UNITED STATES, September 30, 2023 (Tasting Table, by Emily Alexander): Fake meat products like Impossible and Beyond, which were designed to look and taste like meat, are on the rise. In fact, you’ve most likely seen these innovative imitation meat products on restaurant menus in your town, including at fast food chains, casual sit-down spots, and even upscale dining destinations. In addition to adding these “meat patties” to the menu, restaurants are also swapping out previous veggie options, like black bean burgers, for new fake meat products. While at first glance, this makes it seem like vegetarians are gaining more options at restaurants, the growing popularity of these products is actually making it more difficult for some vegetarians to dine out. It seems counterintuitive, right? Well, I’ve been a vegetarian for 30 years, and unfortunately, many vegetarians and vegans dislike the taste and texture of meat, myself included. As a result, adding products that mimic the real thing while replacing other flavors leaves many of us empty-handed.

Soy-based meat substitutes have been around for a long time. However, it wasn’t until recently that they started tasting similar to real meat. Early renditions of meat substitutes, like Gardenburger, were shaped into patties resembling meat, but they didn’t look like beef and certainly didn’t have the same flavor. The same goes for early chicken substitutes, like Chik’n, even though they managed to do a better job of resembling and feeling like the real thing. Now, plant-based meat brands, like Beyond and Impossible, have successfully created imitation meat products that look and taste just like meat. Finding imitation beef, sausage, chicken, pork, fish, meatballs, and even jerky is becoming easier every day, and lots of people love them. Considering how well fake meat is being received, restaurants are rushing to add it to their menus, too. Even if it’s fake, the taste of imitation meat is unappealing to many people who practice a plant-based diet. People who are transitioning between eating meat and slowly eliminating it from their diet may find imitation meat comforting, but for me, this makes no sense. Why would I want to consume something that tastes like meat if I don’t eat it regularly? While this isn’t the case for all vegetarians, it is more common than you probably think.

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https://www.tastingtable.com/1405722/why-fake-meat-is-making-it-harder-vegetarians-dine-out-opinion/

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