Why is there an unending search for plant-based meat to resemble animal meat? Plant-based product makers relentlessly try to mimic the fatty part of pork or the shape of a chicken drumstick. So why do vegans like to eat food that looks like their animal counterparts?
Most vegans started out as omnivores. The environment that we are raised in definitely has a big contribution to our diet and lifestyle. Whenever we are presented with plant-based versions of animal products, we would first examine their likeness to the original taste and texture we remember when we still used to consume meat. It’s the familiarity of the lifestyle before going vegan that hits first. There are countless times that the question of why vegans want their food to look and taste like meat has been raised. People need to understand that vegans aren’t repulsed by the taste of meat. We are repelled by the things done to animals in order to get that meat. In the end, it’s about animal welfare. Buying vegan bacon does not involve the suffering of a pig; buying a vegan egg does not end a chick’s life. It’s that simple.
It’s not a question of flavor. I can have cheese made out of cashew and still have the same satisfaction, but this time without the lurking thought that the ingredient used here was stolen from a mother cow. When we cook food, we season them with herbs, spices, and other various things to combine flavors. I’ll always remember the classic story of Caporushes wherein she told her father, ‘I love you as fresh meat loves salt’. She was driven away but when you think about it, it means that steak without salt will be flavorless. Most of the things that meat-eaters enjoy the most are those foods that have been seasoned and cured into perfection. Vegans love that too. You use meat as your canvas, we use plants as ours. We still use the same seasonings, but we’d prefer it without the thought of cruelty.
When I get to eat veganized versions of something, I would usually judge it for what it is: a plant-based product. What’s important is the thought that no animals were harmed in the making of it.
Originally published at https://thevegplate.substack.com on March 29, 2022.
