What a vegan will do for pulled pork

fishlessman

Zippylip said:

SkySaw said:

It's not that, at least not from my perspective. Innovative things often have no existing language to communicate adequately what it is; that's where metaphor is useful.

exactly, this is not rocket science & I'm unsure why so many people get their panties bunched up over this 'encroachment' of terms used to describe food.  Is there some fear of being duped into eating a vegan substitute by a clever chef or restaurant?  I mean seriously is this the sort of thing that people actually worry about?

a good test would be a chef duping people out by serving bacon hidden as an apple chip to a vegan peta crowd. see if there panties get bunched up when they find out 

gdenby

Just another tangential comment having to do with language use. I came across piece by a food writer/historian named Robert Moss about trying to recreate the dish called "Hoppin' John." He starts with observations that were similar to mine when I've tried to make it. Its not very impressive for a holiday dish. So he begins to dig thru old records. 1st he finds that the modern recipes call for black-eyed peas, but the earlier text use words that can mean any of 3 different kinds of beans. He eventually narrows down the choice to a similar bean called Pigeon Peas, which when cooked turn the cooking water slightly purple. Then he gets into the rice. Most modern rice raised in the US is not anything like what was originally used. If you want something similar today, the closest is Carolina Gold from Anson Mills, which requires cooking methods quite different that what is now standard. And finally, he gets into the bacon, and mentions that what is widely sold as bacon today would not have been recognized in the old days. Or at least it is such an inferior product that long ago a buyer would have felt cheated.

I've read any number of things like this. No one cooks like great-grandma not because the skills or recipes have been lost, but because the ingredients have changed so much that they no longer produce food anything like what was originally eaten.

And then there's processed food... Is that bread? Well, not really. Its highly refined wheat with additives put in so that it is vaguely nutritious, then puffed by air, not raised by yeast, and coated with a sugar-like substance which browns at a low temperature so it can be cooked with less energy.

So for me, I'd much appreciate if food was called as plainly as possible, but specifically. If its wheat gluten clumps mixed with cultivated and extracted amino acids added, and has a few herbs tossed in, call it that, and not "vegan sauce bolognese" or something in that line.

HeavyG

caliking said:

@HeavyGI didn't say I was offended by fakon - 

Didn't really mean to say that you, per se, was offended.

However, "bothered" is probably the better word to have used.

caliking

HeavyG said:

caliking said:

@HeavyGI didn't say I was offended by fakon - 

Didn't really mean to say that you, per se, was offended.

However, "bothered" is probably the better word to have used.

Try "bewildered" and you'd be pretty close.

TexanOfTheNorth

caliking said:

HeavyG said:

caliking said:

@HeavyGI didn't say I was offended by fakon - 

Didn't really mean to say that you, per se, was offended.

However, "bothered" is probably the better word to have used.

Try "bewildered" and you'd be pretty close.

What about flummoxed?

SkySaw

Canugghead said:

Interesting cook Mark. I know Buddhist vegetarians in south east Asia have all sorts of meat look alike dishes, using tofu as the main ingredient.

We love jack fruit, especially fresh. When I read your post title I envisioned this whole thing in the egg:

That would definitely be the fun way to cook it! Apparently ripe jackfruit is too sweet to work well as a barbecue sandwich. The canned stuff is picked before it ripens.

cookingdude555

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DV4Jl0Q-beE

SkySaw

HeavyG said:

I think anybody looking at "The China Study" as a guide to "the way" should be sure to read the voluminous criticism of that book/study.

I agree with you about the importance of being skeptical of food/diet recommendations. There is so much misinformation out there. I have quite a bit of training in both research methods and statistics and use them professionally, so I am comfortable with my ability to discern good science from poor science from nonsense. All the online 'debunking' of The China Study (or a plan-based whole food diet) so far has been done by people with little demonstrated understanding of the scientific method.

HeavyG

SkySaw said:

HeavyG said:

I think anybody looking at "The China Study" as a guide to "the way" should be sure to read the voluminous criticism of that book/study.

...All the online 'debunking' of The China Study (or a plan-based whole food diet) so far has been done by people with little demonstrated understanding of the scientific method.

If you say so.

mgd_egg

Great post! I haven't even heard of jack fruit. 

TheBrewerMoose

Agree, great post.  I think it's cool that you were able to create a vegan BBQ sandwich that looked and tasted good.  I'm a carnivore (smoking ribs today!) but I also enjoy loads of vegetables and alternative foods.  To me, it just needs to taste good, that's all I want. 

I've done the chocolate bananas before but we used Nutella.  At first I was skeptical, but then I tried one and they were friggn' awesome!

HendersonTRKing

Very creative cook!  Thanks for sharing!

HeavyG

I was curious about how long the idea for using jackfruit to create a simulacrum of a pulled pork dish had been around.

Here's a site from a year ago that uses a crock pot: http://blacksgoingvegan.com/vegan-pulled-poke-pork-but-not-really/


The UK newspaper The Guardian had an article a few months ago talking about how jackfruit is the "hot new vegan ingredient" and includes a recipe for "Club Mexicana’s bbq pulled jackfruit" (they're not calling it "pulled pork" which will make some people more comfortable ) : http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2015/apr/12/green-jackfruit-vegetable-pulled-pork

This paragraph from that article cracked me up:

"The proof of the pudding is in the eating, although, with jackfruit, that can prove difficult when the eater harbours deep suspicions about its meaty appearance. One host on American network WISH-TV refused to believe his barbecue jackfruit slider was vegan, and, through mouthfuls of sandwich, called the guest chef who prepared the dish a liar."

PSHome

HeavyG said:

I think anybody looking at "The China Study" as a guide to "the way" should be sure to read the voluminous criticism of that book/study.

I have.  At the end of the day you need to find the day to day diet that works for you and allows you to be healthy.  Again, we're not vegan, but we have been on a plant strong meat light diet for close to 3 yrs.  Feel great.  No regrets.  

SkySaw

HeavyG said:

If you say so.

I hope I didn't come across too strongly. In the end I agree with PSHome; everyone has to find what works for themselves. The main thing that keeps me motivated is the knowledge that before changing my diet my cholesterol was close to 200. Cholesterol levels below 180 offer some assurance that the cardiovascular system is in good shape, but heart attacks still occur; however, people with cholesterol levels below 150 are extremely unlikely to suffer from heart disease (in fact, there is strong evidence to show that arterial plaques are reduced in size at levels below 150). Since going plant-based, my cholesterol has been steady at 130, and I have never felt better.

Thanks for posting the links about jackfruit. It looks like I will be going back to the Chinese grocery store for more tins.