I am in Vienna for a week and I found this vegan meat alternative at the market. I don't usually like meat alternatives that look too much like real meat, I just love vegetables, but this one caught my attention.
I bought it and brought it home to cook and the more I cooked it the scarier it got hahahahaha
As you can see the meat itself looks "real". Granted, I haven't eaten or cooked any animal for about 8 years, so it may be me and my memory, but the color and texture looks a lot like animal meat. Scary stuff!
This is the box from the store. I had to double check a few times to make sure it actually is 100% vegan. Of course it is, but the appearance was disturbing hahaha
When cooked and sliced open it looks like beef to me, but I have showed it to some friends who are meat eaters and they told me that on the inside the details show that it is not real meat, it lacks the meat fibers and the color is a bit off on the inside.
On the outside though it is eerily similar to animal meat. If I were served this without knowing it is plant based I would not eat, and even if told it is vegan I would have to double or triple check.
In general I found it surprising how much diversity of vegan food there is in Austria, particularly Vienna. I just came from Asia so I appreciate having so many CLEARLY LABELED options. I don't have to overthink searching and translating, at almost every supermarket there is plentiful of clearly vegan labeled products which makes life so easy and convenient.
Plus vegan products seem cheaper here than back in Brazil! Brazil also had some diversity but the prices were horrible. Things are bound to get easier in the future, though. Every year it is easier and cheaper to be vegan!
