so, since the start of the year - since veganuary started - i've been desperate to get my hands on the infamous pulled jackfruit from sainsbury's. i'd ordered some in my very first big fat vegan shop - but it never turned up; the delivery, not just the jackfruit, so then i forfeited sainsbury's and couldn't find any other stores that sold it the way they did. for those unsure about what jackfruit is, it's a tropical fruit, a bit like a pineapple, and when cooked it has the closest texture to "pulled pork". pulled pork is one of my faves, so anything claiming to be a vegan-man's substitute was going straight on my list, and i basically spent weeks trying to find it on the shelves in my other local stores, without any luck.
then my twinkly pal lucy slid into my insta-dms with one picture that changed everything. this pic, if you're interested in knowing how easily i can be bought, and then and there we made a plan to go and eat the pulled jackfruit burgers at mooshies, and all the tasty sides, and i was going to finally live out my vegan dream of tasty, meaty, bbqey, jackfruit.
we met at mooshies late last week, with jackfruit on our minds. we ordered, we waited, and we drooled in delight as the burgers were placed down in front of us, with sides of cheesy vegan mozzarella sticks and fries there to play second fiddle to the main attraction. it looked incredible; the fruit was falling out the sides and the crunchy slaw smelled great, but.. the burger looked impossible to pick up to eat, and it was - trust me, i tried!
but the truth of the matter is that once i managed to take a bite of the burger i had been gagging to eat for so many weeks, i wished i hadn't. it was awful. jackfruit tastes nothing like pulled pork, it has the same texture as overcooked and stringy onions, and the flavour is just as tangy. and, i'm intolerant to onion, and the mere smell of it makes me queasy, so it wasn't a pleasant experience right from the get-go. it was doused in bbq sauce, though, so it very much tasted like that too - which was a bonus, but all-in-all, it was not the result i was expecting, and i did sort of leave with a bad taste in my mouth - figuratively and otherwise, because.. it turns out there's very little vegan "junk food" that i like.
i wasn't the hugest fan of the chik'n burgers we had in deptford, and i definitely did not like the pizza i had at zizzi that time, so.. i'm not really where this leaves me. i love all the foods i'm cooking myself at home, with beans and potatoes and lentils and peas, but when i eat out.. i want something tasty and naughty, and.. i don't know what that leaves me with if i truly don't like many of the alternatives on the market? if you've had some banging vegan food in a chain or london restaurant, then please let me know. i basically need to get my head out of my arse and stop trying to compare the vegan options to the meat ones, because of course they're going to taste different. i need to work out how to satisfy my taste buds with new foods, rather than try to substitute old ones. hopefully, it'll come with time. wish me luck!
