Man, that looks like it needs a LOT of A-1 sauce. <|:)~
Posted on 03/03/2002 1:37:29 PM PST by turk99
March 3, 2002
Meat substitute made from fungus in U.S.WASHINGTON (AP) -- A fake meat that is made from fungus, but looks and tastes like chicken, has arrived in U.S. supermarkets. In Europe, the meat substitute rivals soyburgers and similar products in popularity.
Known as mycoprotein, it is marketed under the trade name Quorn (pronounced kworn) and made into a variety of products, including chicken-like nuggets, lasagna and fettuccine Alfredo -- even an alternative to ground beef, called "grounds."
"It's wonderful as far as consumers are concerned," said Leslie Bonci, a nutrition specialist who first tried mycoprotein in a London restaurant. "It's a lot of protein for a minimal amount of calories and three to four grams of fiber.
"Scientists found the fungus growing on farms west of London in the 1960s and discovered that its long strands could be made into a product that mimicked the fibrous tissue of meat.
The fungus is now grown through fermentation, mixed with egg and flavorings and fashioned into imitation chicken or beef.
The product was developed by a subsidiary of the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and introduced in Britain in 1985. It is now eaten in one in 20 British households, the company says, and is sold in six other European countries. It arrived in U.S. stores in January after getting approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
"I think it's got a lot of potential. We just have to make sure fungus is not going to appear on the label anywhere," said Bonci, director of sports nutrition at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
It doesn't.
Labels on Quorn products say that mycoprotein "comes from a small, unassuming member of the mushroom family, which we ferment like yogurt.
"That sounds much more appealing than calling it a fungus -- mycoprotein means fungal protein -- but it also is not accurate, critics say.
"It has as much to do with mushrooms as you and I have to do with salamanders," said Michael Jacobson, executive director of the advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest. "We all know what a mushroom looks like. This ain't it."
His group has complained to the FDA about the label, and says the agency should not have approved mycoprotein without requiring more review of its potential to cause allergic reactions, because it has not been consumed in this country before.
A panel of U.S. scientists that reviewed the product at the manufacturer's expense decided there was little chance people would be allergic to Quorn and that the product had many nutritional benefits. Their report, published last year in the journal Food Technology, was submitted to the government.
My mistake - for a while this had me going.
Man, that looks like it needs a LOT of A-1 sauce. <|:)~
Are you really the national hero of Argentina?
Yes, while I did not say so explicitly, I was agreeing with you. Others seemed to be taking the PC position against food technology. They seem to want to get rid of the 6 billion or so people in this world who could not survive using the agricultural techniques, and food handling processes of 300 odd years ago.
The original poster claimed that this dish was skate, presumably the close relative of the shark known as the skate. Much as I love A-1, I wouldn't use it on a shark steak, nor likely on skate (should I ever be served this dish).
You might want to try some "sulphur shelf" mushroom, AKA "chicken mushroom" (not to be confused with "hen of the woods"). It has the same look and texture as chicken meat, will have the same flavor if cooked with broth.
BTW, I've heard that there's been a meat substitute made of shiitake stems for some time, used in Japan.
Yup. The most offensive part was their call for goverment regulation (with prohibition implicit, unless/until approved), "because it has not been consumed in this country before".
UFB!
Can't eat some food because it hasn't been eaten here before? WTF!!!
Argh, there goes my blood pressure for the night!
Let me guess -- it came to you while cruising down The Bisporus?
Yup. I'm the only one left with $10 in his bombachas (gaucho pants).
I'll top that. I like "ripe" shaggy manes (so long as they're not maggoty, of course), with the gills starting to drip black ink. Mmmmmmmm, do they cook up a fantastic black gravy with steak!
Don't really go for puffballs, though. Taste like scorched rubber to me. Or at least how I'd think it would taste.
My favorites are lepista nuda, hypsizigus tessulatus, and marasmius oreades (as well as morels, and the old reliable a. campestris of course, which always seem bigger and tastier in the wild then their domesticated bisporus counterparts).
Sorry about the ?'s, I'm not real up on the latin names for those.
Espero que no sos un pobre gaucho con solo $10 en sus bombachas!
Su verdadera amiga,
mrs slocombe
Would you settle for sarx?
Would you settle for sarx?
The initial violent symptoms subside, and the victim "recovers", but then his liver begins to methodically kill him over the course of a couple of days, in a slow, gruesome, painfull manner.
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