Do you scoff at those pale Tofu dogs in the health food aisles of the supermarket? Are you one of those people who taunt vegans by talking about Big Macs? A new study suggests that you should think about biting your tongue: According to the researchers, how we feel about a sausage, regardless of whether it's soy-based or beef, says more about our personal values than about what the sausage actually tastes like. In fact, most people can't even tell the difference between an ersatz vegan sausage and the real thing. (It should be noted, though, that not all vegan products are equally deceptive: a soy hot dog, in contrast, only fooled 37 percent of subjects. And I'm guessing the soy ice cream fooled nobody.)
The clever experiment went like this: a large group of people were given a "human values" test which seeks to measure fifty six different values (loyalty, ambition, social order, etc.) Then, the subjects were asked to rate a variety of sausages. People who scored high on "social authority" - they believed it was important to support people in power - tended to label the "vegetarian" sausage as inferior, even when the vegetarian sausage was actually from a cow. Likewise, people who scored low on "social power values" tended to score the vegan sausage much higher than the beef sausage, even when they were actually eating meat. Instead of judging the food product on its merits, they ended up preferring the product that more closely conformed to their value system. The scientists also conducted a similar experiment with Pepsi. Sure enough, people who fit the Pepsi demographic - they think having an "exciting life" is very important - always preferred Pepsi, even when they were actually drinking a generic cola.
This research conforms to a growing body of evidence suggesting that our gustatory preferences are an incredibly subjective thing.
The thing is, I hate vegan sausage. Of course, I wasn't super fond of non-vegan sausage, but vegan sausage is a mealy mess.
On the other hand, this strikes me as broadly true. I've cooked vegan food for a number of people who liked it as long as they didn't know it was vegan, but nonetheless look skeptical when another vegan meal is proposed. Most of those people seem to have a sort of determination not to like anything except meat, as if one bite of tofu might send them skipping out into the woods to dance round the meadows with the twee fairies.
The reason problems and attitudes get so entrenched in this country is precisely because practical choices get tagged with value judgments like this. Riding a bike, eating a vegan sausage or driving a car with good gas mileage are completely value-neutral choices that can be evaluated on their merits, but somehow get attached to the odious stink of liberal faggotry. There's a big part of contemporary conservatism that's based solely on doing whatever one things would make Al Gore/a hippie/Michael Moore upset.
All part of the campaign to lower our standards. Eventually, you end up eating processed sawdust and peddling a bicycle. And skipping into the woods...
They need to try this on a group of professional wine tasters.
There's a big part of contemporary conservatism that's based solely on doing whatever one things would make Al Gore/a hippie/Michael Moore upset.
In sharp contrast, I suppose, to the mature attitude displayed by those who would desecrate a communion wafer.
The killing of sacred cows seems to be a popular sport across the board; preachers on all subjects seem to attract those who dislike the message.
That said, if twee fairies are as hot as wood nymphs, I'd be willing to consider tofu conumption as a fair price for dancing with them.
Do these people not have functioning taste buds? I don't have any aversion to tofu per se, but Tofu Pups make me gag. And not knowing the difference between Pepsi and generic? They might as well have their citizenships revoked!
There's a big part of contemporary conservatism that's based solely on doing whatever one things would make Al Gore/a hippie/Michael Moore upset.
I agree! I know way too many guys (because let's face it, only guys pull this crap) who behave this way. It's so pointless, especially since there are so many other legitimate ways to piss lefties off instead. What's the bumper sticker say? "Annoy a Liberal. Work hard and be happy."
I'll eat veggie sausage, it's not terrible, although it's best when mixed with rice and cajun spices, rather than eaten as a ersatz sausage patty.
Veggie hotdogs are gross, however. I know this because I thought I was eating a regular hotdog recently, and said 'wow, this is gross', and my wife said 'that's the no-meat hotdog, you dork.'
On the other hand, the vegetarian General Tso's "chicken" at Sunflower and Yuan Fu (in the DC metro) are both excellent, and difficult to distinguish from decent-quality 'real meat' General Tso's.
Note that I am a libertarian, not a liberal, so I evaluated all of these things on their rational merits, and not on political biases ;-)
Megan,
A product recommendation - have you tried the Field Roast brand sausages? I'm not a vegetarian / vegan and found them to actually be seriously good eats.
I'm an omnivore (well, all but eggplant) but I am never offended by a vegetarian meal - and I doubt most people would know the difference between vegan and vegetarian unless it were pointed out to them.
Rob - there was a science blog posting on non-professional wine tasters and their inability to tell the difference between red and white wine when the white's been dosed with a little food color.
On the other hand, I always wear iron on my person to repel twee fairies. Maybe I should start wearing a necklace of the art of norcineria?
I like tofu and have had vegetarian sausage that is ok but I do not believe for a second that someone could not tell the difference. I'd be more likely to believe that they don't know where to buy good sausage.
Yeah, nobody likes a vegetarian.
I can tell the difference between the tofu and the beef in sukiyaki. I like both.
I don't care for turkey franks or turkey sausage. I don't like Miracle Whip. It's not a political statement, just personal preferences.
May I reuse the "odious stink of liberal faggotry" phrase?
Megan
I have been a been a vegetarian for over 10 years and a near-vegan for the last few months. I think the Boca Bratwurst Sausage is absolutely fabulous. Boca burgers are OK, the the Bratwurst has a wonderful spicy flavor.
With me, it is not so much the tate as the texture that distinguishes. And I have had some (apparently) real meat so over processed as to suffer from a similar texture-failure.
Malcolm Gladwell made a similar observation in "Blink" about how our tastebuds are hopelessly influenced by expectations. The story was about New Coke, but the point is that your palate is not a tabula rasa, open to any new delicious flavor. We don't eat things under blind taste test conditions. You see the package--blue can or red can?--or someone tells you what it is, before you eat it. That creates a set of memories, feelings, and cravings which strongly affects your sense of taste.
there was a science blog posting on non-professional wine tasters and their inability to tell the difference between red and white wine when the white's been dosed with a little food color.
That's funny, but inconsistent with my own experience; I am very, very far from being a wine expert, but I can usually tell if my wife will like a wine by smell alone (she dislikes tannic and dry wines, and likes lighter, sweeter ones).
I've actually become increasingly fond of Smart Ground Sausage (comes in a tube.) It's a bit of work (you have to actually make the sausage patties yourself) but they turn out really decently. My girlfriend's roommate asked me if i'd quit vegetarianism while I was making them last week. So there's that.
They need to try this on a group of professional wine tasters.
They did, sort of. What they found is that price substantially influences taste:
news.cnet.com/8301-13580_3-9849949-39.html
On the other hand, the vegetarian General Tso's "chicken" at Sunflower and Yuan Fu (in the DC metro) are both excellent, and difficult to distinguish from decent-quality 'real meat' General Tso's.
Chinese restaurants quite typically use low-grade cuts of meat and then either tenderize, disguise, or bread and fry it into something you'll eat anyway. There are exceptions, but the indistinguishability of tofu may be related to the low grade of the meat it is replacing.
Sunflower definitedly has some good food. Tofu's OK, but the meat alternative I really like is gluten. Awful name, I agree -- I can't even get my wife to try it with that name -- but the texture really has tofu beat.
In the famous 1976 Judgement of Paris wine tasting, "experts" could not believe that in a blind taste test they had judged California wines to be superior to French wines. Some tried to snatch their scorecards away from the organizer of the tasting, so outraged were they at the results. Subsequent blind tests repeated the results.
There are some wine critics I trust; it is generally a good sign when a critic is willing to give an inexpensive wine a high score. On the whole, however, I suspect some critics would be revealed as shills if their grades were subjected to blind tests.
there was a study done recently that showed that under blind taste-testing conditions, Pepsi is the more popular than Coke, but when people are aware of the brands, Coke scores dramatically higher than Pepsi. What was discovered was that the brain literally triggers different reward centers when you have preexisting associations with a product. So, of course values come into play in the same way.
Pepsi is the more popular than Coke, but when people are aware of the brands, Coke scores dramatically higher than Pepsi.
Gladwell explained this in Blink. Pepsi is somewhat sweeter than Coke, and research showed that people prefer a sweeter flavored cola in a blind taste test - when the taste test is only one sip. Over the course of drinking a whole can, however, the sweeter flavor becomes cloying.
As far as sausage goes, I assume we're talking about vegan/meat breakfast sausage here, right? As in the type that comes looking like a hamburger patty? I'm willing to believe that people can't distinguish between the two in a lot of cases. The thing is, that sort of breakfast sausage is the lowest form of sausage. It doesn't taste that good even when it is made of meat. No one will ever convince me that people with functioning taste buds can't tell the difference between a sizzling, grease-spattered Italian sausage link or kielbasa hot off the grill and the ersatz vegan substitute.
As a TV hater who doesn't proselytize I've got no truck with vegans who don't proselytize. But please, don't try to argue that I wouldn't be missing anything in terms of culinary experience if I didn't eat meat, because it just ain't so.
What Xeyon said. Fake meat is just that, fake.
Most people can love vegan or vegetarian food. Give them a pile of rice and beans, summer corn soup, gazpacho, any Asian dish meant to be made with tofu, tamales, heaps of Indian food....they'll polish it off and ask for thirds. The problem comes with putting a slab of tofu on the plate in place of a pork chop and pretending it's the same. I like veggie burgers that make no pretense of being meat but just come out and say "black beans mixed with fresh corn and olives and bulgur and some spices" rather than "sort of grey." Grilled portabella caps with a yoghurt/mustard/basil/garlic sauce on a toasted bun are delicious until someone tries to convince you "It's just like steak!"
No one likes a lecture with their meal. Though I must note that in real life, I think the following conversation is more common:
"Some of the chicken?"
"No thanks; I'm a vegetarian."
"A Vegetarian?!! I'm Not A Vegetarian. And You Know, Why Shouldn't I Eat Meat? Did You Know Our Teeth Were Designed To Eat Meat? Besides, I Actually Need Meat..."
Very similar to the television discussion of a few days ago; people seem to feel vaguely under attack by some lefties out there in the culture, and a perfectly neutral observation, designed to convey "I won't want any of the meat dishes" or "I don't know what's going on on Gossip Girl or any other show, so we should take a stab at some other conversational gambit" is treated as an attack on the speaker's entire lifestyle, which must be met with a detailed justification about how the behavior in question is Really Okay, while the vegetarian/tv-less wonders "Why the hell do you think I care that you eat meat/watch only the evening news and certain good dramas and, okay, sometimes Jerry Springer..."
If you tried to start a conversation about how construction was affecting driving into Boston on Rte 90, and the other person noted that they never drove that way, you probably wouldn't leap to "This is an attack on my entire lifestyle choice to use the pike" over "So she has no opinion or knowledge about this, and I should take a stab at some other topic."
"There's a big part of contemporary conservatism that's based solely on doing whatever one things would make Al Gore/a hippie/Michael Moore upset."
People feel like they're under attack because often they are: the left wants nothing more than to tell you What To Do. Classic example: here in DC, the municipality of Takoma Park tried to ban the smell of cooking meat a few years back - basically, to prevent people from grilling in their back yards. Who COULDN'T enjoy taunting people like that? Check this out:
Takoma Park's Latest Stand: Foie Gras
Takoma Park's elected leaders are taking a stand against foie gras, the fatty goose liver and French delicacy.
At the urging of Mayor Bruce Williams, the City Council unanimously approved a resolution last week opposing "the production and sale of foie gras" and encouraging residents "to avoid supporting this extreme form of animal cruelty."
Animal rights groups oppose the production because it involves force-feeding ducks and geese with a pipe down their throats. More than a dozen countries and the state of California have banned the production and sale of foie gras, according to Compassion Over Killing, a nonprofit group.
Foie gras is not produced in Takoma Park or anywhere in Maryland for that matter, but it is served in swank restaurants and sold in specialty shops. A proposal in this year's General Assembly to ban the sale of foie gras was opposed by chefs who defended the delicacy as safe and humane. The measure never made it out of a Senate committee.
Williams said the council is considering going a step further and banning stores and restaurants within Takoma Park's borders from stocking foie gras. He acknowledged said that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to stop residents from bringing it across the border to consume in their homes. He has already heard from one fan of foie gras who said she plans to continue serving the delicacy to her guests.
"We knew some people would say, 'Why are you wasting time doing this?'." Williams said. His answer: "It's important to educate folks about the humane treatment of animals."
The council passed a resolution earlier urging stores to supply and residents to buy eggs only from cage-free chickens.
By Phyllis Jordan | July 9, 2008
I make fun of tofu burgers. I like tofu, and I like burgers.
Why? Because tofu burgers suck as tofu, and suck as burgers. The reason we make fun of vegetarians is because they keep trying to pretend to be carnivores.
I don't make fun of Indian vegetarians, because instead of trying to make tasty vegetables into sub-par meat, they let good vegetables stand as what they are.
I have never understood the vegetarian/vegan tendency to take vegetables and try to make them taste like meat. They're not meat, they don't taste like meat, and you won't ever be able to make them taste like meat (vegan bacon is particularly foul). That said, vegetables are quite often extremely delicious and I (a dedicated omnivore) have had many fine vegetarian and vegan meals prepared by friends (and myself sometimes) over the years.
The trick is to play to the strengths of ingredients. You wouldn't try to make mirepoix with bacon, sausage, skirt steak and duckbreast - by the same token you shouldn't try to make a sausage out of a squash.
Part of the knee-jerk reaction, however, comes from the legitimate concern that an innocuous admission that a tofu sausage isn't half-bad, will be used as ammunition to argue for a complete renunciation of eating meat.
I'm just imagining a scene like this:
A lefty, crunchy Veggie thinks everyone should be a lefty, crunchy Veggie, b/c it's "the right thing." So, he suckers some of his acquaintances with more carnivorous habits into sampling a tofu sausage by telling them its a pork sausage. When the carnivornes admit to liking the tofu sausage, or not being able to distinguish the tofu sausage from the pork sausage, they will then hear the following from the lefty, crunch Veggie:
"See, you can't tell the difference! [In these two particular products--ed.] Therefore, you should only eat tofu from here on out, and give up any silly, immoral, meat-eating habits. In fact, the government, should ban meat! After all, it's full of trans fats and growth horomones, in addition to being morally unjustified."
So, an innocuous admission that, hey, this tofu sausage ain't half bad, gets turned into an argument for completely changing dietary habits that the person was perfectly happy with to begin with. The sampling goes beyond just "hey, here's a neat new recipe," or "try this tasty ingredient," to a moralizing sermon. And no one likes an unsolicited preaching-to.