The Other Wheat Meat

In the early days of my veganism, veggie hot dogs were bright orange, the size of my index finger and quite rubbery. And packaged vegan sausages were grey and resembled commercial-grade meat. I suppose they were satisfying in their historical context, yes, but lacked a satisfying texture and rich flavor delivery. Today, packaged vegan links are surpassing those early concoctions tenfold, most note-worthily: Seattle’s own grain meat Field Roast and Oregon’s own Turtle Island Foods and their wonderful Tofurky products. Both companies know how vital wheat gluten is to texture and shy away from over-processed texturized hydrolyzed super soy science meat. 

I am a huge fan of Tofurky‘s products. Besides tasting damn good, they clearly label that they use only non-genetically modified ingredients, they clearly label that they are vegan, they are not affiliated to packaged food superfreaks like ConAgra (oh my LightLife rants have no end), and they are easy to find and reliable… and the perfect thing to grab for grilling… and another sublime vehicle for fixings. And, and…. 

I hit Willie’s Dawgs in Park Slope recently in search of a quick fixing-laden bite. I had planned to try their “phoney baloney dawg” but opted instead for the “Italian tofu sausage” on a fresh rye roll. Yep, it was Tofurky sausages again! This time, wrapped in foil and sopped in wet grilled onion and yellow mustard (gasp!) I much prefer grillmaster Electrician‘s smokey grill flavor but this was  a great quick bite. The owner (I think?) also overheard my dropping the v-bomb and ran over to clarify which of his buns were vegan. 

Ah, all of this talk of sausage remins me of an old Kids In The Hall sketch. I miss these guys.