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Comment by bgribble | Hacker News Reader

I try hard to avoid red meat for reasons but I do like a burger. I tried the Beyond when it was new and I was really impressed. I thought it tasted great and held together as a patty in a way that a lot of "traditional" bean and veg patties fail to do.

Unfortunately after I had cooked a bunch of them I realized what the smell of uncooked Beyond reminded me of: wet cat food. Now I can't get that association out of my head and the smell of the uncooked patties is so revolting I can't really enjoy them any more :(

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Out of curiosity, are you also ok with how raw hamburger looks, because to me personally that's also super gross. I guess everyone is different though.

IMO ground beef can look bad but it doesn’t have a distinct smell.

When you go vegan for a few years, you can absolutely smell raw ground beef. It's not a good smell.

Are you sure it is the beef and not something about the packaging?

Not the parent, but you can absolutely smell raw meat. It also lingers on dishes, and it seems at some level to also be a cultural thing whether you can detect the smell. Arabs also have a word for the smell - "zankha"

Many people happily eat raw ground beef. I don't know anyone having an Impossible or Beyond tartare.

I gag a little at the thought of that, but objectively i guess all i can say is: to each their own.

It’s super popular in France, Spain, and other European countries. While even some meat eaters dislike it, most people love it.

I think "Impossible Tartar" or "Beyond Tartar" was referred to here, not actual beef tartar.

That does sound disgusting, indeed.

You're absolutely right. "Normal" is just a relative concept.

Japanese cuisine has a substantial part of it built around eating raw produce. Such that many sushi are deemed ok for expecting mothers to eat.

Meanwhile balut is a delicacy in South East Asia.

Scottish people eat haggis, and Iceland eats hakarl (which traditionally used urine)

Asians eat durian while the French love blue cheese. I think all tastes can be acquired.

> Iceland eats hakarl (which traditionally used urine)

I don't think hakarl was ever processed with urine - it just smells like it because of the high urea content. Do you have a source that it was processed with urine?

Why is wet cat food smell revolting to you? It's meat, after all.

Personally I don’t eat cat food. Most of the meat I prepare smells completely different.

Have you… smelled cat food? Not appetizing. It is meat, yes, but does not smell like ground meat, pâté, or hot dog meat, even. I'm not sure if it's because of the way the meat is processed (akin to potted meat), or if it's because of potentially added aromas, as cats do prefer fishy doors.

Yeah, I feed my cats wet food every day. It smells a bit funny, but not repulsive.

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