to think that people are telling fibs when they say they "Can't tell the difference" with meat substitutes?

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I am not having a go or anything.
I quite like meat substitutes such as Quorn or whatever.

But all those videos, and blogs and other people.

Beyond Meat Burger - people claim it tastes and feels "just like beef" - NOPE.

Jackfruit pulled 'pork' - tastes and feel JUST LIKE PORK!!
Nope.

Quorn mince bolognaise - you can't tell the difference with mine!

YES I CAN.

They're nice and I like to think of them as their own 'thing' ratehr than fake beef/chicken/pork iyswim?

Is anyone fooled by these replacements - genuinely??

Not with full meat substitutes, but I did try a burger made with 20% mushrooms (which I detest) 80% ground beef and you wouldn't have known a difference.

How would you know if you were fooled?
As a long term vegetarian, I do know there are some of the new super-fake-meat burgers that I can't eat as they just appear too meaty to me!

Yeah and I’m gonna venture a guess that vegan carrot ‘pepperoni’ pizza tastes nothing at all like the real thing. Again, I don’t care what you do or don’t eat, I’m not judging. But don’t tell me that a piece of carrot tastes just like pepperoni, because it doesn’t. And now I can’t believe a word you say.

I think it depends on the meat substitute tbh.

IME the more processed the meat then the more realistic the substitute tends to taste.

That's why creating the perfect meat replacement burger is a multi million race. You cant replace meat, you just can't. Many businesses would love to.

Why I dont get is why vegetarians and vegans want too. It's such a lucrative potential market.

I'm a meat eater but replacing the chomp of meat has proved impossible because of the vital nutrients in it.

I'm vegetarian and have tried lots of meat substitutes. I've had a handful of things that I actually thought tasted like meat: Sainsbury's mini vegan sausage rolls, M&S no-chicken Kievs and the vegan burger/nuggets from Dirty Vegan. Other things are nice but, like you say, don't taste like meat. Which I guess is good if you don't like the taste of meat!

Fruit will never taste like pork

how would i know? you can't fool me :p

I think what people mean is

"I haven't eaten meat in quite a while and have forgotten it, my brain thinks this tastes similar."

Side by side clearly the taste is not comparable.

So veggie mince or veggie 'chicken' pieces are generally not very realistic and you can taste the difference.

However when it comes to things like chicken nuggets then it can be hard to tell the difference. My meat loving DP was shocked when he tried the Richmond vegan sausages because he would never have guessed they weren't meat. He had to check the package to make sure he hadn't picked the meat ones up by mistake and even then he still couldn't believe it.

As a long term vegetarian, I do know there are some of the new super-fake-meat burgers that I can't eat as they just appear too meaty to me!

I haven't been vegan for that long but I'd agree with this. I actually find a lot of meat substitutes uncomfortable to eat because they taste too meaty and real to me.

I think people forget - I was given some gluten free scones by someone who hadn’t eaten anything with gluten in for years and she said you couldn’t tell the difference but you really really could. It’s probably the same when you haven’t eaten meat in a while. I do like a lot of the substitutes but still eat meat so can definitely tell the difference.

I have tried LOADS of sustitutes, happy to be fooled. I like trying them and enjoy them.

but not a single one tastes/feels like the food it is trying to imitate :)

Generally I agree with you. Although I did cook a spag bol with vegetarian mince when we had a chef friend over, and when were nearly finished he looked at me confused and asked 'are you eating meat?'

Dh says the linda mccartney sausage rolls taste as nice if not nicer than meat sausage rolls

But i guess thats not the same as tasting the same

Something very processed like nuggets or frankfurters - that’s probably easier to fool people with

DP was also shocked by the Greggs vegan sausage roll and again questioned whether they had given us meat ones by mistake. It was deffo the vegan one though. The pastry is different.

If you’re ever in America try the impossible burger. I still eat meat and even that fooled me.

@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland that’s exactly what I was going to say, I’ve not had meat for so long I’m thinking it’s more similar than it is.

I had some veggie sausages at a pub and I was convinced they had misheard and given the real thing as they tasted so meaty, I asked my friend to take a bite and she said ‘yuck definitely vegetarian’.

Mostly you are right but the exceptions in my experience are Quorn chicken nuggets, southern fried chicken and chicken burgers. Genuinely can’t tell the difference with those.

Quorn mince, steaks etc just aren’t the same although they are nice!

Quorn chicken burger and nuggets are very realistic. In fact I gave my parents a 'chicken' burger in a bun with salad etc and they didn't even realise it wasn't proper chicken. But yeah I know what you're saying op a lot of it is rank.

Agree with most others. Plenty of vegetarian/vegan substitutes taste nice, but they do not actually taste remotely like meat.

I am vegan and I think what people mean by this phrase is that the substitute tastes just as nice as what meat would to the meat eaters.

Try not to get too upset by it.

Can I ask again?

If you are vegetarian or vegan, why do want the taste of meat?

I forgot to mention that the first time I bought and cooked beyond burger I got halfway through eating it and had to check the packet to make sure I hadn't actually bought a meat one. However they have changed it recently and it doesn't seem as 'meaty' anymore