It started because Eshchar Ben-Shitrit wanted a good steak. The Israeli marketing manager had given up meat, but missed the texture, flavour and smell of the real thing.
Along with co-founder Adam Lahav, he launched Redefine Meat in 2018 to try and solve his problem. Six years and several million pounds of investment later, including the largest ever grant given to a technological startup from the Israel Innovation Authority, the company has now rolled out their high tech meat free products in Britain.
Using soy and pea protein, the firm 3D prints simulacrums of animal-based products including flank steak, pulled pork, and lamb kebabs.
An executive at Crisp, a Dutch supermarket that has also recently begun selling Redefined Meat, says she was “completely blown away” by their taste and texture. Marco Pierre White insists it is, “the cleverest thing I’ve seen in almost 40 years in the kitchen” and the JC agreed with him when reviewing his ‘fake steak’ last year.
But how would it fare in my home kitchen? Can plant matter really replace beef mince? I ordered a few packs of the stuff from Ocado (where 250 grams retails for £4) and made a lasagna to find out.
The advantage here is that I could make the classic recipe — crreamy bechamel sauce paired with alongside meat and topped with cheese — and still keep it kosher. One may not be able to boil a kid in its mother's milk, but you can boil pea-based protein.
On initial inspection, Redefine Meat does look like the real thing. I decided to use it in Marcela Hazan’s “gold standard” recipe for a traditional ragu alla bolognese (which also takes a normally non-kosher cup of milk).
The fake meat looks a little like chunks of tuna while being cooked (Photo: Felix Pope)[Missing Credit]
Following the instructions on the packet, which say the mince should be defrosted for 12 hours before being fried for at least 9 minutes in a couple of tablespoons of oil, I begin to cook it exactly as I would real meat.
Within about a minute of hitting the pan, however, it no longer looks like beef at all. The chunks of plant protein break apart nicely, but increasingly begin to resemble lumps of tuna fresh from the can.
Unlike the relatively cheap supermarket mince I normally use it does not release a huge amount of water, which is a plus. On the other hand, it never starts to brown and crisp up. Some does caramelise in the bottom of the pan, but I assume it contains little flavour.
Once the mince is cooked in a tomatoey sauce, I layer my ragu with gooey bechamel and sheets of pasta. After 30 minutes in the oven, the finished item looks pretty much the same as any other lasagna but, dotted throughout, are those still tuna-like chunks.
On the Israeli start up’s website, Dutch celebrity chef Ron Blaauw is quoted as saying: "When we give to people a classic dish but with Redefine Meat, they don't ask what's in it – that's the best compliment."
Sadly, not quite my experience. The meat substitute is pretty tasteless. The cheese is nice, the pasta is good, but the mince that ought to be the heart of the dish lacks the depth of flavour of animal protein.
In my view, one might as well use (mycoprotein-based meat-free) Quorn, which is no more bland, or just make a tomato sauce instead.
Redefine Meat’s flank steak, which has been praised by reviewers including my colleague Josh Kaplan) and described by vegans as almost too meaty, may be a more promising option. I’ll order that one next.
