Featured Image Credit: YouTube/Here is Oregon
Topics: Food and Drink
Gerrard Kaonga
As Thanksgiving quickly approaches many are looking forward to tucking into iconic staples but some social media users are less excited about a vegan meat dish that often makes an appearance.
The Thanksgiving holiday sees millions of Americans across the country munching on all sorts of variations of stuffing, potatoes, veggies, pies and most iconically turkey.
However, many vegetarians and vegans aren’t quite able to enjoy all of the dishes available, so in 1980 a company introduced the world to Tofurky.
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I bring this up because a video showing how this vegan meat is made in a factory has put people off the dish and resulted in jokes and mockery on social media.
In all fairness, it is likely a lot of people could be put off food in general after viewing how it’s made at an industrial level, but many have found a new reason to hate the meat-alternative dish.
A 2021 Here is Oregon YouTube video doing a deep dive into the production of Tofurky has begun doing the rounds and the Washington Post has recently taken a trip to the factory where the dish is made.
Every year the Turtle Island Foods company, the one responsible for Tofurky, gets to work ahead of Thanksgiving to make the tofu and wheat-based turkey substitute.
It is estimated the company has sold 7.5 million Tofurky roasts since its invention in 1980.
On the production line, four people are responsible for making the dough of tofu and wheat also known as the masa. It is then mixed with canola oil, water and savory seasoning for the right texture and flavor.
The process isn’t done yet though as another employee has to add wild rice stuff at the center of each roast, mixing in breadcrumbs, onion, celery, carrot, leek as well as other seasonings.
Another employee then assembles the ingredients for the Tofurky's dry seasoning mix and through an industrial procedure the two mixtures are combined and put into a tube. It is then cooked and refrigerated and boxed away.
While some social media users remarked how much they loved Tofurky, others were less appreciative of the dish.
“This is the saddest and most depressing thing I've seen in a while,” one user commented.
“That doesn’t look fit for human consumption,” another added.
“This is how you never host Thanksgiving again,” joked another.
“Looks good... can’t wait to try it... said no one ever,” a user wrote.
“I heard if you put a little bit of olive oil on the serving dish, it makes it easier to slide into the trash can!,” a user joked.
But if the jokes and process hasn’t put you off, maybe you should try Tofurky for yourself.