There used to be a vegan restaurant in Downtown Oakland that had entire old-fashioned American diner menu made entirely with faux-meat products.
It is one thing to make mashed potatoes in the shape of a cupcake. Or a cake look like a hamburger. It is a different thing to try and make mashed potatoes taste like a cupcake or a cake taste like a hamburger.
While I'll eat the faux meat products I generally don't really understand the appeal. Of all the things I miss about pork and beef, the first to disappear completely for me was any craving for the texture of pork and beef. As much as I loved a good steak or pork chop back in they day I have to say that now the thought of that "meaty" feeling kind of turns me off and I'm not looking for it to be recreated with some clever manipulation of TVP.
The more processed meat things like hamburgers and hot dogs I am more ok with but even then I'm not really looking for them to recreate the the texture/flavor of beef/pork. A good veggie burger, in my opinion, tastes and feels very much like a veggie burger. And Morningstar corn dogs don't, in my opinion, much taste like real hot dogs but are still very good in that crappy food way.
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