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Comment by sgillen | Hacker News Reader

Ironically I find that I (vegetarian, not vegan) tend to enjoy meat replacements that don't try replicate meat. I find the ones that DO try to replicate meats taste are just not very good at it, and it ends up tasting pretty bad. The good stuff is still tasty and savory but it's doing its own thing.

edit: Not to say the impossible burger can't be good (I've not been able to try one) Just a comment on existing products that I've tried.

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I don't want these "Impossible" burgers to eliminate veggie burgers doing their own thing, and I'm a bit worried it might eventually come to the point where everyone thinks they need to be just like beef.

Some of the existing veggie burgers are very tasty even though they don't try to trick your taste buds in replicating the 'meat experience' 100%. Like Morningstar Farms Tomato & Basil Pizza burgers are just awesome, for example. They're one of my mainstays for super-quick lunches. You can see and taste the veggies in the burger and they taste great.

And I'm saying this as a meat eater, who grilled beef hamburgers on the grill just last night

I agree with you. There are a lot of veggie burger patties out there that are essentially flattened falafel, and it would be a shame to lose them. Falafel is great all on its own.

I feel like they'll be just fine if they just advertise themselves as being falafel patties. I'm pretty thoroughly not vegetarian, so I ain't gonna reach for a veggie patty if the only reason it's being sold is because "well it's not beef!". Sell it to me as falafel and I'll eat it because I happen to like falafel.

In general I agree with you, though I will say that the Impossible burgers are just plain good. I order them over meat when I get the chance, and I'm not a diet activist. They just made a good product.

The best is the cuisine from countries that have a large vegetarian population. For example at the cafeteria where I work they have samosas served with something made with chickpeas, which doesn't leave me feeling like I missed meat with my lunch.

I'm not a vegetarian at all (I eat a lot of various meats, love'em) but I genuinely like veggies, too, and I fully agree with you. The best vegetarian dishes are the ones that work with the best flavors of whatever ingredients are present, not ones that try and pretend to be something else. You can get some very savory flavors with mushrooms, gluten, etc that are wonderful all on their own.

That being said, I've been reading enough about the impossible burger that I'm looking forward to getting to try one.

I'm in your lane, the more a veggie burger embraces the vegetables, not being a meat simulacrum, the better it tastes. The more beany a black bean burger, the better. I like the "Chik'n" patties but they are deep fried so arguably the main flavor is not meat but crust. But not this burger. Try it, I think you'll be impressed.

As a fellow vegetarian, I agree with not liking non-meat meat products that are too close. But, my transition was a long one. My family was very much carnosaur. I was told that I need to "expand my horizons," which meant eating new and different types of animals. (I not many that I haven't tried.) When I met my wife to be, who was vegan, that made me rethink my diet. She introduced me to many new cuisines, notably Indian and Thai, that feature dishes not based around meat.

At first, it was deciding what new vegetarian things to try, and what choices I was going to give up. I've come to realize that a lot of people identify with food. For some, it's a family thing to have a big burger. For others, whatever non-meat products they have had gave bad experiences. I can't tell you how many people I've met who say tofu is horrible. To be fair, most places or people have no clue properly prepare it; thus, the very idea of a non-meat substitute is killed.

I've tried the burger. It's impressively too close to the real thing for me to want to eat them. Yet, it is my hope that the impossible burger will be one of many avenues for people to make a transition to a more sustainable, ethical and healthier diet. In turn, I hope it ups the game for other companies to look at vegetarian options that are prepared well.

I think of traditional Midwest (German, Scandinavian based) cuisine as a primary driver - it was an eye opening experience to hear vegetarians I’ve met say how much they also hate steamed vegetables. The lack of tasty spices in traditional American vegetable dishes definitely keep a lot of people going back to meat and dairy as primary flavor drivers.

FWIW I hate steamed and boiled vegetables of all kinds, but love meat.

You might be onto something with spices, though. The cuisines which have more palatable (subjectively, of course) veggie dishes tend to be the ones that are more creative with spices, now that I think about it.

I see this getting said a lot but I really don't find this, I mean there are loads of standalone fantastic vegetable products which are nothing to do with meat and taste great but No Chick Fillets (in a Jalfrezi) have confused dinner guests who thought they were eating chicken until I told them they were vegan, or No Bull Mince (in a bolognese), Beyond Meat burgers have been well received (although I personally don't find them as nice as burgers which I can still recall from before coming vegetarian).

I guess one thing I find is it is easy to find really good recipes of long running favourite dishes and be able to substite our chicken, or beef mince with a vegan alternative and still get the full rich flavours of the dish, with the right texture, filling power, protein levels, etc of what would have been meat.

FWIW here are some of "my" recipes (ones I have found elsewhere and catalogued together on one place) which have been well received by family and guests: https://www.copymethat.com/recipebox/steven-craft/3775240/ if there is any mention of meat then substitute with the products mentioned above.

Isn't this just a criticism of existing meat-alike products? Or have you tried impossible burger and found it not tasty?

I've been a vegetarian for ~my whole life, tried the impossible burger, didn't like it. To be fair it might have more to do with the way it looks rather than the taste - meat-looking stuff doesn't appeal to me. My favorite burger is [0], which makes no attempt to look or taste like meat but is delicious in its own right.

[0]: https://www.ah.nl/producten/product/wi128419/garden-gourmet-...

Love that one as well. The chimichurri burger of garden gourmet is nice as well, but a bit spicy.

It is a criticism of existing products, I have not tried an impossible burger and would be very excited to find that it tastes as good as meat.

Maybe its the "uncanny valley" phenomenon for taste? When you get closer to taste of the real thing, people notice the differences more. But people like something totally different like a TJs veggie masala burger for what it is.

I am with you 100%, I wan't a veggie patty for the veggies, not as a replacement for meat.

My problem stems from the fact that I'm not vegetarian, I am always comparing the meatless burger patties with the "meatful" variety, and they never compare. I've had Impossible burgers and the Beyond Meat burgers, and they just aren't the same.

Yep. I first tried black bean burgers when I was first moving towards being vegetarian years ago. Now, I still prefer them to the meat substitutes I’ve had (which don’t yet include Impossible or Beyond Meat) because black beans + spices works very well with all of the traditional American burger condiments and dressings, and adds its own enjoyable flavor. Beats the pants off of the dense, grain-heavy fake meats I’ve sampled.

I was never a foodie though, so I think the format of a hamburger matters as much to me as the substance, being a kind of comfort food due to the familiar experience. Those of you with more refined palates are welcome to hold this position in contempt.

Trying to replicate meet is essential to have a market-fit product. We have evolved into subconsciously LOVING meet. Hadn’t the vegan-chicken tasted like chicken I wouldn’t stopped eating chicken.

I was visiting a sister when she tricked me into eating a vegan replacement of chicken!(I’m a steak lover and always made jokes about vegan people) I couldn’t believe what I was eating wasn’t chicken. Then she made me try chicken nuggets, and OMG...having had that experience with chicken, I wouldn't be surprised if their burger tastes the same...

The taste of chicken was so real I couldn't believe it. I’ve been eating it for a month now and I lost 10 lbs. WITHOUT working out.

I agree. Even as a meat-eater, some of the vegetarian fare such as certain types of gardenburgers are delicious in their own right. They aren't really trying to be meat, and I suspect I'd like them less if they were.

My wife was diagnosed with celiac last year, and we've found the same to be true of eating GF alternatives. Foods that try to replicate gluten tend to be much worse than things that are just good without it.

What I find ironic is that the industry is so focused on thinking that people only eat meat because of the taste. Not because of all the valuable micro-nutrients, varied animal proteins, and fat.

Or the detrimental health effects of animal based burgers either...

https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/Heart_beat...

Let's be honest: most people do eat meat because of the taste. And the industry is going to go after the largest crowd first.

I'm very curious about people in your camp -- those that don't like attempts to replicate meat, but do like the "patty" food format. How do you usually eat your meat replacements? On a sandwich? Chopped up? A mix? Since it seems like they are all frozen (but maybe I'm wrong here?), is a big part of the draw convenience? Is protein content a factor in your decision at all?

I've always said the same thing. I like tofu when tofu is being tofu, but not when it's trying to be something else.

What are you favorite meat replacements that don't try replicate meat? I'd be interested in trying some :-D

The uncarnine valley.

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