No need to wonder what's in this bologna; The Herbivorous Butcher lists every ingredient on its website: Tofu, vital wheat gluten, tomato juice, tapioca flour, tomato paste, nutritional yeast, vegan beef bouillon, canola oil, soy sauce, agar agar, red beet powder, sugar, salt, liquid smoke, onion powder, garlic powder and celery seed. Jonathan A. Armstrong/Courtesy The Herbivorous Butcher hide caption

No need to wonder what's in this bologna; The Herbivorous Butcher lists every ingredient on its website: Tofu, vital wheat gluten, tomato juice, tapioca flour, tomato paste, nutritional yeast, vegan beef bouillon, canola oil, soy sauce, agar agar, red beet powder, sugar, salt, liquid smoke, onion powder, garlic powder and celery seed.

Take a moment to imagine platters of andouille sausage, barbecue ribs and bacon. Now think of all of those dishes without meat.

It might seem like a contradiction, but brother and sister Kale and Aubry Walch yes, Kale are opening the first vegan butcher shop next spring in Minneapolis, to be called the Herbivorous Butcher. They plan to bring their customers all of those delicious meat flavors, minus the meat.

Recreating the taste without the actual ingredient is a challenge worth tackling, the siblings say. "Meat was a big part of the dinner table, growing up," Kale Walch says.

"Oftentimes, we had three or four different meats at our dinner table," his sister agrees. "When I decided to go vegetarian when I was 14, I really wanted to recreate those same items. I missed them."

They experimented to replicate the textures and tastes of meat.

"We use pinto beans, for example, in our sausages," Kale Walch says. "That gives it a really meaty heft that's unparalleled in the meat-alternative market."

They say nutritional yeast gives a savory flavor to many of their products. They also use jackfruit, a starchy tree fruit native to Southeast Asia and the national fruit of Bangladesh, that can weigh up to 80 pounds.

The jackfruit gives foods at the Herbivorous Butcher a fibrous, meat-like texture, Kale Walch says. Maricel E. Presilla/MCT /Landov hide caption

Read more from the original source:
Siblings Build A Butcher Shop For 'Meat'-Loving Vegans