Four vegans try cultured meat for the first time
My account of trying Vow’s cultured quail after six years being vegan
(Reposted from our Substack)
So I decided last week that I’d go and finally try some of the cultured quail that Vow had recently deployed into the Australian market, and I saved it for my birthday. Thankfully, being in Melbourne, this was actually something I could do.
In case you’re not familiar with it, cultured meat, also known as cultivated meat, is real animal meat produced by cultivating animal cells in a safe and controlled environment. It produces meat from animal cells, not slaughtered animals.
Forged Gras — a play on foie gras — was on the menu at The Lincoln hotel for only A$27, which seemed kind of surreal. I gathered a few of my vegan friends and we were all pretty excited to have this long-awaited experience. Sandy was especially keen; he had been waiting for cultivated meat to actually exist for something like 15 years, and now finally, here we are.
Navigating the menu was a bit weird compared to my usual vegan routine. Normally I’d just scan for “v” or “vg” next to the dish names, no-brainer. This time, of course, no “v” next to what we were here for. I mean, fair — it is technically meat, even if it’s not from a slaughtered animal. Sandy and Rubio decided to get another dish too, and ordering the Forged Gras while simultaneously confirming the other was vegan with the waiter felt both routine and slightly ridiculous. It’s funny how habits persist even when you’re deliberately trying something so outside the usual.
Edamame with nori salt arrived first. Great, familiar, nothing unexpected. And then, the Forged Gras. The anticipation was real.
Looking at the portion size, I wasn’t surprised. Small, definitely not filling. Honestly, it was probably a third of what I’d normally eat in a meal (in terms of calories), but this was never about stuffing ourselves. We were here for THE bite.
Sandy ate first. He puts his fork down. “Nope!” he says, with this kind of grimacing smile.
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I take a bite. “Oh. This is… interesting. Actually, this is quite good.”
Jose chimes in: “I really like it.”
Rubio bites in — immediate rejection, she spits it out. Pretty classic table reactions.
I went slow, picking at mine; Jose basically inhaled his. And since Sandy and Rubio essentially left theirs untouched, Jose and I asked if we could finish them off. And we did, enjoying it thoroughly.
If I had to describe it: cultured quail, Forged Gras-style, has a really high fat content. It’s got that smooth, “melt in your mouth” thing going on, but it’s also sort of heavy, almost like biting into fried oil. That’s when I realized this little serving was all I needed. Any more and I’d probably get queasy. Jose, on the other hand, would have happily kept going — it takes all sorts.
Of course, we weren’t full. So, we ended up driving to an ice cream shop after just to fill up on something. But honestly, the more time passed, the sicker I felt about having eaten the cultured quail. No clue if it was actual physical sickness, or just that weird psychological ick. Maybe it was just too much fat; maybe it was the mental process of having eaten animal meat (even if nobody was killed in the process).
“Cultured quail, Forged Gras-style, has a really high fat content. It’s got that smooth, “melt in your mouth” thing going on, but it’s also sort of heavy, almost like biting into fried oil.”
In the days following, I found myself quickly scrolling past any photos of Forged Gras whenever I browsed my phone. So strange — felt a bit disgusted, but can’t really pinpoint why. Maybe the whole “I ate animal meat” thing, or just the idea of it. Would it be worse if it were cultured human meat? Probably.
Anyway, despite the ups and downs, I’m still genuinely interested in trying cultured versions of more “traditional” meats. Cultured lamb, for example — Magic Valley’s working on that.
I’m still hopeful for cultivated meat to become more mainstream and free millions of animals from lives full of suffering.
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