Meat substitutes....

[Shannow]

Supermarket that we frequent has more and more "meat substitutes", soy or corn meaty like sausages and burgers, fake ground "beef" and the like.

I've never understood the desire to make/eat fake meat, as there are plenty of healthy vegetarian dishes in and of themselves...traditional uses such as miso, minestrone, those types of things.

Was reading a magazine the other day, and the author put it this way...

These products were developed as extenders in pet food, means of cheapening meat based pet foods...doesn't seem to have done our companion animals any favours health wise.

Then they started getting used as extenders in hot-dogs and the like....

And now, they are being advertised as healthy, premium choices for humans in and of themselves.

 

[FoxS]

Interesting. I didn't know the origin of some of these.

There is a new meat substitute being used in Europe for about a year now. Horsemeat.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: FoxS
Interesting. I didn't know the origin of some of these.

There is a new meat substitute being used in Europe for about a year now. Horsemeat.


At least that IS meat...

 

[KD0AXS]

Cant fake a good T-Bone.

 

[yonyon]

I like bacon as a meat substitute in a garden salad. Tofu is also considered a meat substitute but what real meat goes as well with chopped carrots, peppers, and angel hair pasta in garlic oil?

Call them substitutes, but sometimes these things are a good choice just because they taste good.

 

[zloveraz]

Originally Posted By: FoxS
Interesting. I didn't know the origin of some of these.

There is a new meat substitute being used in Europe for about a year now. Horsemeat.


la viande du cheval is really good.... Le Taxi Jaune has excellent cheval or did, I hear Belgium really has the best.

http://www.lefooding.com/restaurant/restaurant-le-taxi-jaune-paris.html

I use travel a lot, had just about everything including dog, monkey meat, etc.

Yeah my father use to take me to Africa and we ate everything that I thought was just insane however it's all about where your raised and the local traditions, I visited Kenya last year and had Camel and Crocodile at a restaurant called the "Carnivore" seems like they got the name spot on.. HA HA

Getting back on topic, I agree with Shannow these meat extenders are ridiculous and our bodies were never meant to consume so much of these grains and corn. Ironically I only eat grass feed beef when I do eat beef which is rare these days. Although I'm a sucker for good home made polish sausage, being polish and all!

 

[gathermewool]

Originally Posted By: yonyon
I like bacon as a meat substitute in a garden salad. Tofu is also considered a meat substitute but what real meat goes as well with chopped carrots, peppers, and angel hair pasta in garlic oil?

Call them substitutes, but sometimes these things are a good choice just because they taste good.


Agreed, and other substitutes are much more basic, like some of the garden burgers that I find really tasty. There is absolutely nothing like a good ground-beef burger that you mash up and pattisize yourself, but having a portobello burger every now and again really does hit the spot, too, in a different way.

I'm also a big fan of some veggie ribblets that I found not too long ago. I had low expectations, but the texture and flavor is really tasty, and it only takes 2 minutes to microwave, making it a much better, healthier option than picking up something from Mcdonald's.

 

[volk06]

Originally Posted By: yonyon
I like bacon as a meat substitute in a garden salad. Tofu is also considered a meat substitute but what real meat goes as well with chopped carrots, peppers, and angel hair pasta in garlic oil?

Call them substitutes, but sometimes these things are a good choice just because they taste good.


Shrimp

After all it is the flesh of an animal even thought it is from the sea.

 

[Shannow]

meat is meat so to speak...
bacon and jerky are ways of preserving meat to eat later, and IMO, in spite of modern questionable methods are still meat.

Like I said, vegetarian options, like beans in Minestrone, miso, mushroom burgers, and dare I say it tofu are vegetarian foods, of their own right, and not necessarily "substitutes".

Was getting more at the fake meat products, soy isolates and the like that were made initially to provide "protein" into pet food, and later became a product in their own right, sold as a premium health food in spite of the poorer outcomes in pet health.

Minestrone with beans...healthful.
Curried soy sausages...questionable.

What did your grandmother eat ?
If not yours, then grandmothers in other cultures ?

Speaking of cultures....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quorn

 

[MK2]

tofu

 

[Silk]

As a vegetarian I don't see the point in meat substitutes, just sort your proteins out and get on with it. Tofu is just a protein, not a meat substitute, but they can do some interesting stuff with it, like icecream which is pretty good. The only meat substitute we eat is a Sanitarium product called nutmeat. Maybe once a year, use it for burgers or in spagetti, just a family treat as part of a meal.

 

[01rangerxl]

Meat substitutes are generally pretty horrible IME.

If you want meat, just eat meat and get over it.

Personally, I don't eat a whole lot of meat. It isn't for some dietary reason or cause, simply preference. I eat a lot of chicken, but very little beef and pork. Seafood ain't happening...can't stand the smell/texture.

I LOVE vegetables, but meat substitutes made from them are pretty awful. I tried a veggie burger exactly one time, couldn't finish it. I'd rather slice up some veggies and make a sandwich that way than try to form them into some meat substitute.