27 January 2022

Plantlife: vegan Chorizo Wheels for weirdos @NLi10

 Vegans are odd. It’s Veganuary so I get a lot more vegan options pushed towards me, this one in particular  was very curious. It’s authentic looking vegan chorizo swirls.

Unopened box of very red vegan sausage swirls

The picture is fine, these will be spicy vegan sausages - but why do they need to look like this?


They are proper sloppy meat like sausages. I suspect that if my veggie partner had seen them properly beforehand she’d have declined them. 


Cooking them at least is easy - lightly fry on both sides alternately for ten minutes. Easy!


Front one is a bit crispy, but otherwise perfectly done. Could even keep them on the sticks and have as a BBQ treat.


After all that though - it’s essentially just peppery, spicy, vegan sausages.  They aren’t that much like chorizo - in flavour nor texture.  They are pleasant enough if you enjoy meat, but probably too authentic for plant eaters, and not close enough to the real thing for carnivores like me.

It’s an odd spot to end up in really - so either vegans genuinely are weird, or companies haven’t quite figured it all out yet.









4 comments:

claire said...

I was sent these as a free substitute. Fully agree that they are nothing like chorizo. But far from meaty or authentic. I've been vegetarian 26 years now but still found nothing meatlike about them. Devoid of heat and just...ok. Ish. They suffer most badly from an excess of mushroom. I don't see why developers of such products are so keen to fill them with mushrooms. They don't taste "meaty"; they taste of mushroom. It's too dominant a flavour and last time I checked pigs weren't fungi (maybe efforts to evoke the Jolly Hog porkers? But that would just be tenuous misplaced desperation).

NLi10 said...

That’s the thing - I hate mushrooms and I found these edible. Agree that they really aren’t meaty, but my partner hasn’t eaten meat since she was 7 so takes more convincing that things aren’t meaty.

Always happy to have recommendations too so do suggest things you think we’d like!

claire said...

Ahaha, I love mushrooms but found them jarring here. Mushrooms don't belong in chorizo. Afraid I don't often use many faux meat things to recommend; I mainly cook from scratch. But would/does your partner like Glamorgan sausages? They are the OG veggie sausage. If she isn't vegan...or the heck veg range? If not tried. I think they lean more on the veg than on mimicking meat.

NLi10 said...

We've had both of those - but thanks for the suggestions!

(and mushrooms belong in the forest and nowhere else !! )