GOURMET TRAVELLER 27PHOTOGRAPHY REBECCA MANSELL (JED GERRARD) & GARETH SOBEY (DAIRY BOTTLE).
WEATHERING CHANGE
A decade after Jonathan Safran Foer penned the best-selling Eating
Animals (his case against factory farming), he’s written We are the
Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast (Hamish Hamilton,
$35). He argues that going vegan before dinner can lead to a positive
impact on climate change, as meat production generates greenhouse
gas emissions that equal the impact of all forms of transport combined.Imitation game
Australian plant-based meat
alternative Fable counts chef Heston
Blumenthal as one of its fans.WHO “I couldn’t think of anything I wanted
to work on more than reducing industrial
animal agriculture,” says Michael Fox, who
became a vegetarian four years ago. He hit on
the idea of producing a meat alternative from
mushrooms, but given his fashion background,
he knew he needed help from food industry
pros. So he’s teamed up with Chris McLoghlin,
co-founder of Australia’s largest mushroom
farm, and Jim Fuller, an ex-chef now working
as a mycologist (a mushroom scientist). They’ve
created Fable, a plant-based “meat” formed
from shiitake mushrooms.HOW After eating every mushroom imaginable
and meeting fungi experts such as Thai
professor Anon Auetragul (who also introduced
them to chef Heston Blumenthal), they created
a product that has the stringy texture of beef
brisket. The meaty flavour, which took a year to
develop, is flavoured with shiitake mushrooms
(which makes up two-thirds of the product),
coconut oil and soy protein.WHY The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change recommended eating less meat in
its latest report as raising livestock creates
significant greenhouse gas emissions and
deforestation. The mega success of US plant-
based meats (Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods)
proves there’s an appetite for vegan alternatives.
Fable already has Heston Blumenthal’s blessing:
it launched in December at Dinner by Heston
Blumenthal in Melbourne (his “snail” porridge
was served with Fable instead), and it’s on the
menu at his Heathrow Airport café in London.
Fable can be found locally at The Rook in
Sydney and Acre Farm & Eatery in Melbourne.
fablefood.co“I grew up in New Zealand, and used to deliver glass milk bottles on the back of a truck when I was 11,” says
Brittney Wheeler, creative director at Contain Design Studio. So it’s apt that her studio has collaborated with Schulz
Organic Dairy on a sustainable glass design that inspires users to refill, return and recycle milk bottles. Phasing out
plastic from the product equates to 120 kilograms of plastic saved for every 3000 bottles sold. containdesign.com.auPasta with
“meatballs”
made with
Fable.