The Impossible Burger bleeds like real meat, and even dedicated carnivores can’t tell the difference. Meat substitutes have finally reached the level of sophistication consumers demand
Since it first appeared on the menu at New York’s trendy Momofuku Nishi back in August, the Impossible Burger has become the city’s most famous patty, drawing in crowds of food critics and meat-lovers alike. With its tender texture, pinkish medium-rare hue and succulent flavour, the sought-after burger seems like the perfect carnivorous feast. Meat, however, is the one ingredient you won’t find in the Impossible Burger.
Marketed as a ‘meaty masterpiece’, the pioneering veggie burger is said to be indistinguishable from real beef. After five years of extensive scientific research into the burger-eating experience, former Stanford University biochemistry professor Patrick Brown and his team at Impossible Foods have finally cracked the perfect plant-based formula. By analysing beef at a molecular level, the Silicon Valley start-up has managed to pinpoint what gives a burger its juicy, meaty flavour: a protein called heme.
