Beyond Eggs - Science and Passion Is Set To Crack The Egg..And Replace It….With Plants!

Are the egg's days numbered?

There is a company that may very well be set to totally revolutionise the food manufacturing industry: come to the aid of the environment and improve our health. 
I met with the founder of Hampton Creek Foods, Josh Tetrick at his start-up company in the Soma district of San Francisco. He looks far younger than his 33 years with clean cut with all-American good looks.  'I'm from Birmingham, Alabama', he tells me. His accent lilting and distinct. He exudes the confidence of someone who is comfortable in his own skin. He reminded me of a young Tom Cruise,  boyish and vibrant, sans the aviator shades.  One can’t help but be a bit doe-eyed as he welcomes me into the Beyond Egg hub. He makes you feel like he has all the time in the world to share, and right now it is all for you.  I admit to loosing my thread more than once as my brain floated off, all female and flustered, as Josh showed me around and introduced me to his team.  

Josh is the man behind the team that is fervently working to dislodge and displace the egg industry.  He has an impressive background, having set up a UN business initiative in Kenya, worked for a time for President Clinton, he also won a prestigious Fulbright grant to teach in Nigeria and South Africa. Hampton Creek Foods is his debut venture into the world of food.  His compassion was sparked during his time in Africa, working on environmental projects. He felt moved enough to know he wanted to make a huge positive impact.  He chose the egg industry as his target.  Which methods are currently, in his words..'barbaric'.

He hits me with some statistics..
'79 billion eggs laid in US every year.  95% of them are laid by hens in battery cages so small they can hardly move. They are pumped with antibiotics'. 1/2 billions eggs recalled because of food poisoning in 2011 in the US. What about eggs impact on human health? 

The NewYork Times published a report by Dr. Stanley Hazen of Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute.  that eggs may provoke bacteria that increases the risk of heart disease.  University Of Western Ontario likened the consumption of eggs to that of the effects of smoking cigarettes. 

You'll agree it's an area in need of change.

Beyond Eggs is gaining some notable interest. Articles have appeared in Bon Appetit & Food & Wine. Countless  articles are dotted around the internet, even Tony Blair, ex-Prime MInister of that thumbnail sized island,GB.   Bill Gates has taken a shine to the companies ideas. On his blog The Gates Notes, where he highlights his concern for the impact on the environment and how we can feed a population that is expected to hit 18 billion by 2050, Gates listed Hampton Creek Foods as one of the 3 companies that are shaping the future of food.  He says, 

''By 2030, the world will need millions of tonnes more meat than it does today. But meeting that demand with animal products isn't sustainable. The meat market is ripe for reinvention.' 

Bill Gates took the taste test, cookie challenge and couldn't tell the difference between the cookies with egg and the cookies with Beyond Egg's egg substitute. 

The building is open to the street, open to each department and one another. The office dog and company mascot, Jake, lolls in the sun in the greeting area.  Their state of the art laboratory is a field of stainless steel.  On one wall a row of ovens.  Behind vast doors are shelves stacked with jars of creamy mayonnaise, trials and tests.   The food scientists and biologists work diligently, and with admirable dedication to emulate the properties of the egg.  Which is, after all, all that is going on.  The egg served a purpose. The effect doesn't have to come from an egg.  They have worked out just how the proteins molecules give rise in cakes and bakes, aerate, bind and thicken,  and emulsify our dressings.  Beyond Eggs have a product that can do all of these things. Eggs may have been a cheap source of protein but they are full of harmful cholesterol.  Josh and his team have cracked the code to do what the egg did by using pea, potatoes, sunflower lecithin, rapeseed, and natural gums extracted from tree sap. They offer it 18% cheaper (which will no doubt interest the large food manufactures), with reduced storage costs and longer shelf life, and it's sustainable and kinder to boot.
  

    The strength of the team is all apparent.  I half expected the theme tune to the A-Team to kick in as Josh introduced me.  All looked under 30, with that special California glow.   
Chris Jones a chef and molecular gastronomist was poached from Chicago's award winning restaurant, Moto.. 

He was sporting a bandana and standing over something whirring in the corner. It must be the largest stick blender/food mixer in the world, and it was busy creating a swirling vortex of snow white mayonnaise.  I asked him why he came to work for the company, he gave an impassioned reply.  Noting, he wants his family to have a future.  Chris said of his work, 'The egg was the first thing.  This is the next thing'.  He showed me his floor to ceiling wall of experiments. His job to is work with different components and proteins.  Testing for shelf life.  Stability.  They regularly enlist the help of employees from Yelp & Google, as taste testers.    

Director of Bakery Innovation is Shweta Rao.  She was positively charged with self motivated enthusiasm for Beyond Egg and the concept of what it will achieve.  Shweta and her colleague Megan both told me they have a sense that what they are doing goes beyond cookies and cake and stretches into making a big difference in the world.  They are fulled by this.  They'd wanted to fuel me, with cookies.  They'd baked some for me to try.  Two neat rows of blond and chocolate chip cookies sat waiting for me on a platter.  They were left untouched.  Damn my bloody intolerance for gluten!

A team of scientists work full time, surrounded by a wall of purple gloves, test tubes, machines spinning ingredients in centrifuge, and other wizardly gadgets and gizmos.  I've not the faintest idea what they were for. But they excited me nonetheless.  The team  are currently working on replicating the egg white and working with gluten free flours so products can be produced that are free of the main allergens and suitable for celiac sufferers.

At this point I really start to see what impact this company will have.  As did Khosla Ventures. Venture Capitalists, based in Palo Alto, California,  who's tagline is ' We care about genuine issues: a healthy environment. Sustainable power'.  They back Josh's vision, and made an investment of a cool $3 million in Hampton Creek Foods.   

Josh Tetrick

'In seven years we will be the ‘egg’ industry'.  

The team at Hampton Creek Foods

Beyond Eggs.   The name of the product says it all and is where Josh Tetrik wants the world to be in 7 years.  It seems a bit fantastical to imagine it could happen in what is really a blink of an eye in the time space continuum. but if anyone can do it I believe Josh can.

Want to know more?  

Watch A short video tour from Techcrunch.  

Read this article in Popular Science

Look out for Shweta Rao, she is speaking Ted X.  June 15th in Edmonton.  

  

What do you think of the future of our foods?  Leave your comments and views below.  Just click on the comments tab.

Healthy Not-Egg - The VEGG. Gorgeous Frittata Recipe and Review

I am amazed today.  I failed to curb my scepticism. And I am amazed.  Truly rocked. 
I trialed a product today that had been on my radar for a while.  The Vegg.  A fat free, dairy, soy, gluten, EGG, and animal free substitute.  For egg.

What?!  I wanted to know more!

What is it made from?  Nutritional yeast flakes and a salt, widely used in Indian cooking, named kala namak.  It also goes by the name of black salt.  It amazingly, mimics eggy flavour with aplomb.

Who masterminded The Vegg?
Was it his background in biology, a love and respect for animals, or an obsession with eggs that drove  Rocky Shepheard to spend 6 months, 'tooling around' in his kitchen to produce a pretty good and healthy imitation of an egg yolk?  Well, I asked him, and it turns out it's all of the above.  Rocky stopped consuming meat in 2003.  Seven years ago an ephipany made him switch to a vegan diet.  He suddenly came to the full realisation that it was completely unnecessary to harm any living creature, for humans to thrive.  He also saw that consuming animal products was actually the main cause of poor health in our society.  BUT, some people, though they want to adopt a healthier diet, they sometimes have a sticking point.  Rocky's had been the egg.  He loved eggs.  Problem - vegans don't eat eggs.  But he concluded he loved chickens more.  He began experimenting, for his own uses, but once he'd hit on the answer to perfecting the yolk, he soon realised he could benefit so many, offer a cholesterol- free, and fat-free alternative to the egg, and in doing so help to end animal cruelty.


There are already egg replacers on the market.  What is so special about The Vegg?

The Vegg is the only one that is great for those with egg, soy or gluten allergies.  Heart-friendly.  NO Cholesterol, unlike a real egg. And, to my amazement actually smells and tastes like an egg!

Fat Free.

Cholestorol Free.

Soy Free.

Kind.

I had to try it.


So, what to make?  I decided on a frittata.  Enlisted a couple of carnivorous taste testers and set about creating my first Vegg recipe.  The website has a ton of recipes but I decided I'd tinker with my own.  Starting out with following instructions to first hatch The Vegg.  Take 4 tsp of product to 1 cup water.  Blended in a blender (this is crucial, a fork won't do the trick).  Not got a blender?  Want to take The Vegg on a road trip?  A Vegg lover suggested using an empty pop bottle to prepare the mix.  Just shake it up.  Try it.  Let me know if it works.

So today, I gathered all the necessary ingredients and set to work in the kitchen.  I've been travelling a while, far from my home kitchen. It felt so good to actually be making a new recipe!  
Verdict? I was seriously impressed. Shocked actually! 
This recipe is amazing and you should make it.  I served it with a handful of massaged kale to my waiting and hungry non-vegan friends.  They were unanimous.  It was DELICIOUS!  They concurred they'd never know it wasn't loaded with eggs.

Spinach, Gourmet Mushroom & Lemon Thyme Frittata

Batter
Creating The Vegg is a simple process.
4 tsp The Vegg, blended with 1 cup water.
1 cup gluten free flour - I used a blend of: garbanzo, fava, potato starch, tapioca starch and sorghum flour.  Bob's Red Mill   A great flour, with great flavour. (depending on flour mix you use - some absorb more water than others - you may need to add more water at this point to create a batter like consistency.  Incorporate gradually)
1/2 lemon's juice
Blend

Ingredients
3 cups TOTAL of your choice of mushrooms:
King Oyster
Oyster
Crimini

1 cup of fresh organic spinach
1 medium shallot
1 large clove garlic finely chopped
a few sprigs fresh lemon-thyme
olive oil for frying
lashings of freshly cracked black pepper
Himalyan rock salt - to taste

Let's Cook!
Wipe clean the mushrooms to remove any dirt and fry them in olive oil in a large, oven proof (no plastic handles) fry pan.  Do not overload the pan as the mushrooms will kind of boil rather than fry if they don't get space.
Remove once turning golden and put aside.
To the same pan, add finely chopped shallot, add a little more oil if needed. Saute.
Add the chopped garlic and sauté lightly.
Add the mushroom back to the pan and add the thyme.
Fry gently for a minute.
Saute the spinach briefly in a separate pan to wilt.  If you use frozen (don't use frozen but if you have to then, ok. gone on) then ensure you squeeze out all the excess water.
Mix spinach with the mushroom ingredients and then pour the The Vegg and flour mix on top.
Cook until you can push the sides from the pan easily with a spatula.  The pop the pan under the broiler/grill until it is golden on top and cooked through. 

Watching the broiler/grill. Waiting for the top to turn golden.

Rocky. What plans do you have for future products?
In July, Bang Publishing are to launch a cookbook of recipes from The Vegg fans from all over the world, together with recipes cooked up in Rocky's kitchen.  Due to be released via Amazon.   Stayed tuned.  I'll be reviewing the book, once it is launched and in my hot little hands.  Exciting news too, The Vegg is poised to release handy cartons of Scrambled Vegg, once they can find appropriate investors get on board.  Vegg mixed with tofu and tasting just like your favourite breakfast food.  Eventually a soy free version will also be available.  They hope for this to be a reality in a year or so.

Where can I purchase it?

The Vegg is currently sold in 13 countries.  Germany Rocky's number one export, with Australia coming a close second.  In the last year sales have risen by 20%!

If you want to get hold of The Vegg for yourself you can order it online. or via the stores listed here.

It is already in 40 stores in the US, mainly focussed on the East & West Coast.  I want to get it in Whole Foods,  New Leaf and Trader Joes in the US.  Contact them.  Tell them you want it.  Stores to listen to you. Do you want to see it on the shelves in your country?  Contact your local grocer and say you want to give the product a go. If the grocer then contacts The Vegg, they will sell the store a dozen packs (with no shipping costs) so they can try it out on their customers (you!).  That way you can get to try it without having to pay the shipping costs and hopefully get your store to stock it.

Lots of recipes on the Website.  Some include: chocolate fudge cake, custard, ice-cream, fresh pasta, French toast,  egg-based sauces, for example hollandaise & sabayon, scramble and binder for 'breaded' recipes.  The mixed product will store for 2-3 weeks in the fridge.  


The Science.
Fascinating use of molecular gastronomy can be used to form an acutal yolk that would fool a hen!   Trust me, I  only bring you the best products.

A final tip from Rocky. The Vegg is great used as a FAT FREE melted butter substitute.  Try it warm, poured over a baked potato.

Have you tried The Vegg?  What did you make?  Did you like it as much as I did?  Let us know.  Leave a comment below.


be well. eat well. live well.

India leigh xx