One hot July afternoon in Cleveland, chef Jeremy Umansky stood behind his case, carefully arranging the charcuterie tray. At first glance, it is a regular sight from every deli in the US. But Larder Delicatessen and Bakery doesn’t serve your typical charcuterie. Paper-thin slices – made from locally sourced beets, pumpkin and carrots – are listed on the menu alongside more traditional deli fare such as pastrami sandwiches, matzo and babka ball soup, and more. In fact, since the restaurant reopened in mid-April after a month of closing due to COVID-19, Umansky said vegetable-based charcuterie Larder, as well as vegetarian burgers (made from koji molds, seasonal vegetables, mushrooms, and wheat gluten), tended to run out in just a few hour.

The corona virus pandemic attacks at a time when global meat demand is declining, largely due to environmental problems and animal welfare. Look around the supermarket or browse the local bookstore, and it is clear that veganism and vegetable cooking are not just trends; they are increasingly regarded as part of a more environmentally friendly and political lifestyle. And, if the sale of a pandemic book is indicative – majority Amazon bestsellers in 2020 concerning baking bread, eating for better health, and cooking vegetables – Americans invest in the idea that food is not only a source of fuel and pleasure, but also a vehicle for change on a global scale.

They also actively change their eating habits. According to Forbes, the percentage of vegan eaters in the US rose from 1 percent to 6 percent between 2014 and 2017. Data from the United Nations shows that per capita meat consumption is expected to drop to its lowest level in nine years in 2020 (there has been a decline of three percent from last year).

A restaurant shutdown is most likely to cause this decline, because people tend to eat more meat when they come out. But it seems that Americans are also changing the way they shop – a recent study, commissioned by Kroger grocery store in partnership with the Plant Based Food Association, shows that after moving vegetable alternatives closer to the meat section late last year, Krogers grocery store see a 23 to 32 percent increase (depending on the region of the country) in alternative meat sales. And shortly after several countries issued protection orders in place in March 2020, grocery stores saw a dramatic 152 percent increase in sales of alternative meat from brands such as Beyond and Impossible. Although sales and volume have risen slightly since the beginning of the panic buying of a pandemic, this time of great uncertainty seems to have fueled the demand for vegetable fare and comfort food.

Shortly after several countries issued protection orders in place in March 2020, grocery stores saw a dramatic 152 percent increase in sales of alternative meat from brands such as Beyond and Impossible.

It helps that vegan dishes, which have come a long way from bad vegetarian pasta and salad offerings from the nineties, continue to see innovations from chefs and food producers. Even before the pandemic struck, many restaurant owners had explored the idea that plant-based eating was not only delicious, but also as a celebration and pleasure – which showed that even in After Times, this collective retreat from meat could continue. Sierra registers with restaurant owners to find out the latest trends in the world of plant-based plant foods.

The idea that a more indulgent vegetable ethos can expand the mindset of consumers is the thinking behind it Herbavorious Butchers in Minneapolis. Inspired by their Chamorro (Guam) background, creators of the brothers and sisters at the restaurant launched The Herbavorious Butcher as a single market stall in 2012, selling vegan ribs, fried chicken, melted tuna, mac-and-cheese (pictured below), and the other. They finally launched a crowd funding campaign and expanded their business into a full-service restaurant, as well as mail and catering operations, where they shipped plant-based products such as maple mustard sausage and Havarti truffle concoctions to customers throughout the US. In March, they also began offering roadside pickup services without contact. Herbavorious Butcher social media manager Laura VanZandt noted that despite the expected decline in the wholesale business, sales of direct customer vegan indulgences had increased during the pandemic. “We have had direct delivery weeks to the busiest consumers of all time in the past three months.”

Down in Dallas, Graham Dodds, former chief chef of the Hibiscus steak restaurant that turned into a farming restaurant and Wayward Sons that no longer exists, has spent the past five years testing Texas’s love affair with meat and barbecue. pioneered the creation of vegetarian-based sausages, terrines, and sausages. Dodds, who describes himself as “usually opposed to all kinds of substitutes for fake meat,” attracted the interest of Texans by highlighting the similarities inherent in vegetables with meat, playing certain types of charcuterie. Imagine a sunchoke pate made to mimic liver mousse in texture and color, and sausage made with lentils and mushrooms. Dodds added, “I make lonzino with carrots, celery roots and parsnips, and coat them with roasted fennel seeds. Vegetable terine will be a component, depending on what is in season and available locally. In summer, we will highlight a small tomato tartare with corn puree for ‘egg yolk.’ “

Dodds is currently developing a menu for Dallas The Pittman Hotel restaurant (now open early August, has been pushed back from its planned July debut). The vegetable-forward offer includes Spanish-style mushroom-based “chorizo”, celeriac root, and nut-based “devil eggs”, and seasonal tomato tartare, among which, lower costs. For home cooks who want to add more vegetable ingredients to their favorite dishes, Dodds says the key is to find vegetables that mimic the taste of meat.

“I was working on a paella dish, so I got several types of mushrooms from local people who planted them,” he said. “A lion’s receding feather suits him, because his petals look like shells and absorb the flavor you put in him. I also marinated the king’s trumpet mushroom with all the spices that usually go into the Spanish chorizo ​​- smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, garlic, etc. —And that’s a very good component for that. Forest mushroom chicken is also great here, for bigger meat. “

Instead of an all-or-nothing approach to plant-based eating, chefs increasingly invite eaters to think outside the box and embrace the various flavors and textures of plants. Take Asked Holland, which is famous in Northern California for its now closed restaurant, Brown Sugar. The new concept, City Fare, which is located inside the Oakland Museum of California, will include “a menu inspired by fresh, vegetable-forward food, California.” Holland tells Eater San Francisco that by making people more eager to eat vegetables, he hopes to make a difference in helping improve the world’s damaged food system. “As a black woman, as a woman of color, I will be able to reach a community that some other chefs will not be able to do.”

When it comes to experimentation and innovation, chefs like finalist James Beard who were chosen twice, Jeremy Umansky, from Larder Delicatessen and Bakery in Ohio, encourage home cooks to be creative with vegetable textures to achieve a bite like meat. At Larder, he used an ancient rice-based mold called koji, often found in soy sauce and miso paste, to heal and enrich the taste of bread, meat and vegetables. “If this piece of meat goes through the same steps we will call it charcuterie,” Umansky reasoned, “so why doesn’t it extend to vegetables?”

“If this piece of meat goes through the same steps we’ll call it charcuterie, so why doesn’t it expand into vegetables?”

In his new book Koji Alchemy; Rediscovering the Magic of Print-Based Fermentation (Chelsea Green, May 2020), Umansky and co-author Rich Shih, a miso and koji researcher, share the creations of vegetable charcuterie step by step, and show that this concept applies to a variety of products, including beets, carrots, broccoli, pumpkin (season cold and summer), and apples. Although some science recipes / experiments require accuracy and obedience to instructions, Umansky also urges home cooks to throw away the rule book and cook anything they find delicious. “Remember that just because someone tells you that you have to peel potatoes or carrots before you cook and eat it doesn’t mean that it’s the right thing to do,” he wrote. “Why throw away your delicious and valuable parts of food and make more work for yourself? Treat your vegetables the way you treat others – with dignity, love and respect – and they will treat you the same way. ”

The pandemic continues to reveal many deficiencies in the global food system; that is, the enormous pressure that is currently happening on this planet and its people. This year, plant-based eating has edged closer than ever to the main stage, and it shows great potential for growth. With every new chef, recipe book, and food producer who embraces the potential of plants, the market is developing to include not only more meat-based products for middle-class supermarket visitors and restaurant visitors, but also access to fresh produce for all socio-economies. background. Who knows? In just a few years time, we can look back on our old eating habits and wonder why we think so narrowly about products, when there are so many things that can be found.

Photo by Kevin Marple and permission of Wayward Sons