![]() A recent study out of Dalhousie University in Halifax points to an increasing trend of Canadians who self-classify as vegetarians and vegans, particularly among those under 35. People are becoming more informed, and more open to adopting vegetarian meals. ![]() National dietary guidance provided in the new Canada’s Food Guide released earlier in 2019, emphasizes consuming a plant-based diet for these very reasons. People are looking for ways to minimize the impact of their food choices on greenhouse gas emissions, energy inputs, water use and land use, which are higher for the production of animal-based versus plant-based foods. A primary reason for this trend is to support individual health, but supporting the health of the environment is on the minds of consumers, too. More and more consumers are tuning into making healthy food choices in their day-to-day lives. Its primary competitor is the Impossible Burger, which has a soy protein base, coconut and safflower oils, and uses leghemoglobin to impart a ‘meat’ taste. There are other ingredients as well, but those are the main ones. The primary ingredients are a yellow pea protein base and canola and coconut oils. The Beyond Meat burger is a plant-based product that has been developed to look, taste, feel and cook like beef. We asked registered dietitian Gail Hammond of UBC’s faculty of land and food systems about the nutrition consumers are getting from the Beyond Burger and its competitors. Recent research and development in food processing has helped make these meat substitutes more and more meat-like, just as consumer demand for plant-based protein is taking off. Mushrooms, aubergines and grains are excellent basic ingredients that can create a lot of "umami" and depth of flavour.California-based Beyond Meat calls its Beyond Burger and other vegan ‘meat’ products the future of protein. It's even easier to embrace vegetarian alternatives if you don't resort to substitutes made from an abstract protein mix – and instead buy or make your own patties using real ingredients. But if you approach a plant-based burger variant with curiosity and analyse the aroma of the patty in its own right, you may be pleasantly surprised. Those looking for a substitute for meat in the literal sense will usually be disappointed. For example, when hosting meat lovers, you can simply change the wording and discuss the merits of a vegetable patty. Therefore, it is important to classify meat-substitute products correctly and not to "sell" them as imitation meat. With this in mind, if you lead your barbecue guests to expect an exact imitation of meat, you will no doubt see some disappointed reactions. Ideally, you should check the exact flavour profile of such products before you go shopping.įans of real meat will typically approach substitutes with caution. In this case, it may be necessary to follow up with strong sauces and, for example, intensely flavoured cheese. Other meat substitutes, however, may have a comparatively mild flavour – much like unseasoned meat. Once the patty has been seasoned and well salted, there is no need to set off a firework of aromas around it. For meat substitutes, it is advisable to fry a test morsel in advance so that you can adjust the accompanying ingredients accordingly. With burger patties made from real meat, the aromatics will be instantly familiar to most barbecue fans – pairing them with other ingredients and seasoning them with salt and pepper happens almost intuitively. Meat substitutes are quite different in terms of their aroma and degree of flavour. Not because this necessary from a hygiene standpoint, but simply because it improves the flavour and even a core temperature of 60 degrees Celsius will not harm a vegetable patty. It is therefore advisable to cook the latter at a high temperature and ensure the product is completely heated through. While a burger patty made from minced meat benefits from a raw to medium core, a patty made from pea protein that is not cooked all the way through can taste very strange. While for a nice steak the art is to precisely achieve the optimal cooking temperature, this challenge does not apply to meat substitutes, since these products do not undergo the denaturation processes that affect the tenderness of cuts of meat. Anyone preparing to cook a Beyond Burger or other meat substitutes should be aware, however, that their handling on the barbecue should differ from that of real meat. Their goal is to deliver a meaty experience – that is actually plant-based. Alongside aromatic vegetables and fish, a new option has emerged for the barbecue: companies like Beyond Meat have carried out intensive development work to create products that imitate the feel, look and texture of meat products. It doesn't always have to be meat – foodies of all stripes now agree on that.
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