Quorn, the magic mushroom?

I did a post about Hell Pizza a while back. An unfortunate name in my opinion. But they do lots of good things here. For one thing, they sponsor a reading program in the schools and Amiri has just won a free pizza for reading seven books. As you may recall from my post, they also have unique specials at times like the bunny pizza for Easter or the brains pizza that I ordered at Halloween. The other good thing that Hell Pizza did was to try to promote eating Quorn. They offered 'chicken-like' Quorn nibbles for a while but they were dropped from the menu just before I discovered them and had the chance to try them. Not popular enough, I guess. That's the way it goes.  

Here's a link to that post if you want it. https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=398866872025297364#editor/target=post;postID=8680455425102181868;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=54;src=postname

After hearing about Quorn though, I wanted to find out more about the product. I was keeping my eyes open. Fortunately, I have a daughter who does more that keep her eyes open when she wants to get things done. She discovered several Quorn varieties at our local Countdown and brought them home to try. The one below is the first one we tried. 

Over the years, I have tried quite a number of meat-like products of soy this and soy that. I haven't liked any of them. Quorn is different. I was pleasantly surprised at how good these Quorn Cheese and Spinach Schnitzels were. If a person didn't know differently, I think these could have been passed off as chicken schnitzels. Of the products that I will show you today, I liked these best. 

Allie also brought home some pieces of Q protein that you see here. 

Coming out of the pouch, they didn't look particularly appetising.

And they weren't very good on the pizza. These plain pieces just don't compare to the schnitzel we tried earlier. These were somewhat dry and just didn't have any taste of their own. 

They were much better however, when I fried them in a very small amount oil for a couple of minutes and then poured some of Jeanne's chicken gravy over them. I simmered them for about another ten minutes. All three of us adults agreed that they were very acceptable that way. The package suggests that they be cooked in some sort of sauce. The pieces pick up whatever flavor is present. 

 Simmering in the gravy

Plated on mash with ground pepper

I've often talked in my posts about my interest in trying new foods. The thing I like about Quorn is that it truly is a new food. The cave men didn't eat Quorn. Our ancestors didn't eat it. Before about 1985, No one in the world had eaten it.  I don't know if you're interested in learning about it, but I am interested in telling it, so here is a short introduction into what might someday be commonplace table fare. 

In 1965, believing that a world-wide shortage of protein was inevitable and possibly imminent, the search began for new plant-based food items. In '67 researches discovered a microfungus, Fusarium venenatum, in the soil near a small village in England. This was not a mushroom growing on the surface of the ground. It was a tiny filamentous fungus growing through the soil. But It was shown to be high in protein. Years of experimentation lead to the ability to grow this fungus on an industrial scale, and in 1985, Quorn was first produced by continuous fermentation, and was allowed to be sold for human consumption. Since then it has continued to grow in popularity and it is claimed by the company that 500,000 meals of Quorn are now eaten every day in the United Kingdom.

Most Quorn is mixed with egg whites as a binder, although a new form using potato starch is also now available. 

There have been detractors who have argued that Quorn can cause stomach upset in some people, and it therefore should not be allowed to be sold. Consider though, how many people have lactose intolerance, or allergies to peanuts, or shellfish or a thousand other foods. The big one lately seems to be gluten. To argue Quorn should not be considered as a food because a relatively few people can't digest it properly is nonsense. (I noticed that one of those criticising it was a competitor in the soy-protein business.)

I'm looking forward to further experimenting with Quorn in our meals. I think that it is wonderful that one more way to help feed humanity has been developed. And from a fungus no less. You know how highly I value some of the other members of the Kingdom of Fungi. And this one IS related to my Morel, and Fred's Hen of the Woods, and Mike's Shaggy Manes and Dianne's giant puffball. What it lacks in size it makes up for in protein content. I don't expect Quorn to taste exactly like chicken. It doesn't have to.  

I have also read about a couple of studies that were done using young adults as test subjects. The experimenters reported that satiety levels were higher when the subjects ate Quorn than when they ate chicken. Satiety of course is the feeling of being full or satisfied. While the numbers of subjects in these studies were not large, the results are still interesting. The researchers point out that the Quorn is higher in fiber than chicken is and that this may account for the difference. 

Quorn also comes in a mince (hamburger) form. Here is the package.  

This next picture is of the spaghetti sauce with Quorn mince (hamburger) I made. Using it was very easy. Once you have your sauce bubbling, you toss in the Quorn right from the frozen package. Ten minutes later, you're ready to eat. It is not debydrated, but frozen, so it doesn't absorb moisture. 

Allie knew that I was using Quorn for this sauce and thought that the 'meat' was a little softer than real hamburger but acceptable. Jeanne says she thought it was 'perfectly fine' as a meat substitute. The boys didn't notice a thing. Arram finished his serving happily and Amiri took a small second helping. That all sounds like a very successful test to me. 

I thought, like Allie, that it was slightly softer

in texture than the real thing but give it high marks. 

This is another of the Quorn products that are available at our Mall Countdown. Jeanne and Allie both said that they liked these better than the real sauage rolls that are common here. I think I agree, mainly because I don't like the spices used in the regular rolls. 

And here is the final product available at Countdown to test. 

They resemble chicken more than they do beef, and I've paired this cut piece of Quorn with one of Jeanne's breaded chicken patties. If the Quorn had been spiced like Jeanne's were, I would have liked them more. I think that the makers of  Quorn are targeting mostly super health-conscious eaters and therefore keep the salt and spice content to a minimum. I would prefer it otherwise. I'm sure they mean this burger to be eaten in a bun with a pile of veggies and some sauce on it, which would disguise it's blandness,  but, I like what I like. 

Two Quorn schnitzels, a package of pieces, a package of mince and 4 burgers each cost $8.50 at Countdown. That equals $6.16 in U.S. currency. It would be interesting to know what the markup at the supermarket is on such items. My guess is that it's more than some of the more basic food items.

If all this sounds as though I am going vegetarian, I assure you I am not. I still prefer meat. I am keeping an open mind though and if I'm offered something tasty and healthy, I'm going to try it, and write about it. Quorn is not some cheap, phony-baloney. As a meat substitute, I think it is better than any of the others I've tried. And maybe I need to stop thinking about it as a meat substitute. But, I rate it about an 8 out of 10 because it delivers protein in a manner that I think meat consumers will be comfortable with, mostly. (thanks Garrison Keillor) Jeanne rated it a 10, while Allie gave it a 9. We will certainly continue to experiment with it. 

Here is a link to the Quorn website if you're interested. By the way, it was named Quorn after the village near where the Fusarium venenatum was first discovered.     -djf

http://www.quorn.co.nz/The-Quorn-Story/