Umami says its new veggie burger tastes like meat and bleeds like meat

[brooklynite]

Los Angeles Times

Umami Burger edged its way into Southern California’s hyper-competitive burger market with an ultra-savory take on the American classic inspired by Japanese flavors such as seaweed and shiitake mushrooms.

Starting Thursday, it will undertake an even bolder move: serving fake meat so realistic it bleeds.

The cutting-edge patties are supplied by Impossible Foods, a Silicon Valley startup which has raised $182 million in venture funding and counts Bill Gates as one of its earliest investors. The company’s so-called Impossible Burger is made entirely from plants and is supposed to pack the sizzle and mouth feel of real meat, thanks to a special ingredient that makes the veggie burger seemingly bleed.

"Umami Burger is known for two things: innovation and taste,” said Gregg Frazer, chief operating officer for Umami Burger. “Adding a superior product like the Impossible Burger only adds to our arsenal of delicious menu items and continues to put Umami Burger at the forefront of the gourmet burger industry.”

[Warpy]

1. Message deleted by DU the Administrators

[unblock]

5. we eat beyond meat (link). better than boca burgers imho.

http://beyondmeat.com/

[JTFrog]

9. Message deleted by DU the Administrators

[MineralMan]

14. Wheat gluten is useful, but I don't use it.

It can provide a decent texture, but most of the people I cook for who are vegans or vegetarians tend to eschew gluten. Heme is an organic chemical, an iron-bearing porphyrin. I don't know where they get what they use, or how it is made, but it's not a natural additive for food. Not something I'd serve my guests, really.

[leftstreet]

2. Good God

Fake blood?

[mhw]

3. Mmm..Is it beet blood?

Beets are the only veggie I know with the dark stained juices.
Any other ideas that qualify as "veggie"

I would just pick up a veggie tray & a bottle of Ranch.
To each their own.

[MineralMan]

4. Why would vegetarians want to eat food that looks and bleeds like meat?

This is bizarre. I've cooked many vegetarian and vegan meals for friends over the years. I use ingredients that match their dietary preferences. I've never tried to make anything that looked like meat to serve them, though. Why would I do something like that?

You want a veggie burger? I can make one for you that tastes wonderful, but it doesn't taste like meat, nor does it bleed. It tastes like a veggie burger. What a crock!

[unblock]

8. meat substitutes are good for transitioning into a vegetarian diet.

we've been pescatarians for about 7 years now. mrs. unblock still gets the occasional hankering, so we eat http://beyondmeat.com/

[MineralMan]

10. Why is a transition needed? Properly prepared vegetarian food

is delicious, satisfying and healthful. Fish are animals, by the way. If you're eating them, you're not a vegetarian.

I'm not a vegetarian, either, but I know people who are. When they come to my house, I feed them what they prefer, and do it very well. But, I would never make them something that pretended to be meat. That would seem to me like mockery.

[unblock]

17. yes, i'm aware fish are animals, lol

i don't claim to be a vegetarian, that's why i use the term pescatarian.

but meat substitutes can be helpful getting started on a non-land-or-air-meat diet (whether vegetarian, vegan, or pescatarian).

mrs. unblock and i were of different minds on this, i wanted to go cold turkey (as it were) and she wanted meat substitutes. she cooks, so she won

i agree that meat substitutes aren't necessary, but people just getting started might not have enough recipes for their new diet and making a familiar recipe just swapping in a meat substitute can be easier than trying to find another good recipe.

i agree that if i'm hosting for a non-meat eater, i wouldn't use a meat substitute. just making a meat meal with a substitute would certainly show a lack of imagination, if nothing else....

[MineralMan]

18. Seriously, there are dozens of outstanding vegetarian cookbooks out there.

My recommendation, though, for anyone thinking of a vegetarian diet is to buy a wok right away. It's really a necessity if you want to eat well in a meat-free way. You get to take advantage of cooking styles that have been around for thousands of years, mostly without needing meat or substitutes.

In much of the world, meat rarely appears on most tables. There are numerous cuisines that can do without meat very nicely.

It's fun to learn about cooking in different ways, using different ingredients and techniques. By learning what sources of proteins are available, it's pretty simple to eat a healthy vegetarian diet that doesn't feel like you're making some sort of sacrifice.

[frogmarch]

11. Message deleted by DU the Administrators

[MineralMan]

13. They should try my veggie burger recipe.

It doesn't taste like meat at all, but it holds its own as a burger. It has umami, a great texture and grills up nicely. It's a mixture of several ingredients, with each patty created individually to have the structure needed to withstand grilling without falling apart.

Everyone I've made them for liked them, including meat-eaters. Doesn't taste like meat, though. It tastes like the ingredients in it, with seasonings that enhance those flavors. Good stuff, but not cheap to make at all. They cost more to make than regular beef hamburgers. It's worth it, though, as a change from what's usually on the grill.

[angrychair]

12. I agree MM

I doubt the appeal is to vegans who would likely be revolted by the look and feel as they are vegan for a reason. I think in the rush for "mass market appeal" they will lose most vegans and many vegetarians as 'bleeding' meat is unpleasant at best and very disturbing in the least.

[forgotmylogin]

15. It doesn't really "bleed"

but it's pink on the inside. It's got a protein that's gives meat its specific flavor, but can be synthesized from plant material.

I don't think it's so much for vegans or vegetarians, but more as a step to make reducing one's intake of red meat more palatable.



Plus since it's clean, people can eat it "rare" as pictured.

[MineralMan]

16. My veggie burgers include red lentils, which have

somewhat the same effect. But, they're visibly red lentils. They don't look like ground up meat at all.

[forgotmylogin]

19. I watched a video about it.

We start with the gene for a protein called leghemoglobin, a heme protein that is naturally found in the root nodules of soy plants. Leghemoglobin is similar to myoglobin, the heme protein that is exceptionally abundant in animal muscles, binds oxygen and gives meat its unique flavor and aroma, as well as its red or pink color.

The "blood flavor" people talk about is probably iron.

Full Ingredient List:
Water, Textured Wheat Protein, Coconut Oil, Potato Protein, Natural Flavors, 2% or less of: Leghemoglobin (soy), Yeast Extract, Salt, Soy Protein Isolate, Konjac Gum, Xanthan Gum, Thiamin (Vitamin B1), Zinc, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Vitamin B12.

We genetically engineer yeast to make a key ingredient: heme. The process allows us to produce the Impossible Burger at scale with the lowest achievable environmental impact.
....
By producing our heme in yeast, we avoid digging up soy plants to harvest the root nodules, which would promote erosion and release carbon stored in the soil. This enables us to produce heme sustainably at high volume and make plant-based meat for millions of people, offsetting the environmental impact of animal agriculture.

https://www.impossiblefoods.com/faq/

[Cicada]

20. I like meat but don't eat it for ethical reasons

Killing animals is a bummer for me. But I still would enjoy the taste and feel of a cheese burger, so if I can get the taste and feel without the bad karma, I would like to do it.

[aikoaiko]

6. Message deleted by DU the Administrators

[ProudLib72]

7. My wife and I tried it

It did taste more like real meat than other veggie burgers. She insists that she would not have been able to tell it wasn't real. However, there are some downsides. The first is the price. It's a LOT more than Boca. You get two patties in a package, not four or eight like the others. I think the biggest turn off was that it does not firm up from cooking. When you eat it, it's squishy. Now some people might say that it resembles a medium rare burger, but I just did not like the texture at all.

[athena]

21. Gardein's burgers are very reminiscent of meat.

Then again, when you've been vegetarian for a few years, you stop missing meat.