REUTERS ON MOCK MEATS

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REUTERS ON MOCK MEATS

 

Mock meats show carnivores the soy of cooking

 

By Gail Appleson

 

 

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Heads turn and diners salivate as the waiter

at New York's Zenith restaurant brings a sizzling plate of mushroom

steak, steaming with the lusty scent of garlic and sensual Asian spices.

 

Actually the steak is not meat at all. In fact it is no closer to having

a bovine or porcine mommy or daddy than the " beef " fajitas at Claire's

Corner Copia vegetarian restaurant in New Haven, Connecticut, or the

barbecue " sausage " pizza at Cravings, a kosher dairy cafe in

Memphis, Tennessee.

 

These creative concoctions are examples of the innovations being made

in the rapidly growing market for faux meat products from tempeh bacon

to soy Italian sausage and Tofurky.

 

" I like to call it the other meat, " said Claire Criscuolo, owner of

Claire's Corner Copia and author of three cookbooks.

" It's a godsend ... it's a delicious way to get protein. "

 

While Criscuolo runs one of the nation's oldest vegetarian restaurants,

celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, she said most of her 500 or

so daily diners are not vegetarians.

 

Even the U.S. Bureau of Prisons changed its policy in October to offer

vegetarian entree choices to all federal inmates, reflecting the

nation's growing appetite for meatless meals. These dishes include such

soy-based alternatives as barbecued tofu with onions, veggie sweet &

sour chicken and braised tofu and veggie meatballs.

 

Linda Gilbert, president of Atlanta-based marketing firm HealthFocus,

said a nationwide study of 2,000 grocery shoppers this summer showed

that 22 percent buy meat substitutes. She said this figure has steadily

grown from 7 percent in 1992.

 

'YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO TO A HEALTH FOOD STORE'

 

" A big part of it is the greater variety of products and that you don't

have to go to a health food store to buy them, " she said. " In the past

people bought these products to avoid meat, but the shift in emphasis

is to avoid fat. It is the heart healthy trend that is driving the

market. People want a low-fat hot dog and if it's tofu that's great. "

 

Sales of meat alternatives, many of which are made from soy-based

products such as tempeh and tofu, have also had a boost from growing

evidence that soy itself has certain health benefits. Last year, the

U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a health statement for

soy food labels that says 25 grams of soy protein consumed daily as part

of a low-fat diet may help reduce the risk of heart disease.

 

Big food companies are also starting to realize that mock meat is not

chopped liver. They are acquiring natural food firms that specialize in

vegetarian products. For example, Kraft and Kellogg have bought

respectively Boca Burgers and Worthington Foods, both of which

specialize in meat alternatives.

 

" Technology has made it possible to develop substitutes of all kinds, "

said Lorna Sass, author of The New Soy Cookbook and other cookbooks.

" There is a wide variation among these products. Some taste much

better and have a better texture than others. In fact, some vegetarians

who have lost their taste for meat think they taste too much like meat. "

 

IF IT LOOKS LIKE A DUCK ... IT MAY NOT BE A DUCK

 

But some relish the similarities. Zenith, for example, offers a popular

vegetarian duck entree that looks identical to the real thing ... skin,

fat and all.

 

Then there is Criscuolo's vegetarian Thai-spiced chicken that she served

at a fund raiser for Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman, an observant

Jew. The soy-based product looked and tasted so authentic that

Lieberman asked to talk to Criscuolo to make sure she had actually

catered the event.

 

Finding the best-tasting meat substitutes is a matter of

experimentation, Sass said, adding consumers should not be chicken

about trying different brands and products.

 

" It's a better approach not to think of them as the original food but as

an interesting food. If you think a tofu hotdog is going to taste like a

kosher frank, you'll be disappointed. "

 

Speaking of kosher, while experts agree that the huge boost in meat

substitutes is driven by consumers seeking low-fat and healthier food,

the new choices are also a boon to observant Jews who will not mix meat

and milk or eat pork or shellfish.

 

In fact, the demand for kosher products is so great that some restaurant

owners, regardless of their religious backgrounds, have obtained Kosher

certification. For example, Chinese-owned Zenith is kosher, as is

Claire's Corner Copia.

 

Criscuolo, a Catholic of Italian descent, said she had been approached

by a rabbi asking if she would consider making the restaurant kosher to

accommodate the observant Jewish community. She said she agreed and

studied food laws for three years.

 

" I have a lot of respect for religion. My mother taught me to do the

right thing and it's not always easy, " she said.

 

Making the restaurant kosher also has the benefit of making the food

seem pure to non-Jews as well, she added. " It's like the Good

Housekeeping seal of approval. "

 

Still, sometimes the sight of kosher food that looks like it came from a

prohibited pig is enough to make an observant Jew say " soy vey. " For

example, there is Cravings pizza that appears to be topped with both

sausage and cheese.

 

Ari Rubinoff, Cravings' manager, said he even added barbecue flavoring

to the pizza to appeal to Southern clientele. While the more

sophisticated Jewish diners in Memphis have readily tried it, he said,

the same is not true for those from communities with little exposure to

mock meat products.

 

" It's very weird for a lot of other people, especially those from small

towns with no kosher restaurants, " he said.

 

Criscuolo agreed that meat substitutes like soy sausage and ham are not

readily accepted by Jews, who cringed at the sight of pork for many

years. When she first opened a restaurant at the Jewish Community

Center in nearby Woodbridge a year ago, she said, diners just would

not eat the mock meat dishes.

 

" The elders were repelled by anything that looked like sausage. But now,

with a lot of education, they are at least trying it. "

 

09:48 11-15-00