Insomnia, a vegan andabunfight over a chicken roll

Companies clash over an * …but which meatless sandwich tastes best?

A FIGHT recently broke out between an independent vegan sandwich company and coffee giant Insomnia over the name of a Vegan Chick*n Fillet Roll product,

But the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal that vegan food producer Sam Pearson is unlikely to be losing any more sleep over it – as the warring parties have come to an agreement.

The humble chicken fillet roll has long been a staple of hungover people and students alike with its cheap ease of availability and comforting quality.

In recent weeks, the one-man sandwich firm Vegan Sandwich Co. claimed that Insomnia copied the name of its Vegan Chicken Fillet Roll verbatim.

The food company owned by Sam Pearson has been selling the ‘Vegan Chick*n Fillet Roll’ at the Honest2Goodness food market in Dublin on Thursday afternoons since before the start of the summer.

Insomnia had launched its own nochicken fillet roll at the end of October with the same name down to the asterisk instead of the ‘e’ in chicken with a tweet that read, ‘What’s better than a chicken fillet roll? A VEGAN chick*n fillet roll!’

Now the MoS can reveal that Insomnia has agreed to change the name of its product as an act of ‘goodwill’ and a joint project between Insomnia and Sam is in the works, with the Vegan Sandwich company owner saying: ‘They have proposed some sort of collaboration together and I have agreed in principle. I think it is a good idea. They have agreed that it is a good idea and we are just trying to work out what shape that will take.’

But despite this détente, when asked if he had tasted Insomnia’s product, Sam said: ‘Mine is better. I mean it is a pre-packaged sandwich and I have the luxury of making my sandwiches fresh.’

So we decided it would be best to have a blind taste test of the two meat imitation products.

To get an expert opinion, we enlisted the help of veteran butcher and manager of FX Buckley’s Nutgrove outlet, Harry O’Connor.

Last Thursday, we picked up an Insomnia Chick*n Roll from the Ballsbridge outlet.

Speaking about its product, an Insomnia spokeswoman told the

MoS: ‘Our vegan chicken roll is a sourdough baguette, vegan slaw, tomato, vegan mayo and vegan plant-based “chicken” pieces.

‘The vegan pieces are a Quorn product created using mycoprotein. It is a source of protein that is high in fibre and low in saturated fat. It is a natural, nutritious fungus that grows in the soil.

This fungus is known as fusarium venenatum.

‘The fungi is then fermented to grow mycoprotein. And because producing mycoprotein uses 90% less land and water than producing some animal protein sources, it is a great example of a more sustainable and nutritious protein source.’

Then we went to the Honest2Goodness food market beside the Botanical Gardens in north Dublin to pick up the Vegan Sandwich Co. roll. While there, owner and sole employee Sam Pearson told us about his plant-based chicken recipe: ‘It is seitan (pronounced SAYtan). It is a mixture of wheat protein and chickpeas, basically. What you do is, you knead the mixture very heavily and it makes strands inside the seitan which makes the texture similar to that of chicken.’

Sam, who has been a vegan for three years, said: ‘I have always been passionate about food. I have cooked for as long as I can remember. I have had no formal training but I have a very good mam.

‘I was passionate about food and I wanted to start a business but I didn’t really know how. I did a start your own business course with the local enterprise office at the start of this year and it was sort of over the course of that that I cemented what it was that I wanted to do.’

Sam reached into his box of seitan, which has an almost brown colour, and pulled out a chicken breast shaped lump. He rolled it in flour before coating it in batter.

Much like a traditional deli, he asked if I prefer a ‘spicy or plain’ chicken fillet. I answered spicy and he takes the batter-covered ‘breast’ and coats it in his dry spicy mix. Then he carefully lays it in his portable, deep-fat fryer.

After a short while in the fryer, the fillet comes out with a crispy golden brown outer layer much like a crispy chicken fillet you might order in the deli.

The Vegan Sandwich Co.’s stall is equipped with a full range of salads and sauces to accompany your fillet in the roll. Sam decides to match Insomnia’s roll and adds garlic mayo, coleslaw and tomato to the sourdough roll.

With the food collected all that was left was the taste test.

‘I have luxury of making my sandwich fresh’