I guess vegan cheese has improved a whole lot since I last tried it.
Now if only they could make a vegan hot dog that didn't taste god-awful...
that beyond brauts are pretty good actually
I haven't had those, but I'm waiting for a plant-based product that tastes like a good Nathan's or Hebrew National.
Asking more for my own curiosity more than as a suggestion:
Have you tried Field Roast frankfurters?
I liked hot dogs as a kid and I haven't enjoyed any of the many smart dog etc ones, but the frankfurters are a staple for me.
I have not. I will look for them at some point.
We don't have that long.
I've definitely had some good hot dogs and brats. I don't remember which stadium style hot dogs I've tried, but I usually go for some flavor of Field Roast.
I had some vegan cheese I got from a food pantry, that shot was top tier. I think it was called vialife?
Best quesadillas ever
Tried some vegan "feta" type cheese for my salad, based on cocos oil, and it was pretty bad. It had a terrible stink and taste like overripe cheese, which is kinda the opposite of what you'd expect from this type. It also became incredibly smeary immediately when I tried to crumble it, so it only mimics the original consistency when it is untouched.
The only vegan products that I've tried and liked so far were oat milk, which is pretty much tasting like regular milk at this point (at least my brand), some vegan Schnitzel which tastes not quite but close enough like those premade regular ones you'd get at a grocery store, and some "cut chicken" type stuff which honestly was pretty great in taste and consistency and definitely something I get again if I want to throw some mixed veggie bag into the pan. Everything else I've tried ranged from "meh" to "eugh". But I'm sure it's just a matter of more R&D.
Some of the Beyond and Impossible stuff I've had has been okay, but I'm not sure if they're vegan.
I love using ground beef substitutes in meatloaf and shepards pie. Using ground flaxseed as a binding agent and coursely ground oats as breadcrumbs has made for some excellent dinner dates!
Lentils make for a great meat replacement in a Shepard's Pie. You adjust seasonings a bit, but at this point I might actually prefer it to regular ol' Shepard's Pie.
Tried a vegan ground meat from my local Lidl and it was easily one of the worst things. Terrible taste and smell, nothing like meat at all and my kitchen stank for weeks. Really put me off of a lot of those meat substitutes, especially since it was so highly praised.
What brand? Impossible and Beyond brands are pretty good (though you have to compensate for a lack of intrinsic oils when cooking).
Next Level Hack by Next Level Meat. No idea if that's available outside Germany.
Meh, blue cheese tastes more like mold than cheese, so I can see a vegan version being competitive when other vegan cheeses aren't.
I wouldn't go that far, but it does have a flavor that the fungus adds that other cheeses don't. However, to win this award, it would have to be pretty indistinguishable from not just blue cheese, but top-of-the-line blue cheese, which is damn impressive for something without any dairy in it.
I'm curious what they can achieve with cheddar based on that.
Hot dogs and other sausages without meat will always be awful because the flavor and texture is what makes them work.
I am not a vegan or vegetarian. I absolutely love vegetarian and vegan dishes that are based on their ingredients doing their own thing.
I'm not convinced of that. At the end of the day, it's a collection of mostly proteins arranged in certain ways plus water and salt. I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that something like that can be replicated.
There is cartilage, fats, cell structure, and a ton of other things that make up the majority of meat that are extremely difficult to replicate for texture both when it is first cooked/heated/whatever and how it holds up as leftovers. Like different cuts of meat are basically the same parts but wildly different in taste and texture just like plants are basically the same except for all their differences.
Honestly I don't get why so many people want a fake version of meat made out of plants when plants are pretty awesome on their own. grilled vegetables are fantastic! There are a ton of cultures with meals that are vegetarian or vegan and very complex in both flavor and texture because they played to the strengths of their available foods. Why bother with trying to make mediocre fake sausage when spring rolls exist?
If it convinces people who feel that it is necessary to have something that is a basic replacement for the meat that they eat to switch, which I believe it does sometimes, I think it makes sense.
Even convincing people to eat less meat and have a veggie burger once a week instead of a beef burger would be a good thing. It's easier to convince them to do that than to have Nepali food.
Now I want to try Nepali food.
There's a couple Nepali places near me. It's basically the same as Indian.
I really like eating meat. It's as simple as that.
I guess vegan cheese has improved a whole lot since I last tried it.
Now if only they could make a vegan hot dog that didn't taste god-awful...
that beyond brauts are pretty good actually
I haven't had those, but I'm waiting for a plant-based product that tastes like a good Nathan's or Hebrew National.
Asking more for my own curiosity more than as a suggestion: Have you tried Field Roast frankfurters?
I liked hot dogs as a kid and I haven't enjoyed any of the many smart dog etc ones, but the frankfurters are a staple for me.
I have not. I will look for them at some point.
We don't have that long.
I've definitely had some good hot dogs and brats. I don't remember which stadium style hot dogs I've tried, but I usually go for some flavor of Field Roast.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LwpAS5_RVxM
I had some vegan cheese I got from a food pantry, that shot was top tier. I think it was called vialife?
Best quesadillas ever
Tried some vegan "feta" type cheese for my salad, based on cocos oil, and it was pretty bad. It had a terrible stink and taste like overripe cheese, which is kinda the opposite of what you'd expect from this type. It also became incredibly smeary immediately when I tried to crumble it, so it only mimics the original consistency when it is untouched.
The only vegan products that I've tried and liked so far were oat milk, which is pretty much tasting like regular milk at this point (at least my brand), some vegan Schnitzel which tastes not quite but close enough like those premade regular ones you'd get at a grocery store, and some "cut chicken" type stuff which honestly was pretty great in taste and consistency and definitely something I get again if I want to throw some mixed veggie bag into the pan. Everything else I've tried ranged from "meh" to "eugh". But I'm sure it's just a matter of more R&D.
Some of the Beyond and Impossible stuff I've had has been okay, but I'm not sure if they're vegan.
I love using ground beef substitutes in meatloaf and shepards pie. Using ground flaxseed as a binding agent and coursely ground oats as breadcrumbs has made for some excellent dinner dates!
Lentils make for a great meat replacement in a Shepard's Pie. You adjust seasonings a bit, but at this point I might actually prefer it to regular ol' Shepard's Pie.
Tried a vegan ground meat from my local Lidl and it was easily one of the worst things. Terrible taste and smell, nothing like meat at all and my kitchen stank for weeks. Really put me off of a lot of those meat substitutes, especially since it was so highly praised.
What brand? Impossible and Beyond brands are pretty good (though you have to compensate for a lack of intrinsic oils when cooking).
Next Level Hack by Next Level Meat. No idea if that's available outside Germany.
Meh, blue cheese tastes more like mold than cheese, so I can see a vegan version being competitive when other vegan cheeses aren't.
I wouldn't go that far, but it does have a flavor that the fungus adds that other cheeses don't. However, to win this award, it would have to be pretty indistinguishable from not just blue cheese, but top-of-the-line blue cheese, which is damn impressive for something without any dairy in it.
I'm curious what they can achieve with cheddar based on that.
Hot dogs and other sausages without meat will always be awful because the flavor and texture is what makes them work.
I am not a vegan or vegetarian. I absolutely love vegetarian and vegan dishes that are based on their ingredients doing their own thing.
I'm not convinced of that. At the end of the day, it's a collection of mostly proteins arranged in certain ways plus water and salt. I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that something like that can be replicated.
There is cartilage, fats, cell structure, and a ton of other things that make up the majority of meat that are extremely difficult to replicate for texture both when it is first cooked/heated/whatever and how it holds up as leftovers. Like different cuts of meat are basically the same parts but wildly different in taste and texture just like plants are basically the same except for all their differences.
Honestly I don't get why so many people want a fake version of meat made out of plants when plants are pretty awesome on their own. grilled vegetables are fantastic! There are a ton of cultures with meals that are vegetarian or vegan and very complex in both flavor and texture because they played to the strengths of their available foods. Why bother with trying to make mediocre fake sausage when spring rolls exist?
If it convinces people who feel that it is necessary to have something that is a basic replacement for the meat that they eat to switch, which I believe it does sometimes, I think it makes sense.
Even convincing people to eat less meat and have a veggie burger once a week instead of a beef burger would be a good thing. It's easier to convince them to do that than to have Nepali food.
Now I want to try Nepali food.
There's a couple Nepali places near me. It's basically the same as Indian.
I really like eating meat. It's as simple as that.