Meat analogs used to offer one choice: Either you suffered, or the animal did. Today, processors are artisans at creating meat, poultry and seafood substitutes so good they cluck, moo and…whatever it is fish do.
Fake meat—once almost exclusively from textured soy—was typically mealy, and the taste tended to be bland and garlicky, either serving as a placeholder for a cover-up sauce or overwhelming everything in its path. Neither could satisfy the craving for toothsomeness or umami that (formerly) only came from animal protein.