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Challenge 'Eat less meat now'. Day 4: no-chicken and no-ribeye, a glimpse of the 'meat' of the future

2021-01-28T07:01:31.818Z


The first is a reality. The second is ready. Both intend to satisfy the craving of a fool day, that there will be ...


It is called Heura and it is a mixture of water, soy concentrate, olive oil, salt, aroma, spices and vitamin B12.

A trompe l'oeil for lovers of animal protein, without entrails involved and with the approval of the chefs, “but if the first time I tried it it was given to me by a stranger instead of a friend, as it happened, I would have put the cry in the sky at the thought that they were putting chicken on me, ”says chef Alex Pirla, a

vegan

cooking instructor

.

Why are you reading this?

You are in the fourth step of a challenge to achieve a more plant-based diet.

If you complete it (there are seven learnings: one per day), you will see that you can live with less meat, and be happy.

Your health and the planet will appreciate it.

Click on the image to access the complete challenge.

He is not the only expert in eating matters who has fallen in love with the songs of this

vegetable

chicken

made in Barcelona that aspires to become the meat of the future.

Its creators define themselves as “activists of the planet”, but to stop at the important environmental issues we already have another two days of the challenge ('Day 1: the weak points of the meat industry' and 'Day 3: If you really want to be less pollutant, take a good look at where you buy the vegetables');

Now let's start with the palate.

This is delicious?

If you like chicken, no doubt

.

"How is it possible to have achieved something so similar without animal derivatives?

If I even notice the fiber ... ”, a surprised Germán Carrizo (chef from Fierro, in Valencia) launched in this magazine during a tasting of vegan products.

The laurels were not, precisely, rained: of the nine products only four approved (the chicken from Heura, the hamburger from Beyond Meat, the pizza from Papa John's, and the vegan version of the Filipinos).

Alex Pirla, the famed vegetable chef, is also a brand ambassador.

And he continues to reel off the virtues of these frozen strips: “They do not release water when cooked, unlike many real meats, so they never dry out.

Also, they smell great.

Maybe now you don't realize it, but

when you stop eating meat and perceive its aromas again, well, I'll spare myself the adjectives of what you can feel

”, he reveals.

The fake chicken achieves its maximum organoleptic splendor when it is made in a hot pan, with olive oil and on high heat.

Pirla also recommends it as a sandwich, with vegan mayonnaise, pickles and arugula.

"If you put the bread on the plate before ... you cry," he insists.

It does not work very well in aqueous media (cooked in water), but in fatty media it achieves its greater resemblance to chicken.

“There is no trompe l'oeil more spectacular than Heura curry cooked in coconut milk.

Impossible to differentiate ”, concludes the cook.

What if what I want is a beef steak ... no beef?

In addition to chicken, there are vegan sausages, hamburgers and meatballs, and even pieces of tuna that do not have fish ... But what about meat?

Is it that nobody wants a good beef steak without a cow?

Or stringy pork chops without pork?

Howling-free lamb?

A couple of years ago, when Beyond Meat went public - in September 2019 - things were promising.

The stock market in New York hadn't seen the same start in a long time: its shares traded 85% above the $ 25 at which its initial valuation was set.

A tsunami caused by

vegetable

meat

manufacturers

with investors such as Leonardo DiCaprio or Bill Gates.

And on the palate it did not disappoint: “It tastes like meat to me.

I am not out of my astonishment ", valued a journalist of this magazine in a tasting of the product.

However, as time went by,

the range of options seemed not to explode

.

Until now.

Giuseppe Scionti, CEO of NovaMeat, a

food technology

start-up

specializing in meat substitutes, clears the puzzle: "If we don't have

more fibrous

meats

, it is because technology is not yet capable of achieving it."

Extrusion systems, which are mostly used by the industry to convert vegetable proteins into meat-looking foods, do not give the type with it.

It makes do with the shredded (both hamburgers and sausages are made with

minced

meat), and can get something similar to chicken, a simple product in nuances and textures.

But

replicating the complexity of a ribeye, recreating the tendon of a cow or finding just the right juiciness of a rich sirloin, are major words

.

"With the mixtures with which we work, today's machines do not succeed, since they are subjected to a temperature with which certain aromas are destroyed, and they are necessary for the dishes you are commenting on," says Scionti, who claims to have found the right solution in your company.

The industry is clear about it: hamburgers and sausages are not enough to please the European.

You have to pass the knife test.

NovaMeat is already working with prototypes of

beef steak

and

pork

100% vegetable, thanks to a modification of the technology they call microextursion.

“Restaurants and chefs who are experts in real meat collaborate with us to give their approval.

Of the four essentials, two are already accomplished: texture and appearance.

We have two more that are almost ready: the taste and the nutritional profile ”.

Regarding the first, the entrepreneur and doctor in Biomedicine is sincere: “We do not aspire to surpass the best cattle that graze placidly in Switzerland, but we do aim to

make something richer than the meat that comes from intensive industry

.

And, according to the cooks, it is almost done ”.

Regarding its healthiness, the intention is to reduce the list of ingredients to a minimum and add, perhaps, some surprises.

“Enriched in omega-3s?

It could be ... ”, he fantasizes:“ We are aware that the first motivation of people who consume these products is health.

We are not a

meat

for vegans, but for flexiterians or anyone who wants to reduce their intake of animal proteins, which are many more.

90% of Impossible Burger buyers [other veggie burgers] are not vegetarian. "

Hopefully, the first quarter of this year they will begin to serve these new

meats

at specific events in some top restaurants (they collaborate with Enjoy, the project run by elBulli chefs in Barcelona), for those who also use technology from 3D printing.

“Here we will do something very exclusive, with great added value.

It is not about ordering this

steak

just because it is good for the environment, in the same way that whoever buys a Tesla does not do it exclusively because it is better for the planet, but because it goes from 0 to 100 km / h in seconds ", Scionti account.

And,

perhaps by 2022, they will land on the supermarket shelves, where they want to be competitive, with a price equal to or lower than that of their meat counterpart

.

When asked if vegetable lamb or seafood are his next step, NovaMeat's does not close the door: “Now we are focused on this, but we believe that the same technology can be used for other things, yes”.

The industry is clear: to please the European you have to pass the knife test.

"We are not Americans, all day with the hamburger ...".

They are in it.

What the yellow pea does give

Both NovaMeat and Beyond Meat make use of yellow pea protein to emulate meat.

According to Asia Pacific Industry, it is much easier to grow and allows more efficient use of water than soybeans.

The magazine predicts, in turn, that its production will quadruple in the next six years.

In appearance, it looks more like chickpea than the classic green spheres.

It works well in vegetable drinks.

Source: elparis

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