Cindy and I have heard plenty about Quorn over the years - it's a strange fungus-derived faux-meat product that is popular in the UK but has only recently hit the market here in Australia. Quorn is a bit controversial; it's non-vegan (egg-whites are an ingredient) and even contained battery eggs until the last few years. Now they're using free-range eggs and they've clearly jumped through whatever hoops are necessary to be imported into Australia. When it turned up in our local Woolies, we thought we'd give it a try.
Our choice was the mince option. And our recipe of choice? Cindy's amazing faux-meat pies. It slots into the recipe basically as a direct replacement for the TVP. The pies turned out okay - the mince texture was even more convincingly faux-meaty, and Quorn seems to have a bit more flavour than TVP (although it's hard to tell when we smother it in pie gravy). The downside: the pies aren't vegan-friendly in this form. It seems strange that this company hasn't found a way to veganise their products - my completely uneducated guess would be that the market for faux-meat products would be substantially vegan. With that in mind, it'll be interesting to see whether Quorn catches on here.
They also couldn't tell me which products contained dairy when I emailed them. Obviously the lasgane does, but I was hoping for a yes/no on some without having to raid the freezer section myself!
ReplyDeleteI do want to try these, as I had a couple Quorn product while traveling in England, but I completely agree with you on the perplexedness of them not being vegan. Even to take a purely marketing-focuse approach, wouldn't they increase their market share by being vegan? For my part, I'm with Fiona on the dairy issue, but I guess I'll just have to inspect the packaging.
ReplyDelete(When I can budget for Quorn, that is. Dried chickpeas are still cheaper ;) )
I've been meaning to do a Quorn post in forever, but it seems the life of a blogger is not for me... I'll just look at yours instead :) I haven't tried the mince yet, but have tried a few of the other products.
ReplyDelete1) Quorn pieces - delicious little chunks that resemble chicken, awesome in a stirfry (or for texture in a paella)
2) Quorn sausage rolls - really didn't rate these. They're tiny and the pastry just didn't seem to 'puff' up. I'll stick with your non-sausage rolls in the future
3) Quorn Schnitzels - these are AMAZING. When they're not on sale though they're expensive, as you only get 2. But each has a spinach and ricotta topping which is delicious. The texture is like a cross between chicken and flake. Meaty but soft and succulent, with a slight taste of batter.
4) Quorn Lasagne - this is a great go to meal for quick easy meals.. just a few minutes in the microwave. The texture of the 'bolognaise' is quite believable.
When these products are on sale (at Coles the other week they were all $4) they're great value, and a good alternative to the other mock meat products, however full price I think they're a little too expensive.
I looked at the quorn sausages in the supermarket the other day - only because sylvia insisted in jumping up and down on the stepping stool just nearby - but couldn't get up enough enthusiasm
ReplyDeletewas interested that lisa in her uk trip commented on london being vegetarian friends but less vegan friendly - I guess the is the philosophy behind products such as quorn
Quorn sausage rolls are awesome!!!! I am completely addicted and have started needing to ration myself.
ReplyDeleteA few years back, my cousin brought home quorn from England. The taste was a bit funny; it didn't seem believable - for the lasagne and pieces, but I liked the sausage rolls. Though the pastry didn't puff, it was still better than the trying hard paella-ish.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your Quorn reviews, everyone! We're still interested in trying a few of their other products. If they prove not to be to our taste, there's always Fry's... and cheaper, less-processed legumes. ;-)
ReplyDeleteHey, I know them! We've bought them before. :-)
ReplyDeleteperhaps the quorn people are on the same ideology as the sanitarium crowd (adventists? is that it?) of promoting vegetarianism but discouraging the 'unhealthiness' of veganism. just an idea.
ReplyDeleteI was over the moon when I found the Quorn range at Coles and I was really impressed with how tasty it was - the lasagne and sausage rolls in particular and Mr Hannah the carnivore loved the stuff. But....I really don't think it agrees with me, I developed an on-going bad stomach and other weird symptoms which went away when I stopped eating Quorn products. Could be a coincidence but I think some people are sensitive to the stuff. Damn it.
ReplyDeletethe wonderful frys brand is getting pushed to the bottom by the egg laden quorn, what a shame, quorn seems to be a pretty monolithic company. our current affairs prog covered their arrival and pretended there hadnt been any mock meat in australia prior to its arrival.
ReplyDeleteI ate quorn in England when I was vegetarian and found it passable but not great , I love redwoods and frys vegan products though, I'd encourage people to support the smaller, more animal friendly companies.
Interestingly, I also experienced stomach upsets and other strange symptoms during the week I tried Quorn products, which was a real shame as I was desperate for a replacement for sanitarium's amazing frozen lentil burgers that seem to have been removed from the shelves. Anyone seen these lately??
ReplyDelete