Imma Try it... The Impossible

Hey kids! As some of you may know, I live pretty much right next to Disneyland so I go often… like so much that “often” isn’t quite the correct term, but “a lot” sounds boring and I’m too lazy to look at a thesaurus, so “often” it is!

Anyhoo.

Since I’m there… so much… I figure I’d try and share some of my thoughts on food. Loren has the characters and events and what not taken care of so I figure I’d take a stab at writing about food.

I’m, by no means, an elitist foodie. I’m your pretty average eater with an unfortunate allergy to treenuts… including coconuts. Nooo!

So with that in mind, welcome to the first installment of…

Imma try it so…

…You should try it!

First up, a couple of interesting items coming to you from Disney California Adventure’s Food and Wine Festival. The Food and Wine Fest is a celebration of California and the different regions and cuisines.

Have you heard of the Impossible burger? It’s pretty much a plant based meat substitute. Supposedly it impossibly… get it?... recreates everything about ground beef that we love. The beefy taste, the juiciness , the look and the texture. How is this possible? I don’t know it involves chemistry, science, witchcraft and apothecaryisms! Check out their site here: https://impossiblefoods.com to find out more! These guys are based in Northern California, which is why they are featured at the festival.

There are two different offerings at the Food and Wine Fest, first from the Avocado Time stand, is the Petite Impossible Burger with Guac and Pepper Jack Cheese.

As you can see, it’s slider sized with an artisan bun. It comes as advertised, guac and pepper jack cheese, with the addition of a tomato slice. The burger patty is pretty thick so it’s definitely the star of the show and you really get to experience it in it’s full glory.

If you didn’t tell me anything about this burger, I’d assume it’s a regular burger with a fancy looking bun. The patty itself, looks like… a burger. But how is it?

First, mouth feel. Is it like sinking your teeth into a juicy burger? Yes… yes it is. Strangely so. Since I knew it wasn’t meat, it was a bit odd, but that’s a mental issue. If I didn’t know, I probably wouldn’t have noticed anything different. Also while it did feel like I was biting into meat it had the consistency of a medium cooked burger, but didn’t have the coloring of one, meaning there was no distinctive “pink” in the middle which you would associate with a properly cooked burger.

The real question is, how did it taste? Honestly, it was pretty good. I’m not quite sure what was in the patty itself, but it tasted like a burger that was seasoned with different spices other than just salt and pepper. So it wasn’t a pure beef flavor. Judging it solely on taste factor, I’d give it a 7. I like my burgers simple, with just salt and pepper. However, because this is a meat substitute, for flavor, I’d give it a 9. Most times, faux meat products definitely taste “faux," but the Impossible Burger did not. It tasted like someone tried to fancy up a burger, which isn’t a bad thing.

I would love to try an Impossible burger made the way I love burgers, which is simple. Store bought bun, mayo, patty, American cheese, mustard and ketchup and see how it holds up.

Next!

… You should eat it!

Our second offering is the Impossible No “Meat” Ball Sub from the Paradise Garden Grill.

The portion I had was the “Sip and Savor” version of the dish, which is a smaller version of the sub they sell. The “Sip and Savor” pass is a special ticket system Disney has during these kinds of food festivals. You essentially pay for a card with food tickets. Instead of paying for the food item at each kiosk, you simply trade a food ticket. It basically comes out to about $6 a ticket and most food items cost from $5 to $9. So if you use it on items that cost more, you come out on top.

While most of the fare at the fest are small portions, the Paradise Garden Grill offers full meals. So the regular version of the sub is pretty big and comes with chips. The “Sip and Savor” version looks to be about half the size, but still comes with chips, so still a good deal.

The bun is a small roll with a bit of a chew to it, similar to the Impossible burger bun. The “No” Meat Balls aren’t cooked in the marinara sauce, rather, the sauce is added afterwards then sprinkled with some chives and shredded cheese and served with some homemade chips.

The “No” Meat Ball itself felt different in texture to the Impossible Burger, much the same way a regular meatball should not have the same texture as a burger patty. It’s a lot softer and looser, very similar to a real meatball. The taste I felt was also very much like how a good meatball should be - like it was seasoned with an Italian herb blend of basil and oregano. As far as meatball sandwiches go, it was really good. I'd give it an 8 out of 10. I enjoyed it more than the Impossible Burger.

Just like the Impossible Burger, if you didn’t tell me what it was, no way I could have differentiated between a regular meatball and an Impossible No “Meat” Ball. I will definitely go back and get myself the full version of this sandwich.

All in all, I had a pretty good experience eating plant based faux meat products from Impossible. For vegetarians or people who want to cut down on consuming too much meat, this is a great way to have your burger and eat it to. I would definitely like to try more products using the Impossible meat and hope at least the no “meat” balls are available elsewhere soon. I’m hankering for a nice plate of spaghetti and no “meat" balls!