Why Michelin-starred chef Marco Pierre White serves whole vegan lamb

Chef Marco Pierre White, known as the first British chef to be awarded three Michelin stars, has just added whole vegan lamb and beef to the menu at his 22 steakhouses across the UK. Made by Israeli company Redefine Meat, the vegan meat (nicknamed “New-Meat”) is made using a range of exclusive and patented technologies to recreate all of the complex sensory elements of whole lamb and beef flanks. from herbal ingredients.

“When I first tasted Redefine Meat, I was blown away,” White said in a statement. “The world needs to eat less meat, but the reality is that until now, plant-based meat products have been grossly insufficient in terms of the quality and versatility required for our menus. Redefine Meat’s New-Meat products are pure genius, giving you all the health and durability benefits of plant-based products, without compromising on taste and texture.

In 1994, at age 32, White became the youngest chef at the time to earn three Michelin stars. He is also known to have made Gordon Ramsay cry during an apprenticeship. Today, the pioneering chef looks to the future of food and sees the urgent need for viable plant substitutes for environmentally harmful animal products. “It’s the smartest thing I’ve seen in the kitchen in 45 years,” White said in a vegan meat video from Redfine, adding, “I think this is going to revolutionize our world.”

Whole vegan meat impresses Michelin-starred chefs

Founded in 2019, Redefine Meat uses revolutionary 3D technology that maps 70 sensory parameters to create a vegan cut of meat that mimics the taste, texture and juiciness of whole animal meat. The company offers a full line of vegan meats which, in addition to whole cuts, includes culinary-grade ground beef, sausages, premium burgers and lamb kebabs that have already been served in around 150 restaurants across. Israel. It raised $ 29 million in February to bring its revolutionary vegan meats to a larger market.

In addition to White, other notable European chefs have added Redefine Lamb and Redefine Beef to their menus, including Michelin-starred Dutch chef and TV personality Ron Blaauw; Joachim Gerner (who is the chef of the restaurant FACIL, two Michelin stars in Berlin); and celebrity Israeli chef Shahaf Shabtay, representing the first time that whole vegan meat was so widely available.

Blaauw, which operates several branches of Ronbar Gastropub in the Netherlands, was impressed by the similarity of vegan meat to traditional cuts of meat. “Honestly, I was so surprised by the texture and structure of the meat. The first time I tried it I remember closing my eyes and enjoying the softness and mouth feel like I would with a good cut of meat, ”he said in a statement. “For me that is a game-changer as we can now serve another high quality variety of meat to our customers that just happens to be made from plant-based ingredients. Even now, my head is still spinning with the possibilities this meat creates for our menu.

Saving the planet by redefining meat

As the name suggests, Redefine’s mission is to recreate meat using plants for the benefit of animals, humans and the environment. While many companies have developed plant-based alternatives to ground beef, chicken, and pork, few have created solutions for cooks looking for whole cuts that may appeal to meat eaters.

Eshchar Ben-Shirit, CEO and co-founder of Redefine, also sees the company’s 3D vegetable meats as a solution to tackle the climate crisis. While COP26 concluded on November 12 with pacts to end deforestation and cut methane emissions by 30% by 2030, world leaders have paid very little attention to reducing consumption. and meat production, one of the main drivers of deforestation and methane emissions.

“Redefine Meat has its eyes on the real problem – not the meat, but the way it is produced. We have a real solution that today, not in 2030, preserves all the culinary aspects of meat that we know and love, but eliminates cattle as a means of production, ”Ben-Shirit said in a statement. “We have achieved a level of superiority in taste and texture that has surprised even some of the world’s most recognized chefs, and our unique technological capabilities allow us to replace every part of the cow for the first time. “

In addition to launching across Europe, Redefine Meat is looking to expand its business to restaurants in other markets, including Asia and the United States, over the coming months.

To learn more about whole vegan meat, read:
Nearly 100 steakhouses just added Asia’s first whole vegan steak
Startup Raises $ 40 Million to Bring Cut-Whole Vegan Bacon to Stores
Whole pieces of vegan steak secretly thrown at Colorado restaurant

Anna Starostinetskaya is the Senior News Editor at VegNews and always monitors all things vegan in her hometown of San Francisco, California, and everywhere else.