Plant-based salmon that looks, feels and tastes like the real deal
VEGANUARY is behind us, but with a plant-based diet becoming increasingly popular, more people are looking for ways to cook their favourite dishes, meat-free.
With more and more people adopting vegan, vegetarian, and plant-based diets, a Canadian start-up, New School Foods, claims to have developed a technology to produce plant-based salmon fillets that look, feel and taste like real wild salmon.
The company said their team has managed to recreate elements of a salmon fillet that include “aligned muscle fibres, connective tissue, fats, and other components”.
Plant-based meat alternatives have been around for years, with brands like Fry Family Food Company, Beyond Meat, or Impossible Foods being the most well known in a growing industry. But fish and seafood options have not received as much media attention as meat options. Although New School Foods' innovative product is not yet ready for market, the company claims that its plant-based salmon has nearly all the properties of the real thing.
According to their website, this is how the product looks, cooks, tastes and flakes:
Looks
“We've recreated the structure of a salmon fillet, including aligned muscle fibres, connective tissue, fats, and other components thanks to our proprietary muscle fibre and scaffolding technologies.”
Cooks
“Our salmon fillets transition from raw to cooked, and under similar cooking conditions to ordinary salmon.”
Tastes
“Our fillet tastes like salmon thanks to our proprietary flavour technology, is high in protein, and matches the same level of Omega-3s found in wild salmon.”
Flakes
“Once cooked, New School Foods' salmon forks into flakes and fibres, thanks to our muscle fibre technology platform, replicating the mouthfeel and texture of fish.”
Although the product could be a game changer when it comes to sustainability, at the moment it's only available for chefs to trial as part of their pilot programme in select restaurants. — IOL FOOD