Vegetarian

Ripping The Lid Off The Tofurky Racket

May Street Market's eggplant-wrapped tofu with tamarind sauce
May Street Market’s eggplant-wrapped tofu with tamarind sauce Photo: Courtesy David Hammond

“Enter the world of tofu-based meat substitutes and you may not be able to find your way back out again,” we warned David Hammond. But he cooked up a tofurky anyway, along with making tofu cookies, visiting two different tofu factories (tofuworks? tofubricators?) and talking to chefs. The results are in a comprehensive and fascinating Sun-Times piece: he went thumbs-down on tofurky (“seems to appeal not to those who dislike meat, but rather to those who sadly yearn for it”), but he admired the high quality, even artisanal tofu made by Phoenix Bean in Andersonville. And he got an appreciation for what chefs could do with it, such as the silky-soft tofu wrapped in eggplant and drizzled with a glaze made from Mexican tamarind candy served by Alex Cheswick at May Street Market. (If that’s not enough tofu in one day for you, you can also read the LTHForum thread he started to chronicle his investigation along the way.)

Tofu— Seriously [Sun-Times]

Ripping The Lid Off The Tofurky Racket