Plant -based eating is surging in popularity although letting go off meat seems predominantly hard for the male part of our population. Devouring meat seems to go hand in hand with descending from the male human species as it shows in advertisement on TV and magazines, billboards and in our own back yard when firing up a BBQ. But, there is a new trend which is surging in status how people will eat in 2019………across the social media there is a big push to show that vegetarian and vegan consumption can be seen as a male choice in 2019.
Plant based food blogs, vlogs and new cooking recipes are showing how to ditch meat for produce based alternatives with a meaty flavor. They all trying to market a new product for our male counterpart based on veggies but with a “taste” of meat. How will they create this meaty taste which is apparently so important as a selling point for the vegetarian human male species?
A big part of creating vegetarian or vegan meals with a meaty flavor is umami. What exactly means Umami? Definition of umami (Entry 1 of 2) : the taste sensation that is produced by several amino acids and nucleotides (such as glutamate and aspartate) and has a rich or meaty flavor characteristic of cheese, cooked meat, mushrooms, soy, and ripe tomatoes : SAVORY entry 2 sense 2Umami is often described as a meaty flavor and is particularly strong in aged or fermented products, like cheese and wine. Carla Ranicki— compare BITTER entry 2 sense 1b, SALTY entry 2 sense 1b, SOUR entry 2 sense 1b, SWEET entry 3 sense 2 Definition of umami (Entry 2 of 2) : being, inducing, or marked by one of the five basic taste sensations that is typically induced by several amino acids and nucleotides (such as glutamate and aspartate) and has a rich or meaty flavor characteristic of cheese, cooked meat, mushrooms, soy, and ripe tomatoes crab risotto made from local crabs is powerful with the big umami flavor of brown meat.— Jay Rayner: SAVORY entry 1 sense e— compare BITTER entry 1 sense 1a, SALTY entry 1 sense 1b, SOUR entry 1 sense 1, SWEET entry 1 sense 1 This is said about UMAMI in Merriam Webster Dictionary.
There is a tale about a Japanese scientist who first discovered the savory taste of amino acid which occurred in soup stocks when made with seaweed. It is called the fifth basic taste, next to sour, sweet, bitter and salty. This savory taste can be found in mushrooms not just only your basic mushrooms, shiitake and oyster mushrooms are gaining popularity and as for a profitable business growing mushrooms can be a very profitable choice now vegan and vegetarian food options are in the upswing.
Umami can also be found in mature cheeses, anchovies and foods enhanced with MSG. The latter is not something I would prefer due to allergic reactions a lot of people experience when eating MSG. Besides Umami another trend in the upsweep of the food business is the exchange of flour for cauliflower or swapping your bun for lettuce.
This is not solely related to vegetarian and vegan restaurants, but even fast food joints are swapping flour for plant-based packaging. Think of chicken wraps, wrapped in lettuce instead of flour based wraps or think of rice which is replaced with milled cauliflower. With all these developments in the food business going on, one can see new opportunities business wise.
Trends and their followers create a refreshing look on food whether you like it or not and that is a good thing. A mindset being stimulated to think outside the box opens a whole new world of opportunities business wise and health wise.
