A fun and thought provoking product launch took me to Whole Foods  in Kensington last night. The cool Swedish outfit behind the launch, Food for Progress, has managed the unmanageable by turning a bean based meat substitute into a sexy, tasty and remarkably meat-like product called Oumph. Forget bland tofu and Quorn. This is as close to meat you can get as a vegetarian.

The idea for Oumph eminated from a traditional Swedish family run food manufacturer who had a change of heart by realising that our planet can’t sustain 9 billion meat eaters. Something had to change and they decided to have a go at changing it. Oumph is already a huge success in it’s native Sweden and can be found in a range of flavours and shapes. In 2016 they won Product of the Year from the Swedish Grocery Association.  You can read more about their philosophy and various Oumph varieties here.

But proof is truly in the pudding and last night we sampled pulled ‘Oumph’ which was honestly like a the  shredded pork variety trapped by two pieces of sourdough, only vegan. The  garlic and thyme ‘Oumph’ wrapped in lettuce leaf with pickled purple sweet potato and a tahini dressing was my favorite. Not only did it taste like chicken but it looked like it too. Go figure. If you are vegan or vegetarian and want to have the texture and flavour of meat then this is a pretty close alternative. I will serve it to my kids as I don’t think they would notice the difference at all. And who needs more meat? Plant based is where it is at. Available at Whole Foods in the UK.

Much love,

Birgitta xx