A jury member of a brazilian version of MasterChef, a argentine woman, made a very stinging post against a brazilian second generation vegie burger (similar to Beyound Burger) and used a lot of strong words against it, and called the company who developed it of oportnist lier. She said it was a sh... without tate of meat and with horrible texture and also not health, very processed.
Well, a high level gastronomy jury will certainly be very demanding with quality of food. I don't think she eat supermarket cheap frozen hamburgers.
The youtube reviews about this brazilian vegie burger, which try to recreate meat taste and texture, wasn't that bad, but the best reviews were clear and compared it to frozen supermarket hamburgers, saying it no way had the quality of quality burgers from quality hamburger shops. Cheap frozen burger have artificial flavors to make crap parts of cow (cartilage and nerves) taste similar to meat, in order to try to mask the low quality meat they use. That's probably why some people say the vegie burger taste like cheap real maet burger.
She, the chef jury, attacked vegans, saying if vegans was really vegans they should eat vegetables and not try to find meat replacers to replicate meat flavor and texture.
Another female chef, from other TV show, came in her defence, supporting her.
Well, I think she was very agressive and stinging, despite have reason in some things. She is right about the "new fashion" of fake meat start to claim their veggies are identical to meat, since they are not, just more close than older veggie burgers. There re some opportunism, since the claim it's tricky and are trying to copy the fashion of Impossible Burger and Beyound Burger. But 99% food industry, it's tricky too. Anyway she is right when said it's not health, since most have a lot of sodium and much saturated fat.
But the ecologic reason it's important, and also the idea about harm less animals. The investment in research today, the grown of the vegan market, will lead to greater possibilities in a near future, new flavoer, better ways to flavor things and still reduce fat. This can be important.
I don't eat meat and I didn't bought any of these new burgers. And I'm not fool to wait such burgers to have the flavor and texture identical to meat. Impossible Burger may get very close, but the heme it's as bad as meat heme.
That's why I want to create my own vegie burger, with very good taste, some meat taste but not identical, nice texture and nice chew, using health olive oil and sunflower oil, instead of satured fat. I already found the suppliers of the special flavors (natural from yeast) and one of a protein isolate, and one for the special binder, but I need help from someone who have a company to be allowed to buy, since thew suppliers don't sells for common people. A magistral farm said would help me, but the manager needs to talk with the suppliers, and she is very busy with important things. Not sure if she will still hep me, but she had promissed. Years ago she helped me get a product that wasn't available, bought just for me. Well, I will cross my fingers whe will honor the promesi.