Meat substitutes

Note; this post was written almost immediately after mentioned IPO and has been sitting in my queue for a while now; I haven't tracked how the stock has performed since.

'Beyond Burger' went public some time ago. If I could easily invest in it, I might actually have throw few grand that way during IPO. Unfortunately I'm a bit (read: very) lazy and couldn't be bothered in finding out how to invest directly across the pond, so I guess I will go for other investment options nearer to me.

There is also another reason why I might just skip this company.

If you haven't heard of this company I don't blame you. They are primarily developing a fully plant-based hamburger "meat", which, if it were to replace real beef, would reduce carbon dioxide output a lot. As far as I know (again: lazy, this time in research front) they are aiming for full replacement. Look, taste, texture and so on. And then other similar replacements too, I think.

At this point I have to stop to ponder this goal. Why go that way?

In western world we have really one-sided view on diets, and these days meat in some form is included in almost every meal. If you look for even vegetarian (not even mentioning vegan) option, you very likely will get something bland, tasteless and possibly even gross to eat. There are exceptions, and situation definitely is getting better, but for the most part this still is too true. If (when) this is your experience on vegetarian options, beef replacement sounds pretty damn good.

On the other hand, people in India on the other hand make absolutely wonderful vegetarian and fully vegan foods. Unfortunately my skill isn't there to replicate them well enough so that is a bit difficult route. If you have tried (and liked, like I do) these, there might not be need for beef replacement.

Back to burgers. I might be an exception, but I don't particularly even like usual beef burgers. To me they're ... bland. Common burger is almost tasteless, to the point that you need to drench them in condiments before it can be eaten (before you protest, have you eaten and liked a burger without ketchup/mustard/mayo?)

Again, I might be exception, but most of the time however I don't really even want a "meat substitute" anyway - especially for a burger - but to replace that protein with something else. Often this implies beans, peas and/or lentils.

Some time ago I found a chickpea-feta recipe that is great replacement for burger patties. It does not taste the same as beef but like I said, I've never been really a fan of beef burger anyway. So this recipe was great, and better yet, tastes good even as-is - although I replaced feta with different type of cheese as others in family are not exactly fond of (strong taste of) feta.

In general I've followed this same path when reducing meat usage. Most of the time simply replacing meat with something and expecting it to taste same is nothing but route to major disappointment. It's almost always better to alter recipe more to suit taste of chosen meat replacement than to expect it to be good with just the replacement. I realize that this is not easy and requires some experimentation and ability to figure out spices or other changes you need to make recipe work. Then again, good things rarely are easy, and cooking isn't an innate gift - it's something everyone can learn. I've practiced for two decades now and still rate myself a passable cook at best.

And this is the reason why I am a bit skeptical with meat replacements. They won't taste the same anyway, so why really bother, when it's usually easier - and cheaper - to adapt the dish itself to suit new ingredients. Last I heard, mentioned beyond burgers aren't exactly cheap.

All that being said, there is one dish I still make with meat as I haven't found even closely suitable replacement for meat in it: chili. But since I make it about once a month or so, for now I allow myself to indulge in it. It's still better to make good effort on the other days and allow that once in a while than to fail there and fall directly back to old habits.