Go fish: Danish scientists work on fungi-based seafood substitute
From plant-based meat that “bleeds” to milk grown in a lab, fake meats and dairy have come a long way in recent years. But there is another alternative that scientists are training their sights on, one with the most challenging texture to recreate of all: seafood.
Scientists in Copenhagen are fermenting seaweed on fungi to develop the closest substitute for seafood yet, working with Alchemist, a two-Michelin-starred restaurant, to meet demand from diners for sustainable plant-based alternatives that are as good as – or better than – the real thing. Imitating the fibrous texture of seafood is a difficult achieve, and the team are experimenting with growing filamentous fungi, the micro-organisms found in soil that form a mass of intertwining strands, on seaweed, to create a single product that tastes of the sea.
“We scientists are not good at understanding how to make things delicious, and this decides whether people will eat them. There’s a lot we can learn from each other. [Working with chefs] is slowly emerging, but it hasn’t happened so far to the extent that would be needed to end up with products that are really good,” said Dr Leonie Jahn, the microbiologist leading the project.
Seafood alternatives that resemble the real thing have fallen behind the progress made in developing meat-free replicas such as the Impossible Burger, which is designed to “bleed”, and plant-based milks. Jahn said this was partly because there was less demand, as consumers viewed seafood as healthier and – erroneously – more sustainable, and partly because recreating the texture of fish and seafood was more difficult. “It has these layers, the texture is rather soft but you have some resistance and chewiness, that’s quite difficult to
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