veggie ham?

[David]

Does anyone know if Yves or Lightlife or anyone else makes veggie ham with a hechshor?

[hg]

I think both the Yves and the Lightlife versions are kosher, or they were last I checked (ages ago). We bought it to see how it would work in a croque monseiur and a few other recipes that had ham and a dairy prodcut in them.

When its a strictly meat recipe calling for ham or hamhocks, we have substituted smoked turkey leg occasionally with ok results.

[meatfeind]

How do you know that the substitute gave good results?
Did you ever eat the original?
And if yes why did you need the substitute?

[Clarissa]

I don't know hg, but have you ever considered that:

1) There are people who used to eat unkosher food but do not now.

2) There are people who keep kosher homes that eat unkosher food while out of the home.

3) There are people who, while they don't keep strictly kosher kitchens, prepare kosher or vegetarian food for kosher friends and family.

But back to the subject at hand. hg, I've found that the one problem with meat substitutes is the rubbery texture. Sometimes this matters in recipes, sometimes it doesn't. My favorite meat substitutes are the ground Griller meat which stands in nicely for chopped beef (doesn't work as a meatloaf but does well in casseroles and sauces) and the Yves pepperoni, which has some spices that do a decent job masking the rubbery quality that bothers me. I've found that Yves sliced ham pretty flavorless, but the idea of using it buried under cheese might help.

[hg]

I don't know what the original tastes like, but my husband does. So he can give feedback when I make recipes.

As far as texture and taste, the crumbles and the fake pepperoni seem to work best. The deli slices do not subsitute well for texture in most items, but occasionally for taste it works. As I said earlier, the slices worked ok for a croque monseiur. Which is a grilled "ham" and cheese sandwich.

We like to experiment with vegetarian soy products often as we try and be adventurous in our strictly kosher cooking.

[Clarissa]

We're very into all of those Morningstar Farm products. Thanks to Grillers, we can enjoy veggie cheeseburgers. I actually prefer Grillers to real beef burgers. They also now have these fake Philly Cheese Steak burgers. While they're really nothing like actually cheese steaks, they're pretty tasty.

We also like the fake bacon but it's really not bacon-y, and can't easily be substituted for the role bacon sometimes plays in cooking. Often, one browns bacon in the pan at the beginning or middle of meal prep. With fake bacon (which lacks the texture of the real thing), we are more likely to add it at the end, to keep it a little bit crispy.

Adapting recipes to kashrut or vegetarianism isn't easy, but there are more and more products available with which to experiment.

[Doug]

It's been a very long time since I've eaten trayf or meat, so I can't really compare. However, the Morningstar products are quite good. There are also a variety of other meat substitute products available in most health food stores that are ust as good and often have less sodium.

[David]

A way to make the Morningstar Farms Philly Cheesesteak burgers taste more authentic is:

put two on a toasted buttered hoagie roll, top with grilled onions and either Provelone or American cheese.

[hg]

I know the sub gave decent results if we found the food tasty to eat. I don't know what the original tasted like, but other people who eat my cooking do.
Sometimes its good to experiment with other than the traditional range of kosher recipes. If todays world allows us to experience other tastes within the confines of kashrut, then why not.

[Doug]

Yes - they both make vegie "ham" deli slices with a hashgacha.

[velorutionary]

Yves and Lightlife do make deli slices but those are difficult to apply in many recipes as they are quite thin.

Wham, by Worthington, is much thicker. Incredibly difficult to procure though, but I have found them from time to time at Organic Market, 7th avenue and 26th street in Manhattan, and at times at the Flatbush Food Co-op, on Cortelyou Road, between Rugby and Argyle Streets, in Brooklyn.

The product is sold in the frozen section.

Link: http://www.kelloggs.com/cgi-bin/brand...