Cutlets versus cutlets. Delicious dishes – one juicier than the other. A gastro festival dedicated to plant-based meat alternatives called Hi, meat! was held on the 13th of February at the restaurant Da by CrabChic (Expo 2020 Dubai, United Arab Emirates).
The festival was organized as a creative battle with two rounds. In the first round, all guests of the evening – Dubai chefs de cuisine and restaurants owners, journalists and bloggers, were choosing the most delicious plant-based chop within the blind tasting. American Beyond Meat, well-known in the Arabic market, Brazilian Future Farm and Russian Hi! of EFKO shareholders took part in the competition.
The guests tried each of the three patties and estimated taste, smell and texture on a scale from 1 to 10. At that stage, the experts didn’t know the number labelled on each brand.
The second round was not a battle between plant-based meat producers but chefs de cuisine. Russian and Spanish chefs presented their versions of a dish with plant-based meat and the guests had to determine which one of them had better taste.
The Spanish sous-chef de cuisine, senior chef de cuisine and instructor at SCASA (Dubai) Eduardo Acuna cooked medallion with baby potatoes and chimichurri sauce. Brand-chef of EFKO Food of the Future Anton Prokopiev prepared stuffed peppers with plant-based meat under the vegan cream sauce. Both dishes were created with the plant-based Hi! meat.
The results of the battle were already known by the end of the festival. Russian HiBURGER became the winner of the blind tasting of plant-based patties. Anton Prokopiev won in the battle of chefs de cuisine by a slim margin.
Executive director and member of EFKO board of directors Sergey Ivanov: «We planned this festival as an opportunity to share our discovery in plant-based meat with Dubai consumers. It has long been known that these products are much more cautious with the planet’s resources. Besides, plant-based meat may be a part of a whole plant-based diet that a modern person needs so much. Our Hi-meat may be tasty without the need to compromise in your favourite dishes and be applied both in home-cooked meals as well as the kitchens of Michelin chefs. Today we have heard many kind words. We have received a lot of enthusiastic feedback. It means that we’re on the right way! It inspires a lot! »
