A question for all you burger lovers out there:
Would you eat a veggie burger if we told you it “bleeds?”
David Chang thinks you would. At his Momofuku Nishi restaurant in New York, the celebrated chef is challenging everything you know about beef with the debut of a buzzed-about meatless burger from San Francisco food science startup Impossible Foods.
Today (June 27) marks the first time the plant-based burger will be available on a restaurant menu.
The Impossible Foods burger does seem like something impossible. It’s taken years of research, $180 million dollars in funding and at least one failed Google buyout for this Silicon Valley food lab to figure out how to make the ultimate meat substitute.
And before you get all smug about plants not being able to mimic the taste of real beef, know that reviews say otherwise.
Chang himself has praised it for its beef-like texture. Others have commended its mouthwatering aroma, while Vox went as far as calling the Impossible Foods burger the Tesla of food.
So, what’s the secret that makes this veggie burger so convincing? It’s called heme, an iron-rich molecule in blood that carries oxygen. It’s the stuff that makes your blood red. And, as NPR reported, it’s the stuff that gives these meat-free burgers a blood-pink look when raw and meaty taste once cooked.
The reviews are mixed. Some love it…
There goes @davidchang making the impossible taste good. Mmmmmm what a bloody good burger. #impossibleburger pic.twitter.com/cYXeNbJYGQ
— My Last Supper (@mylastsupper) July 27, 2016
Others, not so much…
Taste-testing the @ImpossibleFoods #impossibleburger. Let’s just say I like meat on my burgers. pic.twitter.com/FSJnvOJZ7i
— Crystal Lau (@crystalxlau) July 27, 2016
Looks like there’s only one way to find out for sure.
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