Perusing through the tofu selection at Earthfare last weekend, I saw these “pulled BBQ shreds” like the kind you’d put on a sandwich at a cookout, perhaps. I had never eaten barbecue before, not the meat version or any sort of homemade seitan/tofu version, and I knew that I wasn’t a huge fan of barbecue sauce unless it was flavored into potato chips. But this were on sale so into the basket it went.
To be patriotic, I waited til the 4th of July to experiment with this. In honor of the occasion I’d made beautiful burger buns to eat with the faux meat. I really don’t know how normal people eat this type of meat, so I just heated it up for a minute and a half in the microwave, according to the directions, then put it on the bun and took a bite.
It was pretty good. Not breath-takingly delicious like the Chikn Scallopini, but pretty good for BBQ, as far as I am concerned. It tasted like generic ketchup based barbecue sauce, nothing fancy, nothing disgusting. The texture was satisfyingly chewy, but still had that shredded feel to really give you the sensation that you’re a real red-blooded American, eating a BBQ sandwich just like everyone else! And Gardein made it not only possible, but easy, because you could totally slip the package into your purse with a bun, excuse yourself to go inside to the bathroom at your hosts’ home and heat up this fake meat in mere moments! You’ll be back outside with a real lookin’ sandwich in yer hand and no one will be any the wiser that you’re that vegetarian person at the party (therefore avoiding tired questions). A MEN GOD BLESS AMERICA!
Much like the Smart Dogs, I wouldn’t buy these to eat at home on a regular basis, but it’s a good addition to take with you to a cookout that’s based around eating particular types of meats, be it hot dogs or pork BBQ to help you feel like you’re part of the crowd without having to ingest real meat.
In summary, these are pretty decent but wouldn’t crave them. Texture is good, flavor is good. Gardein is doing some magical things to give us vegetarians/vegans a taste of some very convincingly meat-like products that the market just hasn’t been able to give us until now. I still half of the package left and hopefully will find something delicious to accompany the BBQ on the sandwich, perhaps lettuce or a pickle.
