Cheese and burger is no longer a verboten combination in the Jewish world. Impossible Food’s “Impossible Burger,” now certified by the OU, seeks to revolutionize pareve eating as a total palate overhaul, and is like no veggie burger ever before. This new plant-based alternative burger sizzles, smells and tastes like a real hamburger. It is only available wholesale for restaurants, and Lazy Bean Cafe at 1404 Queen Anne Rd. serves this beefy doppelgänger on a lightly toasted, buttery bun with the works: lettuce, tomato, fried onions, pickles, Russian dressing-style “special sauce” and—a cheeseburger’s vital prerequisite—cheese.
Upon biting into the lush marvel, we characterized the Impossible Burger as lighter-tasting than a regular hamburger but just as filling. After trying the burger live on Facebook, we sought to create a tasting description that was as unrehearsed as it was authentic. “I feel like I just ate a bite of hamburger,” Elizabeth said. The accompaniments at Lazy Bean perfected this $14.99 trendy meal.
Rachel related that a unique attribute of the Impossible Burger is that it throws the midday fleishig commitment anxiety to the wind, because the burger is made from plant proteins, coconut oil and fermented heme, an iron-containing compound that gives meat its meat flavor. Dinner options now wide open, lunch has become a nutrient-saturated and nut- and egg-free euphoria, she said. Those allergic to soy and gluten should note that the burger contains these two ingredients.
The burger is currently marked at $3 a serving wholesale, already portioned, pattied and sectioned in parchment. While currently not available in stores, there are those who predict that its wider availability in local supermarkets will result in reduced food costs and happier, veggie-burger-enthused kids.
Kids are not the only ones pining for the Impossible Burger, however. Summer health resolutionary dieters are buoyantly adding this fleishig-ish treat to their restrictive vegan and vegetarian menus.
The Orthodox Union declared the Impossible Burger kosher, pareve on Tuesday, May 22. Impossible Foods CEO and Founder Dr. Patrick O. Brown was elated. “Getting kosher certification is an important milestone,” he declared. “We want the Impossible Burger to be ubiquitous, and that means it must be affordable and accessible to everyone—including people who have food restrictions for religious reasons.”
Creating a firestorm of demand in many Jewish communities and particularly the tri-state area, in addition to Lazy Bean Cafe, the Impossible Burger is available locally at Mocha Bleu and Shelly’s Cafe, and in the city at Golan Heights, Mendy’s, Candle Cafe West and other eateries.
By Elizabeth Kratz and Rachel Liebling
