WTF is wrong with people???

Ron_L

Ron_L

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https://www.cltampa.com/food-drink/...ow-serving-vegan-beyond-burnt-ends-sandwiches

Chalk up another win for the plant-based community.

All Tampa Bay 4 Rivers Smokehouse locations are now serving vegan Beyond Burnt Ends Sandwiches. The brand launched the 100% plant-based dish as a way to celebrate 4 Rivers 10th anniversary, and to appeal to their vegan and vegetarian guests.

“The 4 Rivers culinary team spent months perfecting the Beyond Burnt Ends and we’re very proud that we’ve created a plant-based barbecue dish that has been so well received by our guests,” John Rivers, Founder/CEO of 4R Restaurant Group said in a statement. “As a brand, we’re constantly evolving and listening to consumers and right now there is definitely a demand for plant-based barbecue.”
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And in case anyone is wondering about Beyond meat...

https://steemit.com/diet/@honeybee/beyond-meat-vs-lean-beef

Anyone who's talked to me about food will be able to guess my reaction to the claims about the ingredients list being important here. (If we want to, we can list the chemicals that make up beef... it will still be food. Meatloaf is not less wholesome than burgers because it has more ingredients. Etc.)

But getting excited about a 96% lean beef burger just seems sad, like getting excited about diet cheese. That's actually a comparable product for Beyond burgers (as are fast food burgers), whereas a properly cooked, pastured, fresh ground brisket or chuck burger is not.
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I get requests for vegetarian/vegan items for my menu almost every week...

Initially my reaction was GTFO. Over the years I've softened a bit. In the past I've done some smoked tofu and some smoked veggies for certain catering events. But I'm not just going to start ordering Impossible burger meat and find a way to smoke that and pass it off as vegan BBQ. That's just silly and trying to appeal to the clueless masses.

But as a chef it has gotten me to thinking about how to think outside the box and incorporate non-meat items with smoke and come up with something that serves as an actual meal. That's what customers usually point out, that hey, sure we can get a lot of sides that don't have meat, but it's not a meal.

It's kind of ironic that one of my managers is vegetarian, got two vegetarian servers, and a vegan dishwasher at my place. :crazy: But they too have pushed me to start thinking about how to incorporate something on the menu that would appeal to someone who wants to experience something barbecued, but just not pure meat.

The wheels are still turning, but I'm sure something tasty will come from it.
 
marubozo said:
I get requests for vegetarian/vegan items for my menu almost every week...

Initially my reaction was GTFO. Over the years I've softened a bit. In the past I've done some smoked tofu and some smoked veggies for certain catering events. But I'm not just going to start ordering Impossible burger meat and find a way to smoke that and pass it off as vegan BBQ. That's just silly and trying to appeal to the clueless masses.

But as a chef it has gotten me to thinking about how to think outside the box and incorporate non-meat items with smoke and come up with something that serves as an actual meal. That's what customers usually point out, that hey, sure we can get a lot of sides that don't have meat, but it's not a meal.

It's kind of ironic that one of my managers is vegetarian, got two vegetarian servers, and a vegan dishwasher at my place. :crazy: But they too have pushed me to start thinking about how to incorporate something on the menu that would appeal to someone who wants to experience something barbecued, but just not pure meat.

The wheels are still turning, but I'm sure something tasty will come from it.
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And that's the way is should be handled! I have nothing against folks who choose not to eat meat. I just do not line manufactured food! There are so many options for vegans and vegetarians without resorting to stuff like this!
 
I have no issue with people wanting a meat alternative and asking for one in a restaurant. In the BBQ world, I've heard good things about people making "pulled pork" with smoked jackfruit.

I guess the issue I have with it all, is when you read that someone is suing a major burger chain because their vegan plant burger touched the grill that also cooked that meat. It sadly seems that in today's world, that's the kind of BS you open yourself to when you try and please everyone.
 
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Ron_L said:
And that's the way is should be handled! I have nothing against folks who choose not to eat meat. I just do not line manufactured food! There are so many options for vegans and vegetarians without resorting to stuff like this!
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Yep, I don't buy into a lot of that nonsense. If people don't like meat, why are they always striving to get something that looks and tastes like meat yet isn't meat? We shouldn't have to use manufacturing and chemicals to try to create something that looks and tastes like something else. A plant-based diet is great, and you can eat so many fresh and real ingredients that aren't meat.

Look at a simple chicken nugget. Used to simply be a breaded and fried piece of real chicken. Now it's just some pink or white slime created in a factory with all sorts of things that aren't just meat so that it can look and taste like something it used to be. That's not what food should be.

Good or bad, barbecue focuses on large, unadulterated pieces of flesh. That's the nature of the cuisine. Smoking factory-made protein-like substitutes just because it's trendy? That's not original. Nor probably good cuisine. It's playing into a trend.

We need to be moving away from mass-produced and overly processed food, not encouraging it. And I think in the barbecue segment, there's a lot of room for creativity and growth. But some, like in the article, are taking the easy way out because people know it's trendy and hip.
 
marubozo said:
Yep, I don't buy into a lot of that nonsense. If people don't like meat, why are they always striving to get something that looks and tastes like meat yet isn't meat? We shouldn't have to use manufacturing and chemicals to try to create something that looks and tastes like something else. A plant-based diet is great, and you can eat so many fresh and real ingredients that aren't meat.

Look at a simple chicken nugget. Used to simply be a breaded and fried piece of real chicken. Now it's just some pink or white slime created in a factory with all sorts of things that aren't just meat so that it can look and taste like something it used to be. That's not what food should be.

Good or bad, barbecue focuses on large, unadulterated pieces of flesh. That's the nature of the cuisine. Smoking factory-made protein-like substitutes just because it's trendy? That's not original. Nor probably good cuisine. It's playing into a trend.

We need to be moving away from mass-produced and overly processed food, not encouraging it. And I think in the barbecue segment, there's a lot of room for creativity and growth. But some, like in the article, are taking the easy way out because people know it's trendy and hip.
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:clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2:
 
Totally agree with Marubozo! We aren’t vegan, vegetarian or any of that stuff. But occasionally, we literally crave a non meat meal. Pita, hummus & all the trimmings make a wonderful dinner. The whole effort to create a “vegetable meat” is a bit like someone trying to creat a non alcoholic drink that tastes like real booze. Looks nice, but it just doesn’t work. A grilled portobello sandwich is proof that you can honestly create a delicious non meat meal. My personal belief is that an honestly presented meat alternative is healthier and more acceptable than any pseudoburger.
 
I would think that many Mediterranean style vegetarian dishes could be good with some smoke influence. Never thought about it, but smoked humus, babaganoush (sp?), falafel could be excellent. If you can cater to a larger crowd, why not.

I completely agree with the over processed 'vegi burger" as yuck, but I think there could be a lot of classic non-meat dishes that would be great off a smoker.
 
Clasko2 said:
I guess the issue I have with it all, is when you read that someone is suing a major burger chain because their vegan plant burger touched the grill that also cooked that meat. It sadly seems that in today's world, that's the kind of BS you open yourself to when you try and please everyone.
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On the other hand, imagine you're Jewish and a restaurant chain offered a Kosher food option, only for you to find out it's cooked on the same grill as everything else that isn't Kosher. For many vegetarian/vegan people out there, it's just as strong a belief to them as any religion.
 
marubozo said:
I get requests for vegetarian/vegan items for my menu almost every week...

Initially my reaction was GTFO...

...The wheels are still turning, but I'm sure something tasty will come from it.
Click to expand...

When I was asked to cook vegetarian dish for a large party, I bought a case of Portobello mushrooms and marinated them in a soy-ginger-sesame oil dressing before smoking. They were very well received.
 
I don’t go to a Chevy dealership to buy a new Audi, I don’t go to a baseball game and ask them to play football and I don’t go to a Q joint for kale and a carrot.

Having said that, my daughter just married a vegetarian and that keeps me away from good Q joints when we’re all together. If there was a place where I could eat good brisket and he could get smoked eggplant or a beet burger, I could drag him and his uninformed palate there. Maybe a business case could be made for a non-animal-based choice at a Q joint. Just feels wrong though doesn’t it
 
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