New food modeled on Indonesian tempe
New food modeled on Indonesian tempe
LONDON: A meat substitute made from a grain eaten by the Incas
and a 2,000-year-old Indonesian mould is being developed by the
European Union.
The high-protein rival to tofu, a soya bean curd eaten in the
Far East, is being produced by British scientists and should be
on supermarket shelves by the end of the year. The European
Commission, conscious of the demand for meat substitutes
following the BSE (mad cow disease) crisis, is funding research
by a group of small organic food companies and European farmers.
The new food, yet to be named, has a squashy consistency and
strong mushroom taste. It is low in fat and can be fried, baked
or used in processed foods.
It relies on the 2,000-year-old technique for manufacturing
tempe (still a staple of the Indonesian diet), which involves
bonding a mould to soya beans, but the new product will use
quinoa, a hardy grain grown in the Andes.
Quinoa is used because the plant, which looks like a dock
leaf, can be grown in the most arid climates, where it will boost
the income of small farmers in remote areas. The first crop is to
be grown this year in the Greek hills and sent to Britain for
processing with the mould.
Trial batches have been produced by food scientists from the
University of Westminster in London and Leatherhead Food Research
Laboratory in Surrey, south of London. "The final result has a
very strong mushroomy taste," said David Williams of Plas Farm
Ltd, part of the consortium and a producer of vegetarian foods.
"The EU is funding it partly because it's the ideal crop for
mountainous areas in Italy and Greece."
Demand for meat substitutes has grown following health scares
over beef, but many rely on soya beans for their base, and the
use of genetically modified soya from the United States is
causing concern in the UK. The European Commission has provided a
$585,000 grant, and development of the food will be paid for by
farmers and organic food companies.
-- Observer News Service