Patty vs. patty. Gourmet dishes — one juicier than the other. On February 13, the Da by Crab Chic restaurant (Dubai, United Arab Emirates) hosted the "Hi, meat!" food festival dedicated to plant-based meat alternatives as part of EXPO 2020.
The festival was held as a two-round creative battle. In the first round, all of the event's guests — Dubai chefs and restaurant owners, reporters, and bloggers — chose the most delicious plant-based patty via blind tasting. The contestants were the Russian Hi!, from EFKO shareholders, Brazilian Future Farm, and American Beyond Meat, well-known in the Arabic market.
Guests blind-tasted each of the three patties and ranked the taste, smell, and texture on a scale of 1 to 10. At this stage, the experts did not know which number was assigned to which brand.
The second round was no longer a battle between manufacturers but between chefs. Russian and Spanish chefs showcased their versions of the plant-based meat dish. The guests had to choose the tastiest.
Spanish sous chef and senior chef instructor at SCASA (Dubai) Eduardo Acuña cooked a medallion with baby potatoes and Latin American chimichurri sauce. EFKO Food of the Future brand chef Anton Prokofiev cooked bell peppers stuffed with plant-based meat with vegan cream sauce. Both dishes included plant-based meat Hi!
The results were announced at the end of the festival. The Russian burger won the blind-tasting contest. In the battle of the chefs, Anton Prokofiev won by a narrow margin.
and member of the Board of Directors
of EFKO Sergey Ivanov