Fake meat
Posted by Miss Jones on Jul 01, 2007 · Member since Jan 2007 · 98 posts
So...we're vegos and yet we have all these "meat-like" and meat-flavoured" options. I would like to know if there are any people out there who dislike these products based on texture, taste etc. Ethical beliefs aside, does anyone just not like meat, the texture, for instance the feel of biting into flesh? And does anyone ever eat a fake "burger" or something and not mind a similar taste? So I guess what I am asking is - we dont want to eat it, but we'll try and make something that tastes and looks similar, is this ok?
I think the fake meat options are awesome during transitioning. It sounds like you're ready for something different. I don't think many people on this board eat fake meat. Why? Because it's expensive, it's meaty, and there are lots of delicious foods out there.
I will occasionally buy vegan chicken patties. What I've found is that the texture nowadays is so similar to the real thing that I get a bit of a gag reflex on some bites.
Do you like other protein sources, like tofu, tempeh, and seitan. They're easy sources, but you may not like one of them. I don't like a block of tofu, but I like making tofu scrambles. There are a lot of recipes for scrambles in the recipe section. I don't like a block of tempeh, but I like it blended into soups. I like baked seitan (setian o' greatness) on sandwiches, simmered seitan for barbecue, and baked or simmered/baked for jerky. I don't like rice or equivalents, so if I eat a legume/grain combination, it's usually beans and a tortilla (although I try to stay away from refined flour).
when i went vegetarian, i wouldnt touch anything "fake", no fake meat, no fake dairy, no tofu (fake eggs), BLEGH. i had just given up meat and didnt want to have anything that tasted or felt like it. but. that was 8 years ago. i dont really remember what it tasted like and so now veggie burgers dont taste like hamburgers, they taste like veggie burgers! i started eating fake meat slowly about four years ago, starting with tofu. but! i didnt mean to. i ate something my roomate made, not knowing it had tofu in it, and i thought it was a bean... i mean it is, but she used it as a fake meat, but it didnt taste like meat anymore. it tasted like a vegetable.... er bean.
my other roomate doesnt eat fake meat because he thinks that it will encourage others to eat meat. i totally understand this. i dont wanna be out in public showing people that im ok with eating meat, even if the hot dog im eating is made out of soy beans. everyone else around me will think... mmm a hot dog, im gonna go get one. i dont think he eats fake meat at all, but i just feel kind of weird eating it in public. unless its obviously vegan, like at a vegan restaurant or something.
I get fake chicken nuggets every so often and my favorite veggie Chinese restaurant has good veggie chick'n so I sometimes have that. Not too often, though. I wouldn't say these things are part of my normal diet. I just have them when I want something quick and kind of junky. I guess it's a comfort food thing, really...These things don't really taste like meat to me, they taste good. But I know it's because they're similar to things I used to enjoy as a child.
No problem with tofu. For me, it has its own food category; I don't consider it a meat sub, it's just tofu!
I love my beans - all types! Soups, stews, dhal etc I have eaten vegie burgers, hot dogs etc but last week I made a bean chili to put in a bun with a vegie hot dog and I could not eat the vegie hot dog, like you say it made me want to gag. I guess I was thinking we are making a point of not eating animals but what kind of statement are we making really by purchasing these "meat-like" products. We dont want to eat meat but we want to eat something that resembles it?
I like tofu, I use it mainly in Asian dishes, but seitan? I have no idea what this is, I live in Australia and perhaps we're a little behind because I have never seen it, what is it made from? :)
I'm not big on fake meats at all. Before I decided to go vegan, I was mostly vegetarian because I didn't like the taste/texture/smell of meat. I hated handling chicken muscle and ground up cow parts. I think once I went to college and started cooking for myself, I realized how gross meat is, and it didn't taste good after I had to cut off fat, tendons, blood vessels, etc.
I don't consider tofu to be any sort of meat analog--it doesn't taste/look/feel/smell like meat and tofu scrambles taste much different to me than scrambled eggs, which is a good thing ;)
I also don't consider veggie burgers to be meat analogs because they taste so different. I hate pre-packaged veggie burgers (Boca, Garden, etc.). There is a fantastic black bean burger recipe on this site that is so easy (and makes so much so you can have left overs to put in burritos, over rice, etc.) that I don't even think about buying frozen.
Fake dairy is another story, though. I enjoy fake cheese once in a while (like Follow Your Heart) if I'm making pizza or lasagna. I don't buy it often though because it's really expensive and not that nutritious. And soy ice cream is my downfall...I'm currently addicted to vanilla Soy Dream/Delicious with chocolate sauce and unsweetened coconut. Yum!
I don't think that it's "un-veg*n" to like meat analogs, though. Many people enjoy the taste of meat, and if you are a veg*n for ethical, environmental, or health reasons, fake meats are ethical/environmentally friendly/relatively healthy alternatives.
P.S. Seitan is made from wheat gluten. You can buy it pre-made, but it is much cheaper to make your own.
I don't like the taste of a lot of fake meats, except the Boca brand. I use the crumbles for chili and the burgers for BBQ's or a quick lunch. I also get the chicken nuggets and patties. I use them for "ceaser chicken" salads. I LOVE tofu. I use tofu for a "meat like" texture for stir fries, asian dishes (which we eat a lot of), and scrambles (thanks to this site :) ).
But I've been trying to stear away from the fake meat (except tofu) to get more veggies, beans, ect in my diet.
I like the fake meats not because they are fake "meats" it's because I consider them just to be another form of a meal to me.
I don't care what I eat as long as it's vegan. (I don't consider it to be meat anyway I think of it as grains from the earth).
I didn't eat "fake meat" for a long time because the appearance in my mind looked too much like the original. Same thing with soymilk, couldn't drink it because the thought of drinking a glass turned my stomach. When I quit working full-time to go back to school I started slowly buying the replacements because on the days that I went all day (plus a 2-hour commute) I was so tried when I got home that it was a lot easier to throw a black bean burger in the oven than to use my brain to think of something to cook. Now I eat them occasionally, mostly if I'm going to a bbq/bon fire. I just throw the "burger/hotdog" on the grill or a roasting stick and I'm good to go. Still haven't gotten over the soymilk thing though. I can use it for cereal but not for drinking a full glass.
When I'm around omnis I'll eat analogs because I think it shows them that being vegan is not hard or different or makes a person difficult. I've found that it makes being vegan seem accessible and people have questions about how to incorporate more non-meat items into their diet. If I ate lentils when people were eating burgers or dogs, I'd have to discuss why I wasn't eating meat, anyway.
I dont like the idea of biting into flesh but the fake meats dont bother me. Although, I have to say, I bought some fake bologna slices and I couldnt eat them, they smelled way too similar.
Since it is an animal, that is what bothers me, especially when I see a vein, fat or hit a tendon in a chicken breast for example.
I like the fake meats once in a while for convenience, you can make a veggie lasagna really easily with the veggie ground round which I like once in a while.
i was also one of those people who couldn't eat it right after they became vegetarian. i was practically a vegetarian (or on and off) when growing up (read: living with mom and pops) but then once i moved away i went completely veggie. at that point i hated those stupid analogs, i just thought they tasted way too much like the real thing and were kind of pointless. after that it took me about a half year to go completely vegan (i was already pretty vegan friendly when i was vegetarian) and for some reason that made me want some of those analogs.. i guess it was just taking more stuff out of my diet so i wanted something i wasn't particularly fond of in the first place?
still, if any of them taste too much like meat i don't like them the only things i really will get (and only very occasionally) is veggie dogs and tofurkey lunch meat.
i do love soy milk, though. it took me a while to get into it but YUM.
I originally became veggie 9 years ago because I didn't like the texture of meat. I thought analogs "tried to taste like meat, but didn't really," and found them to be quite gross. After being veggie for about 6 years, I started eating veggie burgers. I really enjoy them now, although there are some brands that have too much "fake meat" flavor. A few weeks ago, I tried a new Vegan restaurant in town. I orded the curried "chicken." It was the first fake chicken I've had, and it tasted just like I remembered chicken tasting. It was weird...almost too much like chicken...
In NZ, most of the fake meats are vegetarian but not vegan. I do however have Massels "beef" and "chicken" stock". I like to think of them as savoury stocks. But, when I tried the "chicken" gravy we'd made with the stock, I almost gagged. It made me think of eating a chicken wing. Gross. However, once the memory faded I was able to enjoy it with my veggies.
i use the crumbles, mostly for mexican-style meals. We also have a freezer full of veggie burgers and ckn patties...they are great for a quick meal. My husband really likes the Lightlife "BBQ" style stuff and some of the "sausage" style things for the grill. We are busy a lot and I worry that my husband doesn't eat right when Im not around (i.e. package of oreos for dinner), so having healthy easy things he can toss in the micro that he likes is important.
the only veggie burgers i actaully eat are ones that are simply made from beans, veggies and grains..my favorite are the black bean chipotle by "garden burger"...Also the praegers farms california veggie burgers...delicious fresh peas and carrots with corn....
I did buy those chik'n patties from boca..and just really felt strange eating it..but i tried this vegan chili...and its nutritional value was too great not to try and i really do love it in a pita with lettuce and tomato...
I have to confess, I love the analogs. Boca Chik Patties are so tasty and easy! Their SoySausage links are also easy. Things like those are great in a pinch when throwing dinner together quickly. My favorite burger is an original flavor SunBurger, the ones made with sunflower seeds. I also love Tofurky products.
I do make my own Seitan and enjoy tofu, beans, and lentils but I dont think I could ever give up completely my prepackaged fake meats. And the LiteLife Bologna? YUM!
haha, I sound like an addict.
Oh! Massels! Yum!
As for meat replicas... I generally find them to have merits of their own. I get freaked out by those that are too similar (and I do ask myself what I'm doing) but I was raised with burgers and so forth... it's nice to have a similarly savory, similarly textured showcase for the fixins.
I am trying to veer away from them because they aren't more appealing than a delicious fresh veggie and they are laden laden laden with sodium... but I don't see anything wrong with going for a certain flavor palette.
I think of it like this. We have only six flavors we can REALLY taste (sour, salty, sweet, bitter, pungent, umami) -- all the rest is aroma! In our perfumes, we often try to replicate certain scents... say, the delicious perfume of a gardenia, or more notoriously, the "dirty" allure of musk... from other ingredients, because either a perfume doesn't extract well from traditional means (gardenia) or it is evil and thus unfashionable (real musk). We can do the same in the kitchen, right? ;)
If you don't CARE for gardenias, musk, or beefyness... well, that's another story. But that's a matter of subjective taste, not something wrong with you.
I was raised eating meat of all kinds and I enjoyed the taste so I am pleased that there are reasonable facsimiles that allow me to enjoy a similar flavor without hurting an animal. Of course, I've only been a vegetarian for a few months so perhaps my taste for "meat-like" flavor will change over time.
When I first became a vegetarian ten years ago I would not go anywhere near fake meat, but now especially living with my meat-eating chef fiance I love trying to replicate "meaty" meals. I love to cook with natural unprocessed ingredients, but hey sometimes I want a vegan chilli dog, what can I say I guess tastes change.
I can't remember now what the flavor of meat was like. I know we eat a fair amount of what others would consider meat substitutes, primarily dehydrated TSP that I buy in bulk. I know they don't taste like the real thing, no more than Dragonfly's Uncheese Sauce tastes like CheezWhiz, but they serve a purpose.
We tend to have a lot of extra people around the table in a given week. If you try to feed a friend tofu who isn't a veggie, they revolt. If you invite a kid in and say we are having chikun quesadillas for supper, you staying...you won't get the oh gross!!! They will eat it and not think a thing of it (I think their parents feed them cardboard at home).
My going vegan started out because I need to keep my protein intake low to spare my body from progressing with lupus. It just seemed easier to be able to slip together meals that didn't present themselves as "vegan" and "weird" so I got into this habit. Over time, I have less problems with refusals and I experiment. I will take my chiken fillets and rehydrate, flour and batter dip for fried unchiken or use the strips for quesos or the nuggets for a treat. Food here can LOOK normal, but it isn't...THANK GOD isn't, it is real food!
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