The Fish Is Boneless. (Fishless, Too.) (nytimes.com) 108
First, there was the meatless burger. Soon we may have fishless fish. From a report: Impossible Foods, the California company behind the meatless Impossible Whopper now available at Burger King, is joining a crowded field of food companies developing alternatives to traditional seafood with plant-based recipes or laboratory techniques that allow scientists to grow fish from cells. So far, much of Impossible's work has focused on the biochemistry of fish flavor, which can be reproduced using heme, the same protein undergirding its meat formula [Editor's note: the link may be paywalled; alternative source], according to Pat Brown, the company's chief executive. Last month, Impossible's 124-person research and development team, which the company plans to increase to around 200 by the end of next year, produced an anchovy-flavored broth made from plants, he said. "It was being used to make paella," Mr. Brown said. "But you could use it to make Caesar dressing or something like that."
The fishless-fish project is part of Impossible's grand ambitions to devise tasty replacements for every animal-based food on the market by 2035. Whether that aim is achievable, either scientifically or financially, remains to be seen. But for now, Mr. Brown said, he's confident Impossible's plant-based beef recipe can be reconfigured to simulate a new source of protein. It's unclear whether consumers -- even those who eat meatless burgers -- will embrace fish alternatives. Those faux-beef products owe their success partly to the enthusiasm of so-called flexitarians, people who want to reduce their meat consumption without fully converting to vegetarianism, but flexitarians are not necessarily motivated by a desire to save the planet.
The fishless-fish project is part of Impossible's grand ambitions to devise tasty replacements for every animal-based food on the market by 2035. Whether that aim is achievable, either scientifically or financially, remains to be seen. But for now, Mr. Brown said, he's confident Impossible's plant-based beef recipe can be reconfigured to simulate a new source of protein. It's unclear whether consumers -- even those who eat meatless burgers -- will embrace fish alternatives. Those faux-beef products owe their success partly to the enthusiasm of so-called flexitarians, people who want to reduce their meat consumption without fully converting to vegetarianism, but flexitarians are not necessarily motivated by a desire to save the planet.
Hype (Score:2, Insightful)
Total hype. If you want to short a stock, Impossible Burger is the perfect one.
Fake Food - But it tastes really REAL!! (Score:1)
So far, much of Impossible's work has focused on the biochemistry of fish flavor
produced an anchovy-flavored broth made from plants
Impossible's grand ambitions to devise tasty replacements for every animal-based food
I love how these companies are so focused on trying to mimic the flavor of food, but seem to be paying absolutely no attention to whether the fake foods maintain the same or better NUTRITIONAL qualities... This is sure to end very well, especially when they get the cost of these fake foods down below the cost of the genuine item. People will be lining up out the store to buy these perfectly engineered good flavored junk foods that cost less, much like they do today buying bags of potato chips and soda pop.
I
I agree (Score:2)
This "Impossible Burger" sure is being pushed hard, only it seems more expensive than the real thing... even if they can get the cost down, I don't see how it's ever more than a niche.
I don't know that I short it though, you never know how far the bubble can expand before it pops.
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Ditto. Tried one at The Counter and found it amazingly good, and it was definitely a bit lighter on my stomach. I'd order it again.
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SPAM. It is my understanding there is no meat in Spam. It is based on salt and pink jelly.
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"salt and pink jelly" - that is the definition of a pig. And humans TBH.
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Ah, still on the anti-meat kick, now with anti-fish kick as well. Who's paying you for this? Certainly not the fish of which the oceans are being emptied because morons like you refuse to stop promoting it.
I'll believe there's really something good here (Score:2)
when they're replicated the flavor of human placenta.
The future is futureless... (Score:2)
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Fishy (Score:2, Funny)
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The fish you are eating is too old. Look for a better source.
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The fish you are eating is too old. Look for a better source.
And if you can't find fresher fish, look for a better sauce.
Mercury (Score:1)
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might be good advice. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
unintended consequences (Score:1)
How long until we find out the unintended consequences?
They might have approval from all sorts of industries but i seriously doubt that this product has undergone such rigirous testing to be able fo fully replace meat in your diet. It will probably have minimal effect for the people who occasionaly have it but just like everything else now, the early adopters are the guenea pigs and will bear the brunt of any issues that come up. If you want a good idea of how the testing never covers all cases just look at
Trying to understand... (Score:3)
So, I know all the reasons some people choose to not eat beef (or at least I think I do) .. but I am having a hard time coming up with valid reasons for fish.
Did they find some fish that has some level of intelligence and free will -- that it would be immoral to eat? Do they pollute the environment in some way? Is there some other reason? I am 100% being serious -- I would really like to hear some reasons why vegetarians / vegans don't eat fish.
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The world's fisheries are being depleted. Fake fish could take some of the pressure off and allow their numbers to recover.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overfishing
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Of course fish have some level of intelligence and free will. Is that really up for debate? If you are a vegetarian/vegan motivated to do no harm to another living animal then a fish qualifies.
Factory farming does cause some pollution and in general is pretty nasty (at least the large pond style).
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So, I know all the reasons some people choose to not eat beef (or at least I think I do) .. but I am having a hard time coming up with valid reasons for fish.
The collapse of fish stocks is a good reason.
Did they find some fish that has some level of intelligence
Yes. Wikipedia has a page on it and everything.
Hey, it doesn't taste fishy... (Score:1, Funny)
I wonder why [youtube.com]
Bullshit (Score:5, Interesting)
The fishless-fish project is part of Impossible's grand ambitions to devise tasty replacements for every animal-based food on the market by 2035. Whether that aim is achievable, either scientifically or financially, remains to be seen.
How about even remotely possible? They won't be able to do this by 2135, let alone 2035. Are they remotely aware of the vast diversity in animal-based food we humans eat?
They need to be able to produce everything from grubs to caviar to beef tongue to scallops to lamb eyeball to zebra liver to seal blubber to infinity and beyond. Now maybe if they constrain themselves to "tasty replacements for every animal-based food found in mainstream fast-food chains in the US" they can get close in the next 15 years. But "every animal-based-food"? No fucking way. I'll just wait here for their version of Casu Marzu.
Unless by "replacement" they mean "tastes vaguely the same but the texture is all wrong". Maybe you could get the taste of a scallop down in that much time, but I'd put some good money on it being really hard to get the texture correct. It's got to be able to take a hard sear on the outside while remaining incredibly tender on the inside. Halibut, cod, and perch are radically different fish. Is their goal a generic white flaky thing to replace all three? If so, that's not a replacement. It would likely work for a McFish Sandwich replacement, however.
I guess I might be in a minority in that I cook and eat a lot of different meats, and appreciate the subtle (and not so subtle) differences in them. There's a big difference between a beef patty and a lamb patty, and a beef patty with some pork in it. If their "replacement" is just generic ground meat, that may work for some but not for me.
Mr. Brown, the Impossible Foods chief executive, acknowledged that “consumers aren’t crying out for plant-based fish.” But he predicted that would change if Impossible released fish products that mimicked the taste and texture of the real thing.
“The only way we can succeed,” he said, “is to make fish from plants that is more delicious than the fish that’s strip mined from the ocean.”
Good fucking luck. Because part of the draw of seafood is the variety. If you can nail salmon, there are still a couple hundred other species that people are going to want to eat. And I highly doubt that they can make something more delicious than fresh, well prepared fish. I bet they can make something more delicious than old, frozen-too-long, poorly prepared fish. And if they do, kudos to them. But pretending this will be a culinary revolution is a little silly.
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"They need to be able to produce everything from grubs to caviar to beef tongue to scallops to lamb eyeball to zebra liver to seal blubber to infinity and beyond." No they don't, they only need produce a viable burger and salmon.
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Just caught a ton of bluegill over the past 4th of July weekend with my old man and girlfriend. Easy to catch them on the old Bass beds.
Nothing beats catching fish and eating them the same day.
I think we had about 50-55 or so that were worth keeping (big as your hand or larger).
My dad wanted to test out this new 'auto scaling device" which is basically a small oil drum type barrel that has holes punched towards the inside of the barrel.
Barrel is laid horizontally and has a hose hook up to it so you put your
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If they crack most of the 'big hitter' meat products, i.e. chicken breast, beef burgers, sausages, steak etc it'll kill the supply of a lot of the others too. No-one's growing a lamb for its eyeball or a pig for its kidneys if no-one's buying the rest of the animal.
Meat is so cheap because of the scale and which it's farmed and processed. The more you cut into its market share, the more expensive it gets, and vice versa for the replacements.
Quite interesting - but questionable approach (Score:5, Interesting)
For years I've wondered why the vegetarian replacement market was making "bacon." Isn't the whole idea that people don't want to eat animals - so recreating bacon/breakfast-sausage/hamburger simply recreating the animal eating experience?
Or is this to convert all of meat eaters to veggie alternatives? and thus reduce/replace food using plants. whatever.
But I've long thought that maybe they could create new flavors that don't exist in nature. If they taste good - great. Kool-aid doesn't taste like anything in nature!! Finding names might be tricky.
"tastes like chicken"
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I can't speak for all vegetarians but, personally, I just don't like the inhumane treatment of animals.... I still think they can be tasty though.
I will have a burger from time-to-time and maybe eat a chicken dinner a couple times a month but I generally prefer not to eat meat and will usually prefer the veggie options.
I do admit that my vegetarianism is mostly due to the fact that it is super convenient for me to be able to do. If I had to eat salads 100% of the time, I would not tend toward vegetarianism
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There are other vegetables than brussels sprouts and most of them are tasty and certainly not bitter. But meat eaters apparently don't know that so they never experience combinations of meat and vegetables that are awesome. I personally would rather eat Irish stew than a steak.
Funny thing about the bitternes, though - meat eaters usually drink beer with their meat, which is bitter indeed.
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If you want to stop animals being enslaved for food (Picard's words) and you know a lot of people will not be convinced by your moral arguments, it makes sense to look at other ways of getting them to switch. One way is to produce a substitute that satisfies them, and then make it more attractive (healthier/lower calorie, cheaper, tastier).
I've tried the Impossible Burger, as someone who really enjoys burgers I can honestly say that I find it a more than acceptable substitute.
You'll hear (Score:1)
"tastes like sea-chicken"
Fishless fish (Score:5, Funny)
If they don't end up calling this Fish-ish I will be very disappointed.
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Mmmmm. That sure was good calamari [dallasobserver.com].
Gonna be a lot harder to do (Score:5, Informative)
Not so with fish. Fish come in all sorts of different textures, flavors, and colors. You have the light white meats which are like chicken and will take on any seasoning flavor (mahi mahi, pollack, tilapia), the flaky white meats (seabass), the meaty white meats (halibut, cod), darker heavier meats (tuna, trout/salmon), and the meatier dark meats (swordfish, wahoo). And lots of in-between species (e.g. albacore is textured like the darker meats, but is lighter). Unless you're buying fish tacos (where the seasoning taste drowns out the fish), you're not eating fish because it's "fish". You're eating it because it's the specific type of fish you want to eat that meal.
Dubious (Score:1)
It's an awfully long stretch but.. (Score:5, Insightful)
To go all conspiracy theory, boy there sure are some articles out the past few years kind of preparing us for the future of soylent products. "Yeah all the fish are kinda dead, and the animals and the planet is ruined, you poors need to get used to the B tier product, while Mr Banker over here eats one of the last 2,000 salmon left on the planet for $95k a lb"
We're heading that way, even if it's not some big plan, get the commoners used to eating cardboard.
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Okay, that tears it (Score:2)
We're gonna have dinner at Five Guys tonight. For revenge.
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and put bacon on it. Things taste better with dead pig on it, including dead bovine. Yeah baby!
I might actually like it (Score:2)
I'm generally dubious about new things like this. But I think there is a chance I might like their new fish product.
I hate anything that tastes "fishy", so I only like a few kinds of fish. Cod, tuna, anything that is really mild. And it has to be really fresh... if it's old it tastes fishy.
I once went to a vegan restaurant that made fake shrimp. A major ingredient was enoki mushrooms, which reproduced the "strands" of actual shrimp meat. I am not vegan and I didn't like most of their food but I actuall
Rice with stuff (Score:2)
No, it wasn't. The term for the dish they were cooking is arròs amb coses.
Don't Trust Stuff that Pretends to Be What Its Not (Score:2)
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Makes you wonder about their real agenda.
Money. It's not a big mystery.
Where I live, a company came out with vegetarian version of their famous sausage product. The main ingredients are water, sunflower oil, and thickening agents, and sold it for double the price of their pork based version. Not only are the ingredients almost free, they are also easily purified and have almost infinite shelf life in their unmixed form. This makes it much easier to run the factory.
Luciferian Plot (Score:1)
The liberals/Luciferians are trying to ‘Create a Race of Soulless Creatures’!
https://vimeo.com/342031838 [vimeo.com]
Poes Law in action.
Clickbait title. Not reading. (Score:2)
No bones, No Fish (Score:2)
Scientists just invented the Scampi!
Have they figured out the flavor problem? (Score:2)
As in, have they figured out how to make their burger taste like a burger? Or the fish taste like a fish?
Because the burger is straight garbage. I don't understand the hype here, those things do not taste like real meat in the slightest. Texture isn't bad, but the flavor is just wrong.