FOOD TECH.

At Mana Foods a new vegan product is on the rise - and the reviews have gone wild from word to mouth, literally. It’s called “Just Eggs.” I put the “ready” beaten liquid mixture to the test this morning, and it did not disappoint. (Foodnote: I don’t really eat eggs in the conventional sense given my diet restriction, but French-style omelet is a classic food and something that I had loved before especially on a baguette, plain with butter and Dijon mustard, to carry out an obligatory breakfast meal.) But instead I had fresh pea tendrils in the fridge and wild black rice-lentils green tomato risotto cooked yesterday (with extra) and decided to put together a lovely brunch of just eggs and rice (in photo). Real eggs cook well in butter on a non-stick skillet over medium heat swirling the batter around while titling the pan and with a wooden spatula gathering at the center reserving the center raw to bake when three-folded (a culinary school technique every aspiring chef should master). Just Eggs surprisingly achieved the consistency of the technique without much regard to its authenticity - it just worked the way it should as the original - and I was pleased-shocked evenly. Now the taste. Before we go there you must know that the food technologists responsible for this nouveau product used mung bean as base protein sauce with other plant-based ingredients to naturally coagulate and emulsify the mixture to achieve the requisite coat. I remembered a former classmate of mine in grad school who eventually had taken a career path in biotech was really passionate about molecular food synthesizing in producing processed eats canned or frozen and how those foods can extend out their expiration and serve and help plenty without time or enough money to spend on kitchen prep time. High level and advanced food technology to the point of “cloning” like Just Eggs to cater to the vegan and gluten-free demographics (which by the way, according to market research is the fastest growing buyers of health and environment conscious food), is an amazing feat. But at what cost? Given the potential for large-scale production of these beyond egg alternatives responding to demand. But I won’t go that high road at this time (there is another journalistic platform for that sentiment) I want to return accordingly to my review of its taste. It’s a miracle that given a blind taste, whether the cook is really skilled or the product is really resilient, or both, nothing could be further from the truth. A perfect French omelet must have the texture of vulnerability and bouncy savory by fork-to-mouth at once with luscious delicacy sustaining an ephemeral buttermilk enhancement with bitterness from the greens extruding a poetic balance. What a Food Tech. genius! I wonder how my old classmate’s doing these days, at what level is he engineering food’s cutting edge, and what masterful synthesis he’s discovered at the DNA level of plant ingredients to stir away food production from intensive energy extraction at feedlots to sustainable earth practices of food eating while preserving open spaces and trees en masse to boot. I cooked an impromptu dinner once for this gentleman during one of our field (research) trips completing our thesis in indigenous knowledge and traditional agriculture. I had sense then, enjoying his meal and making critical comments, he had the culinary sensitivity-in-the-making of a Dr. Gourmet. I’m sure he will travel far and wide.