood and never eaten beef in her life). The rest are carnivores to greater or lesser extents.
Trying it raw, the vegetarians were more or less fine with it. It wasn't something I'd want to eat a huge bowl of, but it reminded me a bit of a finely chopped beet salad. Lots of little crunchy/chewy bits and a strong iron flavor. The meat eaters were all repulsed by it raw and didn't want to think about eating it that way in the future.
Once cooked, the tables turned. It smells enough like beef that I had to fight my reaction to put it down without trying it. The first bite was a bit weird and slightly unpleasant, but after that I was able to adjust and enjoyed eating it. The lifelong veggie was absolutely disgusted -- I don't think she even managed to swallow the bite she'd taken. Her reaction was basically "if this is what people eat, I have not been missing anything good at all!" But the meat eaters all enjoyed it. The general reaction was that it was more or less like eating cheap supermarket beef, and they all said that all else being equal they'd probably eat it 3 times out of 4, saving real meat for more special meals. (Aside from the one stereotypical "vegetables are what food eats ha ha ha no seriously it's just wrong to ever try to make fake meat" person who refused to try it, but at this point I mostly feel pity for that level of insecurity.)
As far as who Impossible is making this for, it's not vegetarians or vegans. (2/3rds of us veggies agreed that we'd probably order it at a burger place to be social, but that honestly a really good bean burger is better than beef anyway.) The goal is to make something that meat eaters can have at least some of the time to limit the (really horrific) environmental impact of animal agriculture. It's being done to save the planet rather than to satisfy vegetarians. The goal is to get it on par or even cheaper than the meat it is replacing so that it becomes a more obvious default choice.
(I also learned a *ton* about the R&D that went into this, especially around the artificial heme production. Apparently the best place to get it is from the root structures of beans, but that's really difficult to manage at industrial scales. They found the second best place was from potatoes, and it turns out that the bits of the potato they needed to produce it was already being separated at large scale, as it was the waste product from potato starch production. So not only could they make a crucial component for their artificial meat from a plant, they were able to reduce existing industrial waste while doing so. Win/win!)
posted by fader at 1:50 PM on March 1, 2017 [19 favorites]
We can create patties with different feel and taste and texture that can be just as pleasurable, and even tastier.
This is in fact one of Impossible Foods' end goals; their point is that there's no reason to suppose that the cow (or the chicken, or...) is the ne plus ultra of meat-making, so an engineered replacement could actually be better, either in general or for specific tastes. However, they're starting by trying to make a one-to-one replacement for the most environmentally-costly and popular meats because of the potential sustainability impact.
One thing they didn't really talk about in these articles is that the engineering in Impossible Foods goes beyond just heme addition, it also extends to doing more with the protein. IIRC instead of thinking of "vegetable protein" as some kind of bulk product they're thinking of it more as a collection of different individual proteins with different flavors and properties, and using some straightforward biochemistry to separate them out. (They are also using this to potentially develop better vegan cheeses, I think.) I'm not sure how much of this technology has actually made it into the production burger yet, so I'm betting that their product will continue to improve.
posted by en forme de poire at 10:42 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
This is in fact one of Impossible Foods' end goals; their point is that there's no reason to suppose that the cow (or the chicken, or...) is the ne plus ultra of meat-making, so an engineered replacement could actually be better, either in general or for specific tastes. However, they're starting by trying to make a one-to-one replacement for the most environmentally-costly and popular meats because of the potential sustainability impact.
One thing they didn't really talk about in these articles is that the engineering in Impossible Foods goes beyond just heme addition, it also extends to doing more with the protein. IIRC instead of thinking of "vegetable protein" as some kind of bulk product they're thinking of it more as a collection of different individual proteins with different flavors and properties, and using some straightforward biochemistry to separate them out. (They are also using this to potentially develop better vegan cheeses, I think.) I'm not sure how much of this technology has actually made it into the production burger yet, so I'm betting that their product will continue to improve.
posted by en forme de poire at 10:42 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
darkstar - ' If there were a decent milk substitute (and no, those watery soy- and nut-based milks just don't cut it)'
I weaned myself off cow lactation via goat lactation. To be fair, when I tried goat milk I preferred it to cow milk, so it was a pleasure rather than a chore. Then I started diluting the goat milk with soy milk and continued changing the ratio until I ended up with no goat milk in the mix. Now I prefer unsweetened almond milk or coconut milk, or both! In my experience almond milk that is around 7% almond is very rich and creamy. Most of them are about half that.
This is all in the UK, where getting sugar free non-dairy milk is a lot easier than I found it to be in the US.
I only have milk on cereal. Your mileage may vary.
posted by asok at 1:42 AM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
I weaned myself off cow lactation via goat lactation. To be fair, when I tried goat milk I preferred it to cow milk, so it was a pleasure rather than a chore. Then I started diluting the goat milk with soy milk and continued changing the ratio until I ended up with no goat milk in the mix. Now I prefer unsweetened almond milk or coconut milk, or both! In my experience almond milk that is around 7% almond is very rich and creamy. Most of them are about half that.
This is all in the UK, where getting sugar free non-dairy milk is a lot easier than I found it to be in the US.
I only have milk on cereal. Your mileage may vary.
posted by asok at 1:42 AM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
After some looking, Impossible Burger has soy protein isolate (so I can't eat it). But Beyond doesn't have any soy, so I might go look for that one instead!
posted by nat at 3:19 AM on March 2, 2017
posted by nat at 3:19 AM on March 2, 2017
I think Impossible also wants to eventually wean itself off all the major allergens (based on my memory of a very short interaction I had with Pat Brown)...
posted by en forme de poire at 2:15 PM on March 2, 2017
posted by en forme de poire at 2:15 PM on March 2, 2017
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