Do You Like Mock Foods?
I ask this, because I was thinking the other day, while watching a bacon ad on television and my mother started to drool. NOw, I have never liked bacon. Ever. Can't stand the stuff. But for some reason, I have always really liked turkey bacon. No idea why, but I love it! I make BLTs with it all the time, too.
So, vegetarian/vegan or otherwise, do any of you have the same strange preferences of a mock food over a "real" food?
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
Start Talking!
Need a question answered? Have advice to share? Start a Talk topic now!
Sign up to get your questions answered and share advice.
28 Comments:
A similar topic was started recently:
http://www.seriouseats.com/talk/2009/10/mock-meat-its-whats-for-dinner-really-why.html
SqueezeBottle at 12:59PM on 10/28/09
No, I never understood things like "mock apple pie" made with saltines. Better to wait for apple season. I eat the turkey bacon because I like BLTs but shouldn't eat bacon. It's an okay substitute, but stays kina rubbery no matter how long it's nuked.
lambowner at 4:30PM on 10/28/09
omg! This topic made me think of that silly recipe on the ritz box. Has anyone actually ever made that "mock apple pie?" I'll have to check out the link as well.
Jpunk at 4:54PM on 10/28/09
Generally I am one for the real deal, but I only eat poultry and fish as far as meat type proteins go.
We do eat turkey ham around here, although I never hesitate to get the real deal for the rest of the family. I happen to prefer smoked turkey breast to turkey ham, but it's a tad more expensive and the guys prefer the turkey ham because it's moister.
I was never into burgers, steaks, meatloaf or meatballs, so I make the real thing for the guys and don't even bother trying to make a mock poultry version.
I don't like pepperoni, but my husband and son love Margheritte turkey pepperoni because it's not as greasy and doesn't pool as much on their pizza.
When it comes to butter, it's butter only no margarine. If I'm trying to be good I'll use olive oil instead for sauteeing or dipping bread into.
dhorst at 4:58PM on 10/28/09
@jpunk i've always been curious about that recipe too. since i'm lazy i'll make it an assignment for serious eats staff :)
bobbob at 5:10PM on 10/28/09
@jpunk: I have never tried it, but always had the curiosity to do it...maybe I should do that this weekend on a lark. :)
Traveller at 5:28PM on 10/28/09
I can't eat fake meats except for fake sausage. My feeling is that sausage is all about the spices and not so much about the pork, so as long as the spices are right it will taste good. I can't eat fake or turkey bacon though because it's just weird to me.
gingercookiewithlime at 5:44PM on 10/28/09
I grew up using Becel margarine in the house, because my family didn't use butter... I still miss it on occasion, but it's not sold here in the States so we use regular butter.
Asian-style fish balls are also really tasty, especially in hot pot cuisine, pho, or grilled in the summer. Mmm.
avaryne at 5:47PM on 10/28/09
@Traveller I'm the same way! I only use bacon in a pinch when I can't get to a market that sells turkey bacon, but I generally find it to be such a waste, since so much of the product is fat.
And yet -- so many recipes call for bacon or pancetta. Turkey bacon, I've found, doesn't create quite as many drippings, but a quick turn of olive oil usually picks up the flavor OK. I use turkey bacon for carbonara, brussel sprouts... you name it!
ec_washington at 5:53PM on 10/28/09
i am actually quite fond of seitan, the asian meat substitute.
cybercita at 6:03PM on 10/28/09
No. Absolutely not. Never. Just say it out load...turkey bacon. Isn't that ridiculous?
dmcavanagh at 6:03PM on 10/28/09
Check out PoorOldMama's thread...is she saying "I bring home the turkey bacon".
dmcavanagh at 6:06PM on 10/28/09
I'm a vegetarian (I do eat fish, though ) and I really don't like all the tofurky-type creations on the market out there. If I want tofu, I eat tofu. If I wanted turkey, I'd eat turkey. Why mess with either? To get protein, I eat natural, vegetarian sources of protein such as legumes and hearty grains. But that's just me. Lots of people like Tofurky and the like. Who am I to judge? :)
lauracarmen at 6:13PM on 10/28/09
When I was a kid, the local butcher sold what he called "mock chicken legs." I loved them. They were some kind of meat on a stick, with a crumb coating. I think they were cheaper than chicken legs at the time. Sort of an economy chicken dish.
A while back, I went hunting for old recipes that might have been those chicken legs, and I found something close to what I recall, but not quite. I'm sure the butcher had his own recipe and methods. Funny thing is that the mock chicken legs were probably made from veal, so maybe veal was cheaper then, compared to chicken.
As far as turkey bacon, to me it's more like ham than bacon. Which is fine, if that's the flavor profile you're looking for. Otherwise, I'd rather use the bacon when it's needed. But to be honest, I probably use a pound or two of bacon a year. I might re-think that if I was eating a pound a week and it was a health issue.
Other than that, I don't really like foods that masquerade as other foods.
dbcurrie at 6:40PM on 10/28/09
I have made the mock apple pie--
The story that tends to go along with it is it was created out of a desire for a dessert but a lack of or inability to afford fruit/apples.
My grandma made it every year around the holidays for an aunt who loved when she made it back in the 50's.
It is edible, but not great, and certainly does not have an apple-like texture, just the spices.
I am also not a fan of fake food products, or food mimics. I am a pescatarian now, but I can make a meal just fine without "fake meat" of any kind. I do like tofu and such, but I don't prep it as I would meat.
sadiepix at 7:54PM on 10/28/09
Life is too short to eat "mock" foods. On the other hand, I don't consider things like soy milk and seitan to be mock foods. They're an entirely different product altogether than dairy milk and meat.
beth1 at 9:07PM on 10/28/09
I heart turkey pepperoni. I know its wrong, but I don't care.
thehostess at 10:11PM on 10/28/09
@thehostess: I do, too! I thought that I might be the only one. I tried them once, when I was trying to make pizza for my parents who both wanted to go on a healthier diet (which they tend to start anew each day) and I loved them! Now I use them over anything else, really. Real pepperoni just tastes like peppered grease, if you ask me.
Traveller at 12:01PM on 10/29/09
I've never tried turkey pepperoni but I've had turkey bacon and it was awful. I rarely eat bacon anyway so I opt for the real thing.
Years ago, I worked for a bakery in Colorado. The owners were very "granola" people. They used to do things like vegetarian pizzas with spelt crusts, etc. One day the owner tried a vegan mozzarella product and asked me for an opinion of it. I was really surprised! It tasted very good, downright creamy. My only critique was that next time he used it for pizza, shred it over the pie instead of cutting little rectangular bricks. The cheese did not spread. At least if it was shredded, it would have looked more like "real" mozzie. It was called Veganrella and that was the last time I ever saw the stuff. Can't find it in supermarkets or health food stores. I made a vegan dinner for a friend and wanted to use it but couldn't find it anywhere.
I do love chicken sausage - but I love it for what it is. To me, it's not a substitute for pork sausage, just another type of sausage. I love turkey burgers when they're well made (read: homemade or at Ruby Tuesday). Again, I like them for what they are and not as a sub for a beef burger.
therealchiffonade at 2:22PM on 10/29/09
Not as a rule of thumb, generally I'll eat the truest version of the food I can find. However there are exceptions - the local veggie restaurant serves mock riblets that are fantastic. Better than some real versions. And while all the fake burgers and hotdogs used to be gross, I was recently served chili made with veggie ground round, and until I was told about it, I had NO idea.
tatianak at 2:36PM on 10/29/09
I like daiya vegan cheese. Not nearly as much as real cheese, but I'll take what I can get. It melts and stretches and tastes good (as in, tastes like the processed cheese product normally used in grilled cheese and on pizza).
KarynMC at 2:55PM on 10/29/09
I'm a purist. I mostly just go for the real thing for myself. But I don't mind the challenge of cooking for my vegetarian, vegan friends and lactose-free friends. In that case, I usually avoid the pre-packaged meat substitutes because I just like making my own. Vegan margarine and lentils come in handy...
yayfood at 4:23PM on 10/29/09
I have no problem with turkey or chicken sausages or burgers as long as they aren't pretending to be beef or pork. They're fine as they are, they don't need to pretend they're something else.
Funniest mock food though - I was visiting with the inlaws and the conversation got around to the cost of food and sales and bargains and how better cuts can be cost effective and MIL said that she bought filet mignon. At which point I almost fainted. She doesn't buy cuts like that, ever. So she pulled out one of her filets and it was basically a frozen, formed compressed hockey puck of ground beef that was wrapped in a slice of bacon. I asked her if she realized it was just ground beef and not an actual beef steak, and she was well aware of what it was. "These are only a dollar a piece!" she said. "And they're really good!"
Well, let's think about this. I'd guess that it was maybe 1/6 pound of ground mystery beef. Maybe less -- maybe as little as 1/8 pound. They really were small. Plus a slice of bacon of unknown quality. It's cheap for filet (which is isn') but expensive for ground mystery beef (which it is).
As far as good, if she served it on a bun with the bacon nicely crisped on top of it, that would be fine as a burger. But if someone invited me over for steak and served me a lump of well-done burger wrapped in bacon, I think I'd be underwhelmed. Don't get me wrong - I like burgers - but a burger is not a steak.
dbcurrie at 5:37PM on 10/29/09
"do any of you have the same strange preferences of a mock food over a "real" food?"
I'm a realist so no.
But I choose mock foods on occasion.
hungrychristel at 5:58PM on 10/29/09
@dbcurrie- your MIL stories are so entertaining! lol
hmw0029 at 6:15PM on 10/29/09
bacon comes from pigs, apples are used in making apple pie, burgers are made with ground beef. (preferably chuck).
olddad at 7:16PM on 10/29/09
Love turkey pepperoni. turkey bacon doesn't do it for me.
About the only "fake" substitute food that sort of works for me is a guacamole like mix with all the right additions, but using frozen peas instead of avocados. Mostly only because I always have frozen peas on hand.
lemonfair at 9:01AM on 11/01/09
I love processed cheese slices. Do they count as a mock food? :P
criseyde at 9:17AM on 11/01/09