Green | June 06, 2010 | 24 comments

Tastes Like Chicken: The Quest for Fake Meat

source: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1993883,00.html?hpt=C2

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EthicalVegan
PART ONE...

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1993883,00.html?hpt=C2


Tastes Like Chicken: The Quest for Fake Meat
By John Cloud Monday, Jun. 14, 2010



The desire to eat meat has posed an ethical question ever since humans achieved reliable crop production: Do we really need to kill animals to live? Today, the hunger for meat is also contributing to the climate-change catastrophe. The gases from all those chickens and pigs and cows, and from the manure lagoons that big farms create, are playing a part in global warming. So the idea of fake meat has never been more alluring. What if you could cut into a juicy chicken breast that wasn't chicken at all but rather some indistinguishable imitation made harmlessly from plant life?

This spring, scientists at the University of Missouri announced that after more than a decade of research, they had created the first soy product that not only can be flavored to taste like chicken but also breaks apart in your mouth the way chicken does: not too soft, not too hard, but with that ineffable chew of real flesh. When you pull apart the Missouri invention, it disjoins the way chicken does, with a few random strands of "meat" hanging loosely. (Watch TIME's video "Turning Powder Into Poultry.")

The vegetarian world is buzzing about the breakthrough in Missouri. "Along with ham, chicken has always been the holy grail," says Seth Tibbott, 59, the creator of Tofurky and the dean of soy-meat inventors. Tibbott's Oregon-based Turtle Island Foods has become famous for its surprisingly full-flavored fake turkey. But Tibbott says efforts to create a credible fake chicken have foundered because of chicken's unique lean texture and its delicate flavor. ("Turkey has a gamier flavor," he says, "and it's easier to match stronger flavors.")

Like his competitors, Tibbott is now investigating whether to buy the Missouri product. A meat analogue that not only looks like chicken but also works in your mouth like chicken has great market potential. According to the Soyfoods Association of North America, a Washington-based trade group, annual sales of soy products totaled $4.1 billion in 2008, up from $300 million in 1992. But $4.1 billion is, to use a food metaphor, just peanuts. Americans spend something like half a trillion dollars on real meat every year. A meaty-tasting alternative that could capture even a tenth of this market would make someone very rich. The University of Missouri team may finally have cracked the code.

For several years, Fu-Hung Hsieh — a biological-engineering professor who, at his previous job at Quaker, figured out how to use glycerin to soften the raisins in the company's granola — had wondered how to solve the fake-chicken problem. The answer was certainly going to be a combination of soy, wheat gluten, oil and water — the building blocks of most fake meats, including Tofurky. But in what combination? And how would you get it to transform from a congealed goo into a believable simulacrum of chicken? Hsieh, a slight man who was born in Taiwan and educated at Syracuse, worked on the problem in a concrete-floored lab with an unlikely partner, Harold Huff, a tall and gruff native Missourian who runs the mechanical parts of Hsieh's lab. (See pictures of what makes you eat more food.)

What has confounded fake-meat producers for years is the texture problem. Before an animal is killed, its flesh essentially marinates, for all the years that the animal lives, in the rich biological stew that we call blood: a fecund bath of oxygen, hormones, sugars and plasma. Vegan foods like tofu, tempeh (fermented soy) and seitan (wheat gluten) don't have the benefit of sloshing around in something so complex as blood before they go onto your plate. So how do you create fleshy, muscley texture without blood?

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1993883,00.html?hpt=C2#ixzz0q7W...


CONTINUED...
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24 comments // Tastes Like Chicken: The Quest for Fake Meat

  • bailey78
  • Kurta
  • greywrld
  • EthicalVegan
    • +3
      EthicalVegan  

    • I wish I had time to get into this... barely had time to submit it, darn it!

      I just wanted to quickly say that I don't need food to taste LIKE an animal. I do want it to TASTE good, though, and hopefully be healthy for me.

      But for those who are even considering trying out a vegan diet, then these "meat-like" vegan products are helpful, as they bring a sort of familiarity, thus comfort, to those who have consumed nothing but meat.

    • 1 year ago
  • Kurta
    • 0
      Kurta  
    • EthicalVegan:

      Yeah, tasting good is a real plus. Most fake meats aren't that bad but some really miss the mark. I never liked the taste of chicken though, it always tasted bloody. I'd love some vegan Arby's melts, they need to really work on that. I really miss Arby's...like a lot :-(

      If you haven't tried them, Yves "hotdogs" are awesome. High sodium though, as would be expected, but I'm willing to compromise.

    • 1 year ago
  • greywrld
    • +2
      greywrld  
    • Kurta:

      Yves' makes fake roast beef and you could make your own vegan cheese or buy some pre-made. Then just buy some buns and put it all together. Presto. : D

    • 1 year ago
  • EthicalVegan
    • 0
      EthicalVegan  
    • Kurta:

      I really can't remember the tastes of animals. I became a vegetarian when I was 12, so that was a lonnnnnnngggg time ago. And now I'm vegan for the past 15 (?) years.

    • 1 year ago
  • EthicalVegan
    • +1
      EthicalVegan  
    • greywrld:

      Hi! It's sometimes difficult finding a good, wholesome bread (preferably all WHOLE grains), much less a bun, that doesn't have honey in it. Drives me crazy. I don't need my bread to be sweetened. But Trader Joe's is now carrying its own brand of Ezekiel-style breads, and the barley one is 100% vegan.

      So any advice on vegan buns would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

      Oh, as for vegan cheese... for those in a hurry, Daiya (oddly enough, it's pronounced DAY-yuh) is non-soy vegan cheese, and it's pretty damn delicious. On pizza, it's got that same "stringy" thing to it. And there's the old standby, Follow Your Heart's brand of vegan cheeses, in several varieties.

    • 1 year ago
  • greywrld
    • +1
      greywrld  
    • EthicalVegan:

      Well some grocer's carry vegan buns and other's don't. It just depends on where you live..Aunt Hattie's makes some. Sometimes I just use regular bread slices though to be honest instead of a bun because I am the only vegan in my family and I just cook for myself. A 6-pack of buns is too many for me. What grocery stores are close to you? Any Whole Foods or natural grocery stores?

    • 1 year ago
  • EthicalVegan
    • +1
      EthicalVegan  
    • greywrld:

      Hi again! Yes, I have a Whole Foods Market and a Trader Joe's. Obviously there's also the cost factor, in regard to WFM, because when they actually do have a truly vegan bun available, the price is super high.

      Oh, speaking of Whole Foods Market, they're supposed to be getting in a line of the new Tofurky brand pizzas, all of which are vegan, and made with Daiya. BUT, in my local WFM (which is massive), I see one entire freezer (from top to bottom) filled, instead, with Amy's new line. My best friend lives near a brand new WFM (opened one week ago, with underground parking, etc.), and she said the same thing, darn it.

      Thanks for mentioning Aunt Hattie's!

      I live alone, so yes, the same situation with buying six-packs of just about anything. Sometimes my freezer space is just plain too small, sigh.

      Okay, now off to my daily bible-reading... [KIDDING!]

    • 1 year ago
  • greywrld
    • +1
      greywrld  
    • EthicalVegan:

      hahah Oh! Amy's just came out with a new Roasted Vegetable Pizza! It has no cheese, marinated organic shiitake mushrooms, roasted red peppers, sweet onions and marinated artichoke hearts. If you haven't tried it already, you totally should! Oh yeah and also I thought of this, but I forgot to mention it earlier...often times if you google a product and can find it on a online website, but have not seen it in your local grocery store...you can call the grocery store, ask for the manager, and they can usually specially order the product for you. I've done this a few times.

    • 1 year ago
  • EthicalVegan
    • +1
      EthicalVegan  
    • greywrld:

      Yes, that Amy's Roasted Vegetable Pizza is absolutely incredible! It's actually been out for quite a few years, and then got pulled about two years ago. Trader Joe's also used to carry it, under their own label, and for several dollars less, and it was nearly an addiction for me. [It was definitely Amy's, by the way.] Sometimes I added another topping or so, just for fun... such as vegan pepperoni, or a grated vegan cheese.

      greywrld, would that work in a supermarket chain? In the meantime, I keep calling and emailing not only my local Whole Foods Market, but also other ones kind of/sort of within driving distance, just to hopefully get it into their minds. On Tofurky's website, they're still stating they're available in some Whole Foods Markets... heck, I live in the "greater" Los Angeles area, so you would think for SURE some of THOSE would be carrying it. Humph.

    • 1 year ago
  • greywrld
    • +1
      greywrld  
    • EthicalVegan:

      Man I go to this place called Clark's Nutrition for the majority of my groceries and they just started carrying it. Calling and requesting products usually works with the supermarket chains I've been to such as Von's and Albertson's..It just depends on the manager and the particular store though. Yeah I would think they would carry it in Los Angeles too considering how many vegan's/vegetarians live out there.

    • 1 year ago
  • Kurta
  • EthicalVegan
    • 0
      EthicalVegan  
    • Image

    • .

      PART TWO (CONTINUED)...

      It's at once harder and easier than it sounds. First, you take a dry mixture of soy-protein powder and wheat flour, add water and dump it into an industrial extruder, which is essentially a gigantic food processor. (You have to climb a ladder to get to the hole at the top.) At first, the mixture looks like cake batter. But as it's run through the gears of the extruder and heated to precisely 346°F (175°C), the batter firms up and forms complex striations. It took Hsieh and Huff many years to get the temperature right, and it also took years to discover how to cool the soy cake very quickly, before it could melt. (See the top 10 food trends.)

      All this processing raises a question: Will vegans and other gastronomic purists buy a product that is vegetarian but highly processed? Also, what does it taste like?

      On the day I visited their lab, Hsieh and Huff had arrived early along with some of the university's culinary students. The scientists and the students worked together to create three dishes: a barbecue sandwich, a tarragon "chicken" salad and a fajita. The seasoning in all three dishes was unbalanced, and none were very good. But the way the meat broke across my teeth felt exactly how boneless chicken breast does. It was slightly fibrous but not fatty. The soy wasn't mashed together as in a veggie burger; rather, it was more idiosyncratic, uneven, al dente — in other words, meatlike.

      Public-health types have long yearned for a credible soy meat because soy is a great source of protein that has significantly less fat and cholesterol than animal meat. But while Missouri's fake chicken has the right consistency, it still has to be flavored — and heavily salted — to taste like meat. That's why the next green-food frontier is real meat grown in vitro — actual flesh that is sliced away not from a living animal but a petri dish and which offers all the taste with none of the livestock slaughtering.

      People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has offered a $1 million prize to anyone who can bring in vitro chicken meat to market by 2012. As with so much of what PETA does, it is largely a publicity stunt: according to Jason Matheny, a vegetarian who runs a venture-capital firm called New Harvest, in vitro meat is "at least five or 10 years away." Meantime, Tibbott and other soy proponents, including the University of Missouri scientists, believe they can bridge the gap by offering realistic fake meats. Who knows? Maybe one day you'll order a chicken fajita at Chili's that is made with soy. You almost certainly won't notice the difference, but the planet will.

      Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1993883-2,00.html#ixzz0q7WilxsM

    • 1 year ago
  • Kurta
  • EthicalVegan
    • +2
      EthicalVegan  
    • Kurta:

      I'm back from my animal rescues (yes, plural). So I have a few minutes to concentrate on this.

      Oh, that "in vitro meat" makes me sick to think about, and what the hell is the point, huh?! Another reason why I've never been able to support PETA, which is most unfortunate, because they do do some good things (when they stick only to facts).

    • 1 year ago
  • greywrld
  • EthicalVegan
    • +1
      EthicalVegan  
    • greywrld:

      Oh, man, that's a time-consuming one. Perhaps I can privately share some of my sentiments.

      Why?

      First off, I wouldn't want to offend or hurt anyone who's in PETA and doing the very best she/he can.

      Second, I don't want those who attack animal rights activists to have a field day picking apart what I may say, because even if I took the time to totally explain it, they'd still purposefully misinterpret it. ... Even the parts of PETA that I greatly respect and appreciate.

      Third, I'm not in the mood, right now... that sounds mean. Shoot. I didn't mean it THAT way! I'm dealing with some animal emergency situations, and am just kind of taking mini-breaks, between phone calls, whatever, to clear my head the tiniest bit. Otherwise, I'm easily capable of erupting into tears.

    • 1 year ago
  • greywrld
  • EthicalVegan
    • +2
      EthicalVegan  
    • greywrld:

      Oh, oh, oh, I knew that!!!

      I didn't think, for one single second, that you were that type of person. But publicly, I felt a need to explain why I wouldn't dare answer you in such a forum, filled with so many mean-spirited haters.

      I'm just grateful you're "out there," and participating, and all that. I really am! You're another breath of fresh -- and honorable -- air.

    • 1 year ago
  • Kurta
    • 0
      Kurta  
    • EthicalVegan:

      Nice tactics. I'm sure there are quite a few people salivating at the thought of you dissing PETA. Don't you feel special?! I'm sure I feel much the same as you.

    • 1 year ago
  • EthicalVegan
  • Kurta
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