White Meat vs. Dark Meat

            One of the main differences between fake meat and real meat in terms of the taste, in my opinion is that the white meat that is fake tastes much better than the white meat that is real; it is a lot more moist and appetizing than actual real white meat is, in my opinion. However, dark meat is the exact opposite for me; the dark meat made out of real meat (if I remember correctly) is a lot more moist and delicious than the dark meat made for vegetarians, consisting primarily of vegetables and soy beans. The dark meat that is made for vegetarians is more crumbly than the real dark meat. I do not believe it is possible to create a fake dark meat with the same consistency as actual real dark meat has because that is something vegetables alone cannot do.

For example, fake white meat, like the chicken nuggets, chicken patties, and chicken strips taste amazing and I would much rather have those than I would have those made out of real meat. I remember what actual real chicken tastes like and even though it is very different from fake white meat, it is just as good if not better than the real meat alternative. On the other hand, fake dark meat like the fake hamburgers, sausage, steak, hotdogs, and bacon tastes absolutely nothing like the real version of it. The fake hamburgers taste pretty good and I eat them every once in a while, the taste of fake sausage is far from the taste of real sausage but that does not mean it is bad tasting, just different and I eat those every once in a while as well. To me, the fake steak is amazing. I never used to really like actual steak when I was not a vegetarian but now that I am a vegetarian, I enjoy a steak every now and then. I think fake hotdogs are really good, but honestly I would not be able to compare them to actual real hotdogs because I forgot what they taste like (and no, that is not a reason for me to go back to not being a vegetarian).

         Now, the fake bacon. Let me tell you that when I first saw the box in the vegetarian aisle that said ‘new’ and ‘vegetarian bacon’ on the box I got a little excited because I mean really, who does not like bacon? But then I noticed something; the picture of the fake ‘bacon’ on the front of the box looked absolutely nothing like what you would picture if you thought of bacon in your head. I mean, maybe it is because what you picture when you think of bacon (the bubbles coming out from the section of white fat and the red/brown, darker flat section of a strip of bacon) could not be made to look anything similar to that when you try to make the same kind of concept, except out of vegetables and soybeans. Basically, the picture of the fake ‘bacon’ on the box looked like a rectangular, very flat strip of cardboard that was all tan with a couple of burgundy-colored curvy lines on it. You would think they could put a little more effort into making it look like something that would be under the category of ‘bacon,’ right? Anyway, I tried not to ‘judge a book by its cover’ and tried it anyway, thinking it could not taste the way it looks, right, like cardboard? But it did, and that is an example of one of the very few types of fake meat I will never spend my money on (or my parents I guess, but you get the idea).