There are many reasons why someone can decide to stop consuming animal products, and very few that have to do with not liking the taste or texture of them. Normally they do not eat them because they decide not to kill animals for food, for sustainability and environmental reasons, not at all related to the fact that they do not feel the same pleasure as others when biting into a juicy hamburger, they do not like to benefit from the immediacy of opening a can tuna and make a sandwich or bother the spicy fat of chistorra.
This is why there are vegan and vegetarian versions of this type of food, because giving up one thing does not have to mean giving up the other, and the memories of pleasant flavors and textures are burned into our sensory memory. If you are interested, here are some that we have tried -sometimes on a recurring basis- and we have found them interesting due to their accessibility and culinary applications.
If you think this is all bullshit and that people who don’t want to eat animals should eat berries, raw seeds and leaves collected from the wild, and that the ecological footprint of food and climate change are an invention of communists, This article is simply not for you. Think of these foods like soccer: a large part of the population does not care, but it exists for others to enjoy (with the difference that they do not spend hours and hours on television and media pages every day from Monday to Sunday, so instead of getting angry you can ignore its existence and so pichi). Peace, sisters.
The most popular trompe l’oeil in the most successful version that we have tried; not in vain were the best valued in our blind tasting of vegan burgers. This pioneer of its kind – Beyond Meat has been making plant-based products since 2009 – is thick and with the closest bite to juicy minced meat we’ve found on the market today. Its characteristic texture is achieved based on pea protein, canola and coconut oils, potato starch and edible cellulose -let’s remember that it is not a product to eat every day, but for occasional consumption, exactly the same as meat products-, the color is provided by beetroot extract and flavors are smoke and yeast extract (among others). It does not contain gluten, so it is suitable for coeliacs and intolerant people.
To enjoy it, all you have to do is grill it well for about three minutes on both sides, leaving the center always juicy (unless you like it like the sole of a shoe, in which case do it like this, what can we do). It is ready to serve on the plate or on a bun, with a salad, with potatoes, covered with cheese of animal or vegan origin, with pickles, with a fried egg and dressed with the sauces that you most desire. In its fresh format it is a thawed product, so it cannot be frozen again. Price: about five euros for a 225-gram package with two hamburgers (there are also formats of 10 and 40 units, consult points of sale).
One of the best-known companies in the vegan trompe l’oeil universe: at the time we already dedicated an article to its first launch, the ‘chicken’ bites (they are still the ones with the best texture on the market). The Barcelona company has not stopped releasing new formats since then, and this was undoubtedly one of the most celebrated on social networks among its users. More than a chorizo, we could compare it with a chistorra, since it is designed to be eaten on the grill. It tastes like paprika and has a very juicy texture and the fatty touch that characterizes this food -thanks to a combination of shea butter and olive oil- and makes it so attractive. Its other main ingredients are soy protein concentrate, flavorings, radish and carrot plant extracts, and methylcellulose as a stabilizer.
It is wrapped in a kind of casing -also vegan, based on calcium alginate- and although raw it is very tender, it gains firmness when cooked. It does so without falling apart, which also allows us to use it in casseroles, stews, and sauces (macaroni and chorizo included, to the delight of all vegetarians and vegans who miss that delicacy). The company is known for not keeping the first versions of the products it puts out, but listening to its buyers, customers and nutritionists: they changed the sunflower oil in their original bites for olive oil, they changed the formula of the pizza and their nuggets by popular demand, among other things. Its breaded chicken fillet, the latest product from the Heura family to go on the market together with the long burger supreme -the family includes meatballs, sausages, hamburgers, picada and a delicious ‘choriburger’-, it is also very good, and it is very crunchy no need to fry. Price: about four euros the package of 216 grams (four units), about 24 the package of 1.29 kilos (24 units).
Vegan Meatballs from My Veggie Day
They are easy to find -they are sold from Aldi supermarkets, where they share a shelf with falafel-, cheap and very easy to integrate into any type of dish: these meatballs are tender, with a rich flavor and a pleasant bite and are ready to eat or add to any dish. You can simply heat them and eat them with a sauce based on yogurt and herbs or tahini, lemon and garlic or braise them -briefly, because they are already cooked- in tomato sauce, coconut milk and curry or mole and chipotle: it’s time to serve them with rice, pasta, boiled or mashed potatoes or put them in a sandwich. They are made from hydrated soybean and wheat protein, onion, sunflower and rapeseed oil, starch, potato, aromas and garlic, with added iron and vitamin B12. Price: 2.19 euros for a 200-gram package.
Vegetable tuna Vuna from Garden Gourmet
The first time I opened a jar of Vuna in my kitchen at home, my cats were the first to show interest, which gives a good hint of how similar it is to the original product (so much so that some vegetarians and vegans may be put off by it). ). It is sold in 175-gram glass jars and needs refrigeration as it is semi-preserved, like anchovies, and its ingredients are water, 18% pea protein, rapeseed oil to give a juicy bite, wheat gluten, aromas , citrus fiber for texture and salt.
What is it for? It works in the same scenarios as canned tuna or tuna, only here we will not find belly or large pieces, but the crumbled format. Nor does it have the amount of fat of some crumbs, because the oil is inside the product and not wrapping it -it is not “in oil”-, so eaten alone it can be a little dry (although less than natural tuna). Apart from that, both the aroma and the flavor are very successful, it is not excessively salty or leaves any strange aftertaste, so you can prepare an authentic “vegetable” tuna sandwich with it -this time yes-, add it to any salad Legumes -such as empedrat or one with chickpeas with eggs and a spicy vinaigrette-, potato or rice or brown rice. Price: about five euros a 175 gram jar, Horeca format of two kilos about 34 euros.
Probably the most surprising trompe l’oeil I’ve tried: a smoked ‘salmon loin’ with a fairly successful texture and good flavor. It is made to be eaten as is, it cannot be grilled or fried (I suppose because some of the natural gelling agents it uses, Eucheuma seaweed and konjac, are reversible and melt when they reach a certain temperature). Its other main ingredients are water, 4% pea protein, high oleic sunflower oil, natural flavorings, bamboo fiber, algae oil, potato starch, sea salt, lycopene to give color, and again iron and vitamin B12 added.
You can use it to make vegan sushi, sashimi or chirashi, add it as an ingredient in a poké -which you can turn into a salad if you use cooked legumes as a base instead of rice- or eat it on toast as is, with avocado now that the season is starting or with hollandaise sauce and a poached egg. There is also the tuna fish option, which convinced me much less but was worth a place among the best inventions of 2021 for Time magazine (before the name was changed from Kuleana to Current Foods). Price: 4.99 euros for 150 grams.
Libre Foods Mushroom Bacon: What’s Coming Up
What bacon usually offers us when we add it to a dish or sandwich are four things: crunchy -if you cook it well-, salty due to its type of processing, with a touch of fat because that’s how it should be and, depending on the variety, also a smoky aroma.
the one of Free Foods it is 100% free of pork or any other animal -it is made from oyster mushrooms, starch, pea protein, oil, gelling agents and natural aromas-, but after going through the pan for a few minutes over medium heat it meets these characteristics of a way so realistic that it can even be disturbing.
What can you do with it? Same as other bacon: serve it on a cheese sandwich or burger, crumble it on top of florets with croutons, add a crunchy finish to a pasta dish, or add it to pizza, a pea, green bean or mushroom stir-fry .
At the moment it can be tested in long live burger and in meat in Madrid, in green and burger in Barcelona and soon in Guakame in Valencia, but they are already in talks with supermarket chains to market it in the near future.
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