Urban75 Home About Offline BrixtonBuzz Contact

Meat alternatives

MrCurry

MrCurry

right after this urgent rest
They’re everywhere and will only become more ubiquitous if the factors driving the change continue. Whether lab grown, plant based, insect derived or even the exotics like myco protein or fermentation protein based, they all boast the ability to deceive your tastebuds and spare the cattle.

I’ve been diligently skipping the beyond burger and “plant beef” offerings at the local fast food outlets, assuming they were inferior and too expensive, but yesterday I got caught out when my wife offered me a piece of chicken tikka from her lunchtime salad.

“The chicken is good, but the spicing is a bit off” was my verdict and I honestly did believe it was tender chicken, as structure was spot on, as it broke down into a slightly stringy texture when chewed, just like well cooked chicken, but the flavour was a bit fishy. And of course I had been hoodwinked as it was a plant based chicken alternative, amazingly good in my estimation, if only the marinade could hide that slightly off flavour.

So have you been fooled into thinking a synthetic meat alternative was the real thing, and are these the way of the future, or just a passing fad?
 
I think it often depends what the not-meat is in/how it's presented. Mrs SI and I get four Gousto meals a week and usually include one or two meat-free options. We're both in agreement that as things stand, for these meals we'd rather choose meals that just have veg in than meat substitutes.

I've been caught out a couple of times when not-meat has been in stews or casseroles but though textures are improving the flavour is often weird. Too salty for example.

I'm neither a devotee of vegetarianism or a staunch meat fancier - I'd rather eat any faux meat than roast pork - but in all honesty the closer meat substitutes get to the real thing the more likely I am to eat it. And it's not there yet.
 
This trend for meat substitution is a pain in the arse for those of us who are vegetarian because we find meat revolting! It's getting harder and harder to find a (for example) veggie sausage which isn't trying to pretend to be pork, or whatever.

Cauldron had the best one on offer, and they've had two goes at completely buggering it up - looks like they may have succeeded on the second attempt, judging by their feedback on social media.
 
Had some fake chicken stuff cooked by a friends partner

Was very salty, tasted and felt like meat in the mouth though.

Personally I’d rather not have fake meat and prefer to eat more veggies / pulses instead.

Edit I still eat meat, but less than before largely due to finances. Find myself preferring to eat more fish for what it’s worth. Am not much of a cook, but those dishes I can manage I’ve largely adapted so I can make them meat free.
 
I like fake meat stuff sometimes as an ingredient in stew etc but sick of lazy options when eating out as can shove a fake meat burger in a bun at home and eat it and it won't cost me £15.95. I like to eat interesting vegetarian food it is hard to make at home if paying a lot to eat out and that is hardly ever possible now unless at local Indian, Turkish place etc.
 
I eat a bit too much fake meat stuff at the moment, it's just so easy and I'm in a bit of a phase of struggling with inspiration and motivation for cooking. Not that it's all bad for you - some a lot healthier than others.

Some of it is astounding these days. The very expensive Juicy Marbles plant based steaks have a texture that's ridiculously meaty. The THIS brand chicken thighs also very realistic.

I loved meat till I quit it at 18 so quite happy there are products that imitate it and that they're so much closer to the real thing now.
 
lazythursday said:
I eat a bit too much fake meat stuff at the moment, it's just so easy and I'm in a bit of a phase of struggling with inspiration and motivation for cooking. Not that it's all bad for you - some a lot healthier than others.

Some of it is astounding these days. The very expensive Juicy Marbles plant based steaks have a texture that's ridiculously meaty. The THIS brand chicken thighs also very realistic.

I loved meat till I quit it at 18 so quite happy there are products that imitate it and that they're so much closer to the real thing now.
Click to expand...
I try to mix it up and put lots of veg with it, chilli with quorn mince and lentils etc. Utterly adore seitan kebabs from veggie cafe in Kendal- when I tried to make seitan at home, could have replastered the living room with it.
 
existentialist said:
This trend for meat substitution is a pain in the arse for those of us who are vegetarian because we find meat revolting! It's getting harder and harder to find a (for example) veggie sausage which isn't trying to pretend to be pork, or whatever.

Cauldron had the best one on offer, and they've had two goes at completely buggering it up - looks like they may have succeeded on the second attempt, judging by their feedback on social media.
Click to expand...
In the '90s, when vegetarianism was seeing another surge in popularity, there were lots of different offerings that weren't pretending to be meat.
I recall Sainsburys, on their deli counter, did 3 flavours of veggie sausage-shaped offerings which were excellent fried or barbecued - my favourite one involved carrot, I can't recall what the other 2 were but they were all nice and not a single one of them was pretending to be meat.
Cauldron used to do some patés which made excellent sarnie fillings - the red lentil one was particularly lush and I think there was a mushroom one too, I don't recall seeing those in a while.

And of course Glamorgan sausages also have a place in my heart.

A lot of stuff veering into being vegan as well as veggie has wrecked supermarket provision of cheese based vegetarian goodies also.
 
MrCurry said:
I’ve been diligently skipping the beyond burger and “plant beef” offerings at the local fast food outlets, assuming they were inferior and too expensive, but yesterday I got caught out when my wife offered me a piece of chicken tikka from her lunchtime salad.
Click to expand...
been doing this too, have beyond burgers at least once a week
 
Tesco seemed to have discontinued their fake chicken pieces, which were good because you just had to stir fry them for ten minutes, and they were very high in protein. Iceland seem to a fairly decent alternative.,
 
Wolveryeti said:
This caught my eye in a supermarket recently - looked good but £9 mind! Anyone tried some?

View attachment 437061
Click to expand...
Yes, I mentioned these upthread. They are incredibly good. Sometimes you see them on offer in Tesco, but even at that price they're worth paying for at least once to try them.

Texture that pulls apart a bit like pulled pork or something.

Definitely follow the instructions properly though - even better if seasoned properly beforehand and carefully fried on all sides including the actual sides.
 
Prefer dishes using traditional substitutes/alternatives, which are easy to get here; never enjoyed a fake meat that much more than the super-cheap TVP mince I used to buy years ago, bland but would take on whatever flavour you cooked into it. Also Sosmix :D
 
existentialist said:
This trend for meat substitution is a pain in the arse for those of us who are vegetarian because we find meat revolting! It's getting harder and harder to find a (for example) veggie sausage which isn't trying to pretend to be pork, or whatever.
Click to expand...
Yeah, this. I loathe the texture of meat and want a fairly bland, non-fibrous protein source that can be cooked easily and jazzed up with condiments and accompaniments. Not something meant eaters rave about as 'just like the real thing'. Paxo briefly made a vegan burger mix this year that fitted the bill perfectly, but it's been discontinued, due to (probably) meat eaters reviewing it as 'too dry' and 'nothing like meat'
 
existentialist said:
This trend for meat substitution is a pain in the arse for those of us who are vegetarian because we find meat revolting! It's getting harder and harder to find a (for example) veggie sausage which isn't trying to pretend to be pork, or whatever.

Cauldron had the best one on offer, and they've had two goes at completely buggering it up - looks like they may have succeeded on the second attempt, judging by their feedback on social media.
Click to expand...
I've tried a few different makes of sausages but I've always been disappointed.

The long list of ingredients is also off-putting.
 
Sainsburys used to do some deluxe packets of stuffing back in the day that were very good jazzed up with other ingredients and then used to make veggie sausages or burgers or nut roast type deals - there was a red pepper based one that I particularly liked, I'd add some nuts to it and layer it in a loaf tin with layers of mushrooms fried with garlic, spinach in cheese sauce etc. and then bake it.
It worked because it wasn't too salty, some stuffing mixes are way too salty to have that much of as a main component, but this wasn't and was just the right consistency to shape and hold together.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

I
Veggie/vegan Burns Supper haggis alternatives
2
Replies
43
Views
1K
Oriole
O
hash tag
Pizza alternatives
Replies
12
Views
389
clicker
clicker
story
MDF. Affordable alternative?
2
Replies
42
Views
1K
story
story
butcher
Meater plus bluetooth thermometer
Replies
15
Views
430
High Voltage
High Voltage
Thora
Veggie food for meat eaters
2
Replies
56
Views
2K
stavros
S
Back
Top Bottom