PRODUCT REVIEW OF MORNINGSTAR NEW PRODUCTS – A BURGER & A NUGGET

PRODUCT REVIEW OF MORNINGSTAR NEW PRODUCTS – A BURGER & A NUGGET

I don’t get too excited any more when MorningStar Farms introduces a new product, since their ‘new’ usually contains animal products that they added to their ‘old’ better product that contained none, with a few adjustments here and there – all bad. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if they manipulated themselves right out of the animal-free market with their obsessive need to keep altering their recipes for the worse. I don’t know who they hire or where their test market samples come from, but somebody is doing a very good job at doing a very bad job in the creative department. Even their barbecue Riblets have declined to the point where I won’t buy them any more. Just leave the recipe alone when it’s good. But they’re so focused on pinching every molecule out of every penny that they risk and risk till they’ve ruined a good thing.

It’s Kellogg’s that’s doing this. They own MorningStar Farms. Let’s face it, the dairy and egg industries handsomely reward companies that use their products. They’re not vegan oriented. They’re farm people who want you to think eggs grow on trees and milk comes from the trunk of the tree, when they drive a spike into it and hang a metal bucket for collection purposes.

But let’s get to these two new products I tried. I fried them up, a little harder than the box instructions. I don’t like a mushy burger that becomes the bread when I chew it. I want a distinction. I couldn’t find that line of distinction. It would be better to eat this burger as a main dish veggie meat with sauces, than on bread.

It tasted very Indian, not like a burger, but like I was eating potatoes, peas and curry – in an Indian restaurant – formed into balls, battered and defried, only it wasn’t battered and defried. Indians will like that I thought. That’s the market for these burgers – India, or Indians outside of India.I  have no idea what that dry, dusty coating was on the outside, but it didn’t go away when fried. It stuck to my fingers and my palate didn’t like it. I wouldn’t put traditional condiments with this burger, probably a cucumber mayo or a sauce made from plain vegan yogurt with garlic and cilantro maybe.

Then I went to the nuggets. Although the word nugget conjures up thoughts of imitation chicken, this is not imitation chicken. It is a replacement for meat.

That same substance on the outside of the burgers was on the outside of the nuggets – strangely disconcerting – since I couldn’t figure out the value in it. It was not pleasant. I still can’t figure it out.

You would need a lot of condiment to dip the nuggets into, in order to enjoy them. Too much like the burger in texture, only they used quinoa for these. I’m not a big fan of quinoa. Too light, not enough salt. My first impression upon tasting the nuggets was that MorningStar got basically two products out of one. They weren’t different enough. Somebody pinching those copper molecules again.

I won’t buy either product again – for me. However, Lilly Belle loved them both, so much so that I began thinking Kellogg’s and dog food. Frozen dog food. That’s where these two products belong. Keep them vegan. Lighten up on the curry, adjust the spices, no garlic (supposedly it’s bad for dogs). Then make a cat food. You can add as a supplement that which cats need to survive (taurine) or whatever else. Keep it vegan, keep it healthy, keep it frozen. You already have the texture in these two products that will work well for dogs and cats.

I will buy these products again, when I see them available, for Lilly Belle.

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