Meat-Eaters Aghast At Vegan Brisket That Looks Just Like Beef

Are there two groups of people more determined to annoy each other than meat eaters and vegans? Whether it's a carnivore enjoying a blood-rare steak outside of a vegan festival or a group of vegans protesting outside a meat-focused restaurant, the two groups seem determined to just bug the hell out of each other, with no middle ground in site. The latest add to this forever feud is a dish by Hollywood writer Kevin Biegel, who made a realistic (but vegan) brisket out of "jackfruit, seitan, miso, beer, Franklin BBQ sauce," says The Washington Post.

Biegel's meatlike brisket has inspired a heated online debate, with strong responses on both sides. The meat-eaters wonder why vegans create things that look like meat (with the typical "why do humans have canine teeth if they're not meant to be omnivores?" comments, etc.), while vegans explain that they don't eat meat, but they'd still like to enjoy the experience burgers and such. Biegel tells the Post that he's not even vegan, but became a vegetarian after a heart attack 10 years ago.

For this dish, he adapted a recipe from Linda Meyer's Great Vegan BBQ Without A Grill, which he says "will make purists' heads explode but it's a great, well researched book." He accidentally smoked the concoction on a Big Green Egg grill in a water pan for 18 hours. "I fell asleep! I'm pretty sure it didn't need to be that long."

Biegel then reached out to us on Twitter where he extrapolated about the reactions to his viral post: "The outpouring of people being so cool and interested has been an amazing thing to be lucky enough to experience. Sure some (ha, a lot) got angry, but it's fine. I only remember the good ones."