Meat Glue. The good the bad and the reality.

Here is my response to concerns about the use of Meat Glue.

I myself was raised in Paris France, and my family used to spend our weekends in Normandy. I remember going down to the farm a mile away to get my milk can filled up. I will drink the warm unpasteurized milk on my way back home which was not the best thing do (because of parasites) but it was so tasty, thick and creamy I could never resist to the temptation.

My mother will let the milk set over night and then scoop of the top layer of cream and reserved it for different cooking used.

We will also slaughter a pig in September and transformed it into many different charcuterie dishes. At that time the blood was used as a binder and thickener. All the flavors were intense. I am glad I witness those natural senses.

Things are different now and the world evolved. New techniques are being developed to be able to feed the mass. Most of that mass nether received an education about what real food is. They nether developed the senses of their taste buds, never bite on a real natural firm piece of chicken, a wild trout or game meats. The one who did like us were privileged.

                               

I discovered meat glue 10 years ago when working as a chef instructor in NYC. I was shocked, surprised and almost disgust by it. What could be good about that product? I become curious and decided to try it to recreate a “beef tenderloin" using some scraps from different beef meat parts.

I open the bag and start putting some on the meat scraps. 20 seconds later I started sneezing and my eyes become all red. I went on to clean my hand and water my eyes. 10 minutes later I was back to normal and finish my project wearing glove. What I had done was  that I used my wrist to get read of an itch on one of my eyes and this is how I provoked that reaction. I was the only one in the school to have experienced that situation.

The Fake beef tenderloin comes out looking real good and many people loved it. Some would not understand the structure and texture of it.

It took me some time to decide if I wanted to make a video about it on my YouTube channel since the product is not very popular for different reasons. Since I call myself a chef instructor I thought it could be good information for my students/subscribers/followers to know about it and create a dialog about it.

We need to be open minded about food, know how it is made and make the smart decision. If you can avoid the fake food feel lucky and appreciate it. Happy Cooking!