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Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

nytimes.com

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Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#401

Post by pixl97 »

malvosenior wrote: post #389
int_19h wrote: post #337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep. I'm not at all a vegetarian, but I will definitely try it, and if it's as good as they say, I see no reason to not prefer it. There's a small subset of the population for whom meat consumption is some kind of cultural statement, but most really only just care about taste, I think. If the same taste can be had in a healthier package and without killing anything, it's a win-win.

> There's a small subset of the population for whom meat consumption is some kind of cultural statement If we're talking about the global population I'd say it's more than a small subset and it's not a cultural "statement", it's just culture. People in Mexico aren't going to eat fake lengua or carnitas. Doro wat with fake chicken? Anything grilled or bbq'd. Sashimi, sushi... People have been eating some of this stuff…

Yes, but very few mid-westerners eat steak everyday. Ground beef will get eaten more often because it is less expensive. If and when fake meat becomes less expensive than the real thing people in Mexico may very well eat fake whatever because at the end of the day it sets a lower price floor for food options.

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#403

Post by MichaelApproved »

veryworried wrote: post #395
Wistar wrote: post #383

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They do not eat beef and dairy together. At least she does not. It doesn't matter if the dairy is kosher or not, the two are not mixed.

This religious rule comes from a well known scientific observation: meat blocks calcium absorption.

> well known scientific observation

Is it though? I tried to find a source for your claim but came up with inconclusive studies, at best. Do you have any sources for this or is it just a well known myth?

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#404

Post by jjeaff »

veryworried wrote: post #395
Wistar wrote: post #383

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They do not eat beef and dairy together. At least she does not. It doesn't matter if the dairy is kosher or not, the two are not mixed.

This religious rule comes from a well known scientific observation: meat blocks calcium absorption.

Well, any overlap with that scientific observation is, I'm sure, a happy accident.

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#405

Post by SimbaOnSteroids »

Balgair wrote: post #333
flowardnut wrote: post #254

I've had an impossible burger, and cooked very well it almost made me pull my waiter aside and verify I wasn't eating meat. Also ate meat for decades, so I also am very familiar with it.

I'll echo the sentiment. The local Safeway sells Impossible Bratwursts. They are honestly delicious. We grilled them on a fry-pan. The flavor and texture are almost perfectly there. It's just a bit spongy, and the depth of the umami/savory flavor isn't quite as deep. But if I hadn't known they weren't meat, I'd have been fooled. Throw a few of them on a grill or beer-boil them, put some mustard down over top, little…

The umami was the only differentiating factor and even there it was like a small difference. I eat meat, tried the burger because if can cut out a little meat why not? The impossible burger was exceptional enough a replacement that if its on the menu, I'll order it.

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#406

Post by ahmedalsudani »

TOGoS wrote: post #391
henrikschroder wrote: post #370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, the implications are even bigger than that, because the normalization and adoption will drive costs down. And when meat-substitute burgers are cheaper than meat burgers, and taste as good, they will become the default, and that is going to make a huge dent in the animal industry, which is all sorts of awesome, because the animal industry is all sorts of terrible. Right now, I'm seeing Beyond and Impossible substi…

[flagged]

Or you can tax the negative externalities to account for environmental damage and still allow people to be free.

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#407

Post by caymanjim »

thinkcontext wrote: post #230
danans wrote: post #187

The most interesting thing about this particular announcement is that it may normalize plant-derived meat-substitutes among the typical fast-food-burger eating population, and not just the mostly-vegetarian folks (like myself) who will spend $10 on an Impossible Burger at a fancy sports bar. Within a decade this might just be normalized, and nobody will make much of it.

I agree, this could be big. The health implications could be a driver of this, consider how many people there are with high cholesterol that should be eating less beef. And then think about how many health driven alternative products there are, eg diet soda, margarine, alt-milks, etc that really can take off in the mainstream once big budget marketing gets behind it.

The cholesterol in = blood cholesterol fallacy is one of the greatest nutrition crimes in history. Low fat/high carb diets are the primary culprit, along with genetics. Replacing meat and dairy with vegetables may have environmental and ethical benefits, but it doesn't have health benefits.

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#408

Post by chaostheory »

notwhereyouare wrote: post #11

I tried the impossible burger and personally didn't notice a difference. The boyfriend tried a bite, and liked it, but could taste something off. I'm kinda excited to see where both the impossible burger goes, and where other restaurants take this. Also for the price to come down, it was like $3 more than the boyfriend's burger

I bought some from the supermarket and cooked it up. While the impossible burger does resemble, smell, and taste like meat, it doesn't smell or taste like a hamburger. It smells and tastes almost exactly like Spam. It'll be great once the price goes down.

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#409

Post by sebringj »

The impossible 1 is super salty where I've had it in hop doddy and ruby's diner in SoCal. It reminded me more of mince meat type quality, passable but gross. I'm hoping 2 is perfect because I really would prefer to not have to eat cows and have that reduced carbon footprint along with better health. Win win win.

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#410

Post by danans »

malvosenior wrote: post #389
int_19h wrote: post #337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep. I'm not at all a vegetarian, but I will definitely try it, and if it's as good as they say, I see no reason to not prefer it. There's a small subset of the population for whom meat consumption is some kind of cultural statement, but most really only just care about taste, I think. If the same taste can be had in a healthier package and without killing anything, it's a win-win.

> There's a small subset of the population for whom meat consumption is some kind of cultural statement If we're talking about the global population I'd say it's more than a small subset and it's not a cultural "statement", it's just culture. People in Mexico aren't going to eat fake lengua or carnitas. Doro wat with fake chicken? Anything grilled or bbq'd. Sashimi, sushi... People have been eating some of this stuff…

> People in Mexico aren't going to eat fake lengua or carnitas. Doro wat with fake chicken? Anything grilled or bbq'd. Sashimi, sushi...

It's not an all-or-nothing market. There will always be a demand for those things. But in the end what is used for what will be dictated by the economics, as cuisine always has been, even in traditional culture. Eating things like lengua, or tripe and other off-cuts of meat were largely about not wasting meat when resources were scarce, not about identity politics.

Take chorizo ... turns out Mexico already has a vegetarian version of this most culturally sacred of foods: https://www.mexgrocer.com/74562-06205.html

I was offered it with eggs ("huevos con soyrizo") at a breakfast restaurant in Baja ... 17 years ago.

There are plenty of dishes that use ground meat or meat that has been spiced or stewed to the point that the taste difference with regular meat is marginal.

> This might be the case to some degree in Western first world countries but even there, I don't see people in the mid-west giving up real steak anytime soon.

They don't have to. Real meat from slaughtered animals isn't going away, but it's use cases will be more limited to steaks, etc, which aren't "everyday" foods anyways.

And a good amount of Mexico's population is urban and first world, just like their counterparts in other countries. From what I can tell, urban Mexico has as liberal a palate as any other urban part of the world, be that NYC or London.

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