Staff Writer
People’s first reaction when I informed them I was reporting on the first chicken flesh produced from animal cells was “Eww.” “How does it taste?” was their second remark.
The quick response (which you’ve probably heard before in different settings) is: It has a chicken flavor.
The more detailed response is the longer one that incorporates the “Eww” reaction. Yes, it is unusual to consider consuming a brand-new variety of meat, namely chicken that wasn’t raised by a chicken and will now be marketed as “cell-cultivated” chicken after the U.S. Agriculture Department on Wednesday approved the applications of two California companies, Upside Foods and Good Meat.
The first products of a new era in meat production, which aims to end harm to billions of animals killed for food and significantly lessen the environmental effects of grazing, growing feed for those animals, and handling their waste, are also intriguing (and exciting!).
OVERCOMING THE “meat PARADOX” I’ve always been a meat eater. The “meat paradox,” which psychologists refer to as the psychological struggle experienced by those who enjoy eating meat but find it upsetting to think about the animals that perished to provide it, also affects me.
I’ve written about outbreaks of food-borne illness and the safety of slaughterhouses, so I’m well aware that the chicken on my dinner plate likely suffered to get there.
I was therefore willing to try a different kind of meat and interested to find out if it would taste authentic.
Even though I didn’t think they were great alternatives, I’ve tried plant-based options like the Beyond beef sausage and the Impossible Burger and loved them.
The Beyond beef sausage had a wonderful flavor, but it was a little mealy. The Impossible Burger was also dry, but I think I may have overcooked it. I liked the taste of the items in both instances, but I was still conscious that I wasn’t truly consuming pork or beef.
What about everything being so artificial? I didn’t mind that this new cultivated meat is made from cells that expand to enormous sizes in large steel vats, only to be shaped and formed — “extruded” is the somewhat unfortunate word that came to mind — into recognizable cutlets, filets, and nuggets that would look right at home on the dinner table.
But ultimately, it would come down to taste, just like with any meals. And in this instance, to the main query: Is this new material actually chicken, or is it a forgery?
IT’S TIME FOR THE ESSENTIAL MOUTH TEST. I visited the Upside Foods production facility in Emeryville, California, in January. There, chef Jess Weaver sautéed a raised chicken breast with tomatoes, capers, and green onions in a white wine butter sauce.
Just like any filet fried in butter would be, the aroma was alluring. The flavor was mild and delicate, and the texture was supple, much like any chicken breast I’d make at home if I were a chef with Culinary Institute of America training.
I went to the Alameda, California facility last week where Good Meat is getting ready to start making its chicken products. A smoked chicken salad with mayonnaise, golden raisins, and walnuts was available from chef Zach Tyndall.
He then served a chicken dish called “thigh” that included darker meat and was accompanied by a mushroom-vegetable demi-glace, golden beets, and tiny purple cauliflower florets.
The flavor resembled the dark flesh of a thigh more than a chicken breast and was richer. In addition, the texture was just right—tender and chewy, as a properly cooked chicken thigh ought to be.
According to Tyndall, that is the whole point.
For it to be popular, “it needs to be as lifelike as possible,” he said.
Although “lifelike” is an intriguing word, in my opinion, this will become popular. There are still significant obstacles to overcome, such as how to increase production and reduce prices and the nagging issue of whether chicken without the bird is indeed chicken, but if you’re basing it on authentic taste, I’ll leave you with this:
Please hand me the “chicken.”
