In my quest for non-meat protein, I just went down a rabbit hole about precision fermentation and discovered Quorn was the first biomass fermentation product.
It's not available in France so I carried on looking and looked at tofu, but it's a faff and it's again not easily found locally.
Then I saw the likes of soy and mung beans, which are both relatively high in protein. They seem good for germination with salads (mung beans won't make you fart, not sure about soy). After my brief research I've seen that it's doable for mung beans and also soy. Seems better than making tofu...
But the clincher was seeing that, like cannabis, soy plant flowering is linked to the length of daylight (it tends to start at about 12.8 hours). Having bought 3 grow tents, LED lights and other assorted paraphernalia while very drunk a couple of years ago, I now realise I can grow soy in them. I've already got the seeds and rhizobia, and the outside climate here isn't really suitable for waiting that late for flowering to start. Looks like I could use excess PV solar in spring, summer and autumn to grow a couple of indoor crops. They produce more nitrogen-fixing bacteria up to 8 weeks, so I could use that as the point to induce flowering, subject to experimentation, and get extra nitrogen for other crops as well as extra rhizobia for future production (letting them grow through a normal outdoor cycle isn't optimal for harvesting rhizobia, but I guess I could have extra ones that I harvest early for that).
They also need arbuscular mycorrhizae, but these are much more ancient and European varieties should do the job, unlike the bacteria.
No idea what sort of yield I'd get with two 4x4 feet and one 3x3 tent, but it sounds like a fun project.
Anyone got experience in this sort of hare-brained scheme?
@davep It’s fascinating to me that tofu isn’t easily available in France. It’s very common where I am (Toronto), although there is a sizeable population of Asian heritage here.
@davep If I may ask, are you looking specifically for a meat substitute, or just a way to get protein via plants? The latter is far easier via combinations of things (like grains and beans), and I’d guess that, like in most cuisines, French “peasant” food might have good examples.
@michaelgemar Not necessarily as a meat substitute (but I'm looking at reducing my intake). More about growing my own high protein food both for me and, say, chickens. Just realised that the variety I've bought is early harvest, so no need for grow tents 👍
But, yeah, I do need to look at combinations for all essential amino acids.
What I understood is that Quorn isn’t available in France. 😉
Tofu you could, in theory, make at home.
And I know for sure that there are soy bean varieties that do well in Germany, because farmers grow them where I live. There even was a field right behind my village this year.
I see no reason why these shouldn’t do well in France, too.
@kommaKucken@michaelgemar I'll check out the variety I bought from Sativa. I bought it a couple of years ago too, and probably checked its suitability. 1000m2 with corn and courges would be way better and less hassle. Thanks for reminding me to take a look.
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