FOOD REVIEW: The Impossible Whopper
(Dogs - Pink Floyd)
Trying to write this review without opening it with commends that disparage vegetarians and/or hippies is proving to be really difficult, but I'm going to give it a go anyway.
I am a carnivore. I love meat. Steak, chicken, lamb, pork, rabbit, squirrel, whatever. Here, now, in the middle of summer, there's no greater conduit for meat-eaters than the good old hamburger. There'd always been something immensely satisfying about tucking into a good burger, especially when it's been cooked over an open fire. Not everyone eats meat though. For those that don't, many substitutes have been attempted over the years, from tofu to veggie burgers, to other random kinds of meat substitute. Some of them have been tasty, but as a replacement for the noble hamburger, they have fallen woefully short.
"Until now," a voice piped up from the back. And heads turned as one to gaze upon this most recent pretender to the throne.
In July of 2016, a company that almost no one had ever heard of made the claim that they'd cracked the recipe for a hamburger substitute that could stand toe to toe with traditional ground beef. That company's name, amusingly enough, was Impossible Foods.
Initial reviews of the Impossible Burger were good, but not great. They were apparently good enough though, as they were incredibly hard to come by outside of a few boutique restaurants in New York and California. It was a promising step forward. In early 2018, Impossible Foods announced version two of their product. They were so confident in their product that they started offering limited releases with restaurant chains, offering the Impossible Burger as a menu item. Reviews continued to pour in, each one more promising than the next. Improvements had absolutely been made. Once again however, they sold out so quickly that public exposure was limited.
In mid-2019, Impossible Foods took the next step forward in proving that they were a serious contender to ground beef, and made a deal with Burger King. They would trial the Impossible Whopper in St. Louis, Mo. for a limited time to gauge the reactions of the public. The results were staggeringly good, and Impossible Foods doubled down again, this time distributing the Impossible Whopper nation-wide for a brief two-week period to see which markets it would sell best in. As if their progress weren't bold enough, they took it a step farther and released a coupon in the public mail: Buy an Impossible Whopper and get a beef Whopper for free to do a taste comparison.
Tonight, I managed to find a Burger King that still had one in stock, and absolutely used that coupon.
Has the impossible truly been done?
THE SHORT VERSION:
Yes. My mind is blown.
THE LONG VERSION:
Let's give credit where it's due here and shine a little light on the brilliance of marrying the Impossible Burger with a Whopper. Yes, there's some business sense in doing that, but that's not where the brilliance comes into play. Consider the Whopper. In the grand scheme of things, the meat in a Whopper is only a piece of the flavor profile that you get when you take a bite. There's also bread, sesame seeds, lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, ketchup, mayo, and char from the grill. A grill that, I might add, is used to cook normal beef patties as well. If you're trying to hide any differences between a beef patty and a plant patty from a discerning palette, I'm not sure there's a better hiding place that will simultaneously get so much exposure. The Impossible Whopper was a fantastic chess move
I took all of this into account when I bought my Impossible Whopper this evening. I've been reading about this burger for years now. I've read many reviews that talk about the subtle differences in flavor between beef and the Impossible burger. I was prepared for them, to seek those differences out by sight and smell and taste and touch.
I completely blew it.
If you hadn't told me that I was eating a plant protein burger, I would never have known. I -knew- I was eating one and I still couldn't tell. This isn't because I couldn't taste the beef; I could. I could taste char-grilled beef. I could smell it, and feel it in my mouth, and it looked like a burger. Then I followed it up by eating part of a real beef Whopper. I couldn't tell the difference.
Yes, I realize I've just given the Impossible Burger a huge crutch because of all of the things I mentioned above. I sort of...don't care. I don't feel conned. I don't feel cheated, or that I compromised. I just feel full. More than that, I want another one. I want to try it again. It tasted good! If that's not the mark of success in this arena, I don't know what is.
And now, for the other shoe. "But Steve," you cry, "Why should I give a damn? I, too, am a carnivore. I, too, love beef!" Excellent question. The TL;DR answer is that Impossible Foods' goal is to provide a substitute for beef that's cost-effective, has none of the side-effects of eating meat proteins from cows, and has far less impact on the environment. As much as we might want to pretend otherwise, cows might not always be around, especially if climate change ends up being as big a monster in the closet as environmentalists are screaming about. We get good, tasty food that's potentially less harmful to both ourselves and the environment, and we get it without having to go through a cow first.
There's a great deal of science that went into making the Impossible Burger. I won't bore you with it here. If you're that interested, the Google is your friend. If you are interested, I strongly recommend you give some of the articles about this product a read. The science is fascinating, the results even more so. The FDA has approved Impossible Foods for sale in grocery stores this fall, which is where the rubber will really hit the road. There are many applications for a legitimate ground beef substitute outside of a hamburger bun. How well it holds up outside of a perfectly manicured Burger King wrapper remains to be seen, but I'll be damned if I'm not excited to go on the journey now.
Trying to write this review without opening it with commends that disparage vegetarians and/or hippies is proving to be really difficult, but I'm going to give it a go anyway.
I am a carnivore. I love meat. Steak, chicken, lamb, pork, rabbit, squirrel, whatever. Here, now, in the middle of summer, there's no greater conduit for meat-eaters than the good old hamburger. There'd always been something immensely satisfying about tucking into a good burger, especially when it's been cooked over an open fire. Not everyone eats meat though. For those that don't, many substitutes have been attempted over the years, from tofu to veggie burgers, to other random kinds of meat substitute. Some of them have been tasty, but as a replacement for the noble hamburger, they have fallen woefully short.
"Until now," a voice piped up from the back. And heads turned as one to gaze upon this most recent pretender to the throne.
In July of 2016, a company that almost no one had ever heard of made the claim that they'd cracked the recipe for a hamburger substitute that could stand toe to toe with traditional ground beef. That company's name, amusingly enough, was Impossible Foods.
Initial reviews of the Impossible Burger were good, but not great. They were apparently good enough though, as they were incredibly hard to come by outside of a few boutique restaurants in New York and California. It was a promising step forward. In early 2018, Impossible Foods announced version two of their product. They were so confident in their product that they started offering limited releases with restaurant chains, offering the Impossible Burger as a menu item. Reviews continued to pour in, each one more promising than the next. Improvements had absolutely been made. Once again however, they sold out so quickly that public exposure was limited.
In mid-2019, Impossible Foods took the next step forward in proving that they were a serious contender to ground beef, and made a deal with Burger King. They would trial the Impossible Whopper in St. Louis, Mo. for a limited time to gauge the reactions of the public. The results were staggeringly good, and Impossible Foods doubled down again, this time distributing the Impossible Whopper nation-wide for a brief two-week period to see which markets it would sell best in. As if their progress weren't bold enough, they took it a step farther and released a coupon in the public mail: Buy an Impossible Whopper and get a beef Whopper for free to do a taste comparison.
Tonight, I managed to find a Burger King that still had one in stock, and absolutely used that coupon.
Has the impossible truly been done?
THE SHORT VERSION:
Yes. My mind is blown.
THE LONG VERSION:
Let's give credit where it's due here and shine a little light on the brilliance of marrying the Impossible Burger with a Whopper. Yes, there's some business sense in doing that, but that's not where the brilliance comes into play. Consider the Whopper. In the grand scheme of things, the meat in a Whopper is only a piece of the flavor profile that you get when you take a bite. There's also bread, sesame seeds, lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, ketchup, mayo, and char from the grill. A grill that, I might add, is used to cook normal beef patties as well. If you're trying to hide any differences between a beef patty and a plant patty from a discerning palette, I'm not sure there's a better hiding place that will simultaneously get so much exposure. The Impossible Whopper was a fantastic chess move
I took all of this into account when I bought my Impossible Whopper this evening. I've been reading about this burger for years now. I've read many reviews that talk about the subtle differences in flavor between beef and the Impossible burger. I was prepared for them, to seek those differences out by sight and smell and taste and touch.
I completely blew it.
If you hadn't told me that I was eating a plant protein burger, I would never have known. I -knew- I was eating one and I still couldn't tell. This isn't because I couldn't taste the beef; I could. I could taste char-grilled beef. I could smell it, and feel it in my mouth, and it looked like a burger. Then I followed it up by eating part of a real beef Whopper. I couldn't tell the difference.
Yes, I realize I've just given the Impossible Burger a huge crutch because of all of the things I mentioned above. I sort of...don't care. I don't feel conned. I don't feel cheated, or that I compromised. I just feel full. More than that, I want another one. I want to try it again. It tasted good! If that's not the mark of success in this arena, I don't know what is.
And now, for the other shoe. "But Steve," you cry, "Why should I give a damn? I, too, am a carnivore. I, too, love beef!" Excellent question. The TL;DR answer is that Impossible Foods' goal is to provide a substitute for beef that's cost-effective, has none of the side-effects of eating meat proteins from cows, and has far less impact on the environment. As much as we might want to pretend otherwise, cows might not always be around, especially if climate change ends up being as big a monster in the closet as environmentalists are screaming about. We get good, tasty food that's potentially less harmful to both ourselves and the environment, and we get it without having to go through a cow first.
There's a great deal of science that went into making the Impossible Burger. I won't bore you with it here. If you're that interested, the Google is your friend. If you are interested, I strongly recommend you give some of the articles about this product a read. The science is fascinating, the results even more so. The FDA has approved Impossible Foods for sale in grocery stores this fall, which is where the rubber will really hit the road. There are many applications for a legitimate ground beef substitute outside of a hamburger bun. How well it holds up outside of a perfectly manicured Burger King wrapper remains to be seen, but I'll be damned if I'm not excited to go on the journey now.
Comments
Post a Comment