The Vegan Thread

Where can I buy these?!

Any big supermarket should have them. They're a good match for "normal" fish fingers (i.e. shit), but weirdly tiny. You need about 5 to make a fish finger sandwich.

They are aimed at carnivores who don't want to eat meat ( something like that )

I had one of those pulled pork ones on the BBQ last night - it was lovely. Mind you, I haven't eaten meat for over 30 yrs, so can't properly remember what the texture is like...

Also not sure what the 'bleeding' thing is all about - point should be how good it tastes, rather than what it looks like.

I have an unhealthy attachment to these, to the extent that I ate all (10 in a box) for breakfast on Saturday (two and a half sandwiches, with slices of pickled cucumber.) I. Am. A. Pig.

Some of the pictures people take of whats on their plates makes one think they should see a doctor.

I think a bleeding burger is a pretty good idea. Its obviously not for everyone, it sounds like you find it off putting if something is "too realistic". If it helps somebody transition to veganism by recreating their favourite food accurately enough for them not to miss it that can only be a good thing! It's good to see veganism becoming more accessible with places like Iceland doing decent vegan products.

We got weirded out by mock chicken from a Chinese takeaway recently, was too damn close to real chicken skin and just couldn’t eat it :/

If it helps somebody transition to veganism by recreating their favourite food accurately enough for them not to miss it that can only be a good thing!

Not sure about this.

I get the / your point, still I'm not convinced this will work / I'm not sure this is the "way to go" in the first place, to be honest.
Why waste so much energy on realisticly recreating meat dishes.

I think this seems to help a small percentage of people transition to a vegan diet.
It's expensive most of the time though when you eat out, more expensive than real meat.
It takes a lot of time to prepare usually if you do it yourself (make seitan "steaks" etc.)
It tastes mediocre at best if you go for convenience vegan alternatives from the supermarket.

I think it only seems to help people transition to a vegan diet because they won't last anyway (they will go back to eating meat sooner or later) if they don't develop compassion for the animals, to make it short.
It's a good thing people "try veganism" - for whatever reason really, the animals won't care - and you could argue these products help more people try it, but I do also think a lot of them will quit - and in their head they'll remember the negative experience of: it being too expensive (vegan burger more expensive compared to McD, it being too much hassle (ain't nobody got time fo' that), or to mediocre-tasting (shit TSP / TVP products from the supermarket etc.) - so this can actually be counterproductive.

Alternatively they could eat hundreds of asian / indian dishes that are vegan anyway, taste awesome, and are not expensive and easy to cook -
and leave with the feeling of "this tasted awesome - I didn't even miss eating an animal at all, actually", rather than "this was somewhat ok, but it doesn't really compare to the real thing".

I see your point but investment in this will mean that it does taste as good / similar to real meat and it will also bring the price down.

So people who want to be ethical but are lazy / can't imagine their diets without meat can become vegan

Yes, they can, but

I think it only seems to help people transition to a vegan diet because they won't last anyway (they will go back to eating meat sooner or later) if they don't develop compassion for the animals, to make it short.
It's a good thing people "try veganism" - for whatever reason really, the animals won't care - and you could argue these products help more people try it, but I do also think a lot of them will quit - and in their head they'll remember the negative experience of: it being too expensive (vegan burger more expensive compared to McD, it being too much hassle (ain't nobody got time fo' that), or to mediocre-tasting (shit TSP / TVP products from the supermarket etc.) - so this can actually be counterproductive.

Alternatively they could eat hundreds of asian / indian dishes that are vegan anyway, taste awesome, and are not expensive and easy to cook -
and leave with the feeling of "this tasted awesome - I didn't even miss eating an animal at all, actually", rather than "this was somewhat ok, but it doesn't really compare to the real thing".

It doesn't have to be one or the other in my opinion. I think i disagree with the premise that most (or a significant percentage) will go back to eating meat. I think it is a net positive.

Also from my perspective, if you can capture a percentage of the meat eaters meals and make them not include meat, then that is a success also.

Yes, it is - but they also

could eat hundreds of asian / indian dishes that are vegan anyway, taste awesome, and are not expensive and easy to cook -
and leave with the feeling of "this tasted awesome - I didn't even miss eating an animal at all, actually", rather than "this was somewhat ok, but it doesn't really compare to the real thing".

..my point being I think this "tactic" will show more long-term success, if you want to put it that way.

I see your point, I really do, but I fear it's a flash in the pan (no pun intended, haha)..

They can still do both, I do, eat nice dishes that are just nice, and sometimes just have meat substitute thing and chips or whatever because that's what I grew up on to some extent and it's nice now and then. Also, more importantly, 3 people eating half as much meat is better than one person eating none and these kind of things can help some people cut down.

Yes, yes, and yes.

But in my experience this only gives a strawfire effect.
A lot of people go back to eating meat. That's my experience anyway.
One person not eating meat for the rest of his life would be better than 3 people eating half as much for a few months, so to say.

Yes of course every vegan meal served instead of a meat dish is a good thing.
But the long-lasting change of peoples habits is what counts really.
Ok, there may be some people who are good with this "cut down meat consumption" model,
but what I saw in a years of cooking / catering is that the conditioning is so strong they will want to go back to "real" burgers etc. sooner or later. The craving is not satisfied, it's just a compromise, their bellies may be full but they are not satisfied, they are still craving.

Of course there are exceptions, and especially the younger generations (that, thank god, haven't been conditioned with decade-long meat eating already) are much more open to all kinds of food.

That meat-umami thing is very hard to cheat, tell me what you want.
A lot of people crave this, they want to eat the burned flesh of an animal.
You are not going to win them over with fucking Tofu Bratwurst. Not long-term at least.

Win them over with both?

I think the other element is that meat substitutes are really getting to the stage where you will win people over with a veggie bratwurst.
The proliferation and investment that is now going into this is such that in just a few years i think lots will be very difficulty to tell apart in a taste test.

Has anything been created ' on the bone' yet ?

The nice thing about vegan meat substitutes now is that a big dirty vegan kebab or seitan chicken sandwich actually IS tastier than the real thing.

Goddamn I want Beelzebab right now.

Probably OK to cook a defrosted No Bull burger that's been refrigerated for 24 hrs?
Pack says if defrosted don't refreeze, but has only cook from frozen instructions

For sure

Went for it in the end. Still alive :)

At haunt you can get jackfruit "wings" with a sugarcane(?) bone, which has (presumably) neither the taste nor texture of osseous tissue.

As an aside, I have discovered that one can make flapjacks in less than five minutes. RIP my general health. :(

I remembered yesterday the 'Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles' I've made many times over the years are actually vegan, sadly it doesn't quite align with my foray into veganism as a method of losing some weight.

will definitely be making some again once I have dropped another 10kg or so though.

https://www.theppk.com/2009/09/mexican-hot-chocolate-snickerdoodles/

As an aside, I have discovered that one can make flapjacks in less than five minutes. RIP my general health. :(

Oh no, one can't, and you're entirely mistaken. :)

Are you some kind of flapjack purist who believes in resting the mixture overnight and baking for four hours at 113ºC?