This market isn't for existing vegans/vegetarians in most cases, it's for people curious about going that way or cutting down their consumption.
No, what OP said is exactly correct, but the vast majority of people never get exposure to what good vegetarian food is or how to cook it, so they wouldn’t know.
I’ve alternated between vegetarian and omnivore for years, for various reasons (current omnivore but limiting some meats due to cholesterol). I’ve gone through the veggie phase where I think vegetarianism is about black bean burgers and various packaged soy things.
It’s unfulfilling from a food perspective, much in the same way that having a diet of fast food and packaged crap is an unfulfilling omnivore diet. If you eat it every day your body starts to enjoy it and crave it, but it’s not good.
True food enlightenment is not restricted to veggie/meat, it’s expanding your horizons and discovering new tastes and textures and appreciating the cultures and techniques that produced them. This cuts a lot deeper than at face value whether a mushroom can imitate a steak, because that should never have been the goal.
Why on earth would anyone listen to a vegetarian about what makes a good meat alternative.
If a steak chef says an alternative to steak is X, I'll listen.
Because most vegetarians have likely tried a lot more meat substitutes than a meat eater, and most of them have eaten meat at some point?
It seems that any story about meat-eating brings out all the reactionary commenters and switches off critical thinking skills on HN.
Tried, maybe. The vegetarians I know don't do veggie burgers or steaks. They eat the actual vegetables.
I wouldn't take health advice on faith from someone who has a medical degree but never practices medicine.
It's about relative interest. My point wasn't that vegetarians can't know, but that their advice isn't as valuable to me as a recommendation from a current meat eater. The meat eater has less agenda and more recent experience to base their recommendation on.
> If a steak chef says an alternative to steak is X, I'll listen.
That's a faulty analogy. The equivalent would be getting advice on alternatives to driving from someone who no longer drives.
I don't think I'd request advice on the best form of public transport from someone who drives everywhere and has taken the train once or twice.
> The meat eater has less agenda
Ha! Really? Everyone has an agenda. Meat eaters / car drivers / vegetarians / non-drivers have all emotionally committed to their decision. It's naive to think otherwise. Everyone likes to assume their choice is the sensible one and the "other side" has an irrational militaristic agenda.
My point exactly.
In my opinion, I don't think anything vegetarian will come close to a steak anytime soon, but I have eaten chili sin carne, without noticing it being vegetarian.
My main problem is also simply, that I have not learned yet, to cook without meat very good. It takes effort, but is worth it.
100/100 if a good chef cooks fable mushroom and a filet or ribeye or sirloin and blind taste tests they are distinguishable.
And that’s ok. Mushrooms and steak are different. The textures are a little similar but definitely different. Things can be different, that’s ok.
I'm confounded by folks hammering on about how close they are to 'meat'. Hey, chicken, pork, beef are all different too! So what's the problem? Are they good? Do you know a good recipe? That's all that counts.
I’m not sure about that. Internationally, this definitely isn’t true as most Hindu were born Hindu and vegetarian.
And in the US, I’d say that about 1/3 of non-Hindu/ cultural vegetarians friends and acquaintances were born into families that are vegetarian.
I’ve found I like vegetarian Indian way better than anything else. The dishes do not try to recreate some fake meat concoction.
Quinoa can provide small chewy things and also absorb spices as it is cooked. Then, like ground beef, it can be mixed with other foods.
Just because something is a reasonable substitute doesn't mean it must be a processed "replacement" (as they use the word).