A few years ago, Miyoko Creamery’s Vegan “Butter” [that’s it, I have fulfilled my irony quote duties for the evening, EU] was simply the best there was. Hands down. No contest. It was so good that several times it was my treat food. Instead of candy or snacks I would get it and then just enjoy it over the next several days.
The end result is that one of the absolute icons of the vegan and plant-based lifestyle has her name associated with a product that she is not actually affiliated with and has no control over. Which is shame.
And, frankly, is one of the reasons I think corporate veganism needs to…well, not die…but cease to be the face of vegan discourse.
I DIGRESS…
The good news is that Miyoko has released a video showing her current take on The Real Miyoko’s Vegan Butter:
Considering I have no real care to support the Schinner-less brand AND the fact that I cannot get said butter over here, anyhow, I am all in. Miyoko Schinner is a wonderful cook and I highly recommend you see her videos.
Just in case you are curious, my other favorites (in alphabetical order) are:
Which one will vibe with you depends on a lot of factors but they each do things that I absolute love. Pick one at random and go from there.
Speaking of Vegan Foods, Doug’s Vegan Roast
While typing this up I am cooking my take on a vegan roast. It is partially a known recipe, partially an experiment. It smells reallllly good. The plan is to cook it, then cool it off, then freeze it, and then re-cook it tomorrow.
It roughly goes like this: take a block of tofu. How big? Doesn’t matter, really. Then, for around every 150g/5(ish)oz of tofu, you want to add in what I’m going to call half a cup of vital wheat gluten. I don’t know precisely how many grams it is because I take a measuring cup that is basically 4-liquid-oz and just whack it in. I could measure it, but it’s not really necessary. It can vary.
Then, also, for each of those “units” of tofu, you want around 15ml of olive oil and soy sauce. And roughly the same by volume measure of nutritional yeast.
In more American units, a pound block of tofu will need 1.5 cups of gluten (up to 2 works, but you might need a bit of water). Then 3tbsp of oil and 3tbsp of soy sauce and 3tbsp of nutritional yeast. You can also, like me, just pour it in and hope.
At this point, it starts to be up to you. I tossed in a few spoonfuls of flavoring: onion powder, garlic powder, ground mushrooms, a spicy blend I made. How much flavoring? I don’t know. Enough. I add this early with the tofu and whip it in a food processor until it’s a paste and taste it. I want it to taste strong. Not so strong that I hate it. But maybe 150% – 200% as strong as I need it to be at the end.
Pardon the pun, but go ham. Black pepper. MSG. Brown sugar. Add a bit at a time to hit the vibe. I like mine a bit spicy and a bit smokey. I had pan roasted the spice blend (which had paprika, cumin, coriander, chili peppers, and some other stuff, and was ground up afterwards) so that worked for me. Just toss in some stuff and then figure out what you did and did not like about it.
THEN you mix in the vital wheat gluten. Depending on how wet the tofu is, you might need to add in some water. With the above, I needed about 30-40ml of water extra. I like to add in a bit of baking powder. The general rule of thumb I go for is: if you make VWG to be cooked wet, use vinegar; if you are going to dry cook it, use baking powder. Both help to balance the flavor of the strong gluten taste.
Process until it is chunky and a bit damp but well mixed. Take it out. Split it into three or four, and then put each bit back into the food process and work it for a few minutes. It will go through a stage where it looks like ground meat and then sort of clump up into a dough ball. That works. Take that out and flatten it. Do it with the others. Finally, kind of mash it all together.
Where I diverged is I took that second ball of dough and I broke it up into 7 or 8 pieces. I took each piece and ran it back through the food processor on high until it got very gluten-y. Then I rolled that into a long strip. Like a little gluten snake. I would do it for 2 or three and weave them together and then take an un-extra-processed one and sort of use that to fill in the gaps. The idea was to add in variance to the textures.
Once it was assembled for the third time, I wrapped once in parchment paper and then three times in aluminum foil [ours is a bit small, here]. It is a wily beast. If you don’t wrap it tightly, it will expand a lot. You can also do a few things like pan fry it to try and lock up in a shape.
Then I bake it at around 180(ish)C for a little over an hour. Turning it ever so often. In this case, because our local tofu comes in half-kilos, I’m giving it an extra ten minutes.
Take it out, let it cool.
Like I said, I will then freeze it overnight and thaw it in the morning. This process does some interesting things with the gluten strands.
I’ll try and remember to edit in a picture after all is said and done.
I write the following with two perhaps important caveats:
I am an American citizen currently under the auspices of the European Union and enjoying the delightful country of Belgium for work- and family-related reasons and therefore mostly have a stake in this “fight” in that, for a period of a couple of years, I will be eating Belgian (et al) food.
I consume a plant-based diet (though lean more towards beans and tofu than pre-processed “meat substitutes”).
Stricter Naming for “Meat-Alternatives” Vegan Products
And Arjen Lubach gives a nice rant about it which is actually where I first heard about it because, once again, The Algorithm and I have not yet come to terms. His video is in Dutch with English subtitles available. I appreciate his sass.
When the numbers flashed up on the screen — 355 in favor, 247 against and 30 abstentions — Imart looked visibly relieved and drew a round of applause from her colleagues. The overall reform package, including the ban, was later adopted by a comfortable margin.
Following the links in that article, the actual terminology is explained. Adding to a list of suggested “reserved for meat products only” terms introduced in the utter mouthful of the Annex 1 (PDF) to, deep breath, the “Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 as regards the school fruit, vegetables and milk scheme (‘EU school scheme’), sectoral interventions, the creation of a protein sector, requirements for hemp, the possibility for marketing standards for cheese, protein crops and meat, application of additional import duties, rules on the availability of supplies in time of emergencies and severe crisis and securities.” On that document, pages 3 & 4 have the terms including the usual suspects of beef, chicken, pork, and rump.
Amendment 113 (PDF) is what is triggering the above articles and discussions. To the above list, it adds:
Steak
Escalope
Sausage
Burger
Hamburger
Egg yolk
Egg white
In the next part, it refers to poultry-meat (note: hyphenation is mine to stop spell checker from shouting at me) as a whole other broad category (via reference to Regulation (EU) No 543/2008) though most of that seems primarily contained within the aforementioned/linked proposal.
Perhaps buried a bit in the coverage is part of Amendment 113, prior to enumerating the list, states: “These names include, for example.” In other words, the above list should not be considered total or all inclusive. It essentially opens up the doors to the argument that any name understood by common-use language that might be associated with meat-adjacent production could be argued to be included by proxy. Jerky, pot pies, and maybe even certain soups and stews could be argued under such rulings.
It is labeled as vegan, soy-based (twice), and a source of fiber (which is distinctly untrue of meat based burgers). It is also labeled as Garden Gourmet though I admit that you could make the argument that “garden” does not necessarily preclude meat.
Why Such Laws at Least Slightly Bother Me (and not exactly the obvious reason)
Let me be clear, I 100% support farmers and I 100% support clear labeling. Consumers deserve options. Farmers deserve recognition as the backbone of society. Society exists as a concept because farmers make the gathering of people into cities and countries possible. It is hard damned work and they rarely get enough credit for the things they do.
Seriously, thank you.
My first issue with any such law, be it here in Europe or elsewhere, is that the conversation almost always turns quickly to consumer confusion. I feel a defined need of consumer harm should be demonstrated before the consumer becomes the main focus of many arguments. I am not sure if there is any evidence that consumers are actually confused, or harmed, by the label. If anything, such terminology helps consumers to find new products and have greater overall choice.
In the vegan space, sometimes the problem is more or less the opposite. Outside of a few restaurants that bury their vegan-lede, meat-eating customers tend to have better labeling than not. On the other hand, if you find a “garden burger” you sometimes have no idea if it is vegan, vegetarian, or just a label meaning “meat-based burger with fun root vegetables” without clarifications. I have ordered plenty of greens and beans and found out that the entire dish is just packed with bacon or ham or meat-broth. Things like kimchi might have their fish sauce component overlooked and served to vega*n customers. One Huntsville restaurant I used to love had hashbrown casserole that made with cream of chicken soup but not labeled as such.
While there is evidence of harm to traditional meat farmers, and therefore an argument fully based on the production side has merit, I am not even sure that such a ban will actually do much to protect them. A similar EU ban on the use of “milk” in reference to plant-based dairy alternatives has not slowed an increasing adoption of plant-based alternatives to replace dairy products. In fact, that’s one of my favorite things about Belgium, there’s a lot of cool soy drink to be had.
Instead, the primary benefit seems to be a chilling effect and re-labeling cost associated to producers of vegan and vegetarian products. “Minced soy patties” instead of veggie burgers or, you know…gehakte soja pasteitjes. Will that really make a difference? While you eat with your mouth and your eyes/nose, etc, the name of food only partially factors into your long term enjoyment of it. It’s not like “burger” or “sausage” or “hot dog” are particularly appetizing words in and of themselves.
I’m just not exactly sure it will actually deter sales. It will require labels, over time, to be adjusted, though, and that costs. And it reframes discussions of vegan diets into more niche terminology.
The Issue of De-meaty-fying (and Mystifying) Meat
My second issue comes out of the general class of words being targeted.
“Burger” and “sausage” terminologies are adopted by vegans and vegetarians because the words’ histories are in a huge class of products only really classified largely by rough shape and product standards.
Amendment 113 says it for me (emphasis mine):
(2) ‘Meat preparations’ means fresh meat, including meat that has been reduced to fragments, which has had foodstuffs, seasonings or additives added to it…
(3) ‘Meat products’ means processed products resulting from the processing of meat or from the further processing of such processed products, so that the cut surface shows that the product no longer has the characteristics of fresh meat.
Burger is practically a neologism. Even tracing the roots as a sandwich back to the late 19th century, the general rise of minced meat being flavored with vegan additives like salt, pepper, onions, and other spices and and then shaped into a scone before being served with a light garden salad between two slices of bread is an absolute infant by historical food standards. The Oxford English Dictionary lists “burger” as being first seen in 1939. While I’m sure that fried biscuits of mince-meat are older in technology, we are not talking a particular class of bread-like meat shapes. We are talking about a specific word.
And while sausage is a much older technology (some of which are essentially “burgers,” now), one in which minced meat is combined with more vegan ingredients to give it a better flavor and then shaped roughly like root vegetables or, you know, other things, the sheer variety of presumably-acceptable-by-Amendment-113 recipes is mind boggling.
Taking the piss a bit, I asked ChatGPT to give me a rough count of sausages not including vega* options: it put the number around 1200. Then said that Germany had 1500+ of those 1200, so…you know, much like prepared-meat-adjacent-food, it is best taken with a grain of salt.
And many of those recipes involve non-meat additives ranging from small amounts to not quite small amounts at all. It is the sorites paradox. When does the pile of sand become a not-pile? How much salt and pepper and vegetable matter in ground beef + beef-fat is too much?
The end result is that there are entire classes of food, let’s add in “nuggets” and “lunch slices” and “filets,” that are popular despite, or possibly because, their removal from the central meat-ness of their ingredients.
I’m more open to phrases like “egg yolk,” “bacon,” and “steak” being recognized. Of course, the latter two are also seeing a general fracturing from a particular food into a wide class of foods.
I mean, I might eat a plant-based diet but even when I was an omnivore, I would rarely wish turkey bacon on anyone.
Just joking, I’m not going to yuck your yum.
I am purposefully going to avoid bringing up a huge variety of food which encroaches upon the same aspect of a naming schema (e.g., pindakaas [peanut cheese]) but are given a pass because they are not pitched as alternatives.
Of course, peanut butter is an awesome source of flavorful protein, but that’s for another day.
To Counter My Own Argument
The big counter to my own argument is that I actually like moving away from meat-derived names in general. Words like patties and nuggets are general enough, but other phrases (e.g., beef-like, chick’n, veggiefish) sometimes pitch the vegan diet as a strange second place to meat-centric diets.
Let me be really clear about something: despite the constant insistence that a plant-based and plant-forward diet is somehow being centered in self-denial and self-limitation, my chosen diet is extremely varied to the point that adding back in meat and dairy (the latter to which I have a strong physical reaction) would be nothing more an opportunity cost vs cheaper, more ecologically friend, more sustainable, and more varied foods. To say it louder for the people in the back:
Despite the constant insistence that a plant-based and plant-forward diet is somehow being centered in self-denial and self-limitation, my chosen diet is extremely varied to the point that adding back in meat and dairy (the latter to which I have a strong physical reaction) would be nothing more an opportunity cost vs cheaper, more ecologically friend, more sustainable, and more varied foods.
While you do cut out some foods, the variety of flavors, tastes, and types of foods is far greater on the plant side of thing unless you perhaps include a wide variety of non-farmed animal meats, more exotic fish meats, and insect protein.
Even then, a lot of the cores of cooking, such a spices, are notoriously vegan. Minus the use of animal fats, meat, and dairy itself.
While the line between “non-beef plant-based hamburger patty” and “centuries old tofu recipe” is wide, my point is merely that such inventions are constantly being treated as a newfangled idea when they, in their purest form, predate many modern food practices. Human society has enjoyed plant based protein long before protein was being studied as a concept.
And I admit I would be absolutely irritated if words like “tofu” or “seitan” were taken out of context and turned into a meat-bearing product (setting aside that plenty of tofu and wheat gluten recipes do involve meat, traditionally).
Maybe this is a good time to come up with a new terminology and recommit to the “Vegan 1.0” of increased food variety, whole foods, sustainable practices, and flavors that are not so beholden to a meat-centric view that is so hardwired that it, checks notes, requires laws to protect it.
Conclusion
I will obviously abide by whatever decision comes out of this, I am just not all that supportive of re-limiting certain words when your average consumer is more than capable of coming to their own informed decision.
The history of food is vast, complex, and as essential to culture as language itself. Using language to reshape that in a prescriptivist manner actually interferes with one of the great joys of human expression: enjoying food, updating old recipes into new delights, responding to cultural change, and sharing all this with others.
All that being said, I will reiterate that I do very much support farmers and their sacrifice. I just also support consumers and their sacrifice.
PS: Shout Out to Dan
My roommate in 2002, Dan, complained about some world-building I was doing in a roleplaying game I was writing where I said that by the late 2010s and early 2020s, a “war of words and their meaning” would be the frontline of the reality wars: where different people fractured into world views framed by their languages. He said such terms as I was using was overblown and never going to happen.
