Whats the point of fake meat?

[SethDrebitko]

Anyone here it fake meat? By fake meat I mean tofu and such that is flavored like it is meat. I just don't get the point.

[Alise]

Namaste,

I'm not yet a vegetarian, but I can answer your question. Many people like the taste of meat, but if he/she chooses to be vegetarian, because of cruelty to animals (but not the taste of meat), so he/she would rather eat fake meat, because no animal died to make it. Also, it would make easier to transfer to vegetarian diet.
Hope I helped.

Have a nice day,
~Alice

[Eastern Mind]

Vannakkam:

Nice explanation, Sweet Alisija. My son eats the stuff all the time. He likes barbecuing, and if he goes camping with carnivorous friends it becomes less of an issue. I remember one staff barbecue I went to where the organisers bought tofu burgers for me, but I got tied up with a parent or student and by the time I got there, all the tofu ones were gone as the carnivores got curious.

We rarely eat it, but while traveling a veggie burger is a quick anf easy option if you can find a place that serves them. I cannot stand tofu hot dogs though. Last time I had one, I upchucked it. Tasted too much like meat.

Aum Namasivaya

[Ekanta]

As you probably have noticed if you go to a restaurant where there is no tradition of veg and order veg, they just substitute the meat with what you mentioned, or even worse they just add more vegetables, lol.
I think this is the main reason, people just dont know how to cook veg food and this is the easy way out.
When I was in India, it was paradise for me, so many veg menus everywhere and cheap too! yummy yummy!

[ScottMalaysia]

I love fake meat. It would have been much harder for me to be vegetarian if it wasn't for fake meat.

I eat vegetarian sausages several times a week at least. They taste just like the meat ones but I know that I'm not killing any animals by eating them. I also like pastries and lasagne made with vegetarian mince and they taste just like real mince.

The whole point of fake meat is that it tastes like real meat but doesn't involve the death of living creatures so vegetarians can eat it with a clear conscience. It's more common in East and South-East Asian countries than it typically is in the West (although it is becoming more popular in New Zealand, at least in the supermarket). In Malaysia you can find Chinese vegetarian restaurants with a large variety of fake meat dishes.

[Ramakrishna]

Namaste,

I agree, the main reason is to make it easier for new vegetarians who like the taste of meat. But I still eat it anyway even though I don't miss the taste of meat. I don't even remember what meat tasted like, as I was nine years old when I last ate meat.

They are also very convenient since there are so many different varieties. I in now way way miss meat, but I still enjoy Morningstar "sausage" patties and Tofurky "turkey" slices. I really don't care what they are called. All I know is that they don't involve the slaughter of animals, are very healthy, and also taste good!

Jai Sri Krishna

[sanjaya]

I eat veggie burgers all the time, probably every other day or so. From what I'm told it tastes nothing like a real burger, but I honestly like it. Veggie burgers and other similar foods are also a convenient alternative at barbecues (I actually own a grill just for this purpose).

[satay]

namaste,
I like the smell of BBQ food. Thus I end up eating BBQ'ed veggie burgers and BBQ'ed real veggies in general. These burgers don't taste like meat but the texture is there.

[Sahasranama]

It's often a good source of protein. I don't consider tofu, tempeh, quorn or seitan fake meat. I have eaten meat until I was 12 years old, these vegetarian products don't taste like meat at all.

There are a lot of other fake meat products, like fake eggs, fake shrimps, fake sausages, fake sardines. I don't like the taste of these things at all. When I was starting out, I did eat them regularly. But now I don't want food that looks and tastes like meat. I also think that these food items are unhealthy, because how it's sprayed with pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, larvicides, genetically manipulated, modified with chemicals to aldulterate the taste.

[Madhuri]

Actually tofu tastes nothing like meat. It is just another food source. What it has in common with meat is the protein, which is very important to health and growth.

But food manufactured specifically as mock meat is for people who like meat but are against killing animals. I like mock meat, not because it reminds me of meat, but because I like the taste and texture. I usually don't even think of it as mock meat, i just think of it as a food ingredient.