When I think of pea protein, I think of IKEA's vegan meatballs and Pret's meatball wrap.
Tasty, arguably even meaty, but very much made of a vegetable protein.
What I don't think of is blood.
That's where Future Farms have completely bucked my expectations.
They have an expansive range of vegan meat alternatives and I think they're perfect for people who are opting to cut down meat not because they don't like it, but because they're making a decision to cut down.
For you see, this 'meat' is really quite realistic, so realistic that after defrosting I got a little queasy.
Now I do eat real meat, but I typically prepare it cold.
With this I had forgotten to defrost it (both with the mince and with the meatballs) so I had to put it in the microwave to defrost.
This meant that it was somewhat warm when it came to seasoning.
I knew that it was plant based but it was so lukewarm, and then with the 'blood' coming from it.
I found it a little too gross, I squealed and had to hand over the reins when it came to seasoning.
It was really startling seeing the blood come from the fake meat, which I think makes it a pretty decent alternative for those who miss that aspect of meat.
It also means you can try a well done, medium rare or rare product which is something I've not seen before with meat alternatives.
I think the umami meat taste comes through quite strong, although you can taste that it's not a real meat source.
After it had cooked through and stopped bleeding (which did freak me out, I must admit) I found that it was actually quite nice.
You can shop the full Future Farm range here on The Vegankind Supermarket, where all the beef substitutes are £3.99.
You can also buy it on Sainsbury's.
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