Looks like egg, smells like egg…
It looks like egg, smells like egg, can be used like egg – but is not an egg.
This is the easiest way to explain the latest Portuguese invention that promises to revolutionise the food industry, not least for vegans, who do not eat anything ‘animal related’.
This new totally home-grown product has been created from soy, and incorporates other plant extracts.
“It allows the final consumer a more flexible, sustainable food source”, says researcher Daniel Abegão of CFER – the centre for food education and research, based in Alcobaça (Leiria district).
Reporting on the new invention, Lusa stressed that the taste of scrambled ‘eggs’ was exactly as expected of ‘normal’ scrambled eggs.
The research has taken five years – and Portugal’s non-egg egg is not yet on the market. But it will be very soon, says Abegão.
Interest in Portugal’s creation has come from clients in Europe, Africa, the US and Brazil, he added.
“We believe we’ll have a lot of success, because we have managed to produce a stable, tasty final product”, he said.
The non-egg egg is part of a CFER project dubbed ‘Plantalicious’.
Other ‘works in progress’ include edible straws, created with fish algae – to take advantage of the gap in the market caused by the outlawing of plastic disposable straws – healthy drinks/ sauces/ ready meals/ yoghurts/ cheeses and food supplements.
Says Lusa, CFER works also for clients from all over the world – the UK being one of its principal markets – as the food industry ‘wakes up big-time’ to the concept of healthy, sustainable eating.
