What is heme and why is everyone talking about it?
What is heme and why is everyone talking about it?
Here at Jellybean Creative, we ensure we stay truly informed by devouring insight from a wide range of credible sources. In this way our clients know weāre always helping them put their best āfoodā forward.
Whilst looking into The Food Peopleās 2019 UK Big Flavour Markers recently, I noticed a word I hadnāt seen before ā heme ā and my interest was immediately piqued.
Heme or haem is a coordination complex “consisting of an iron ion coordinated to a porphyrin acting as a tetradentate ligand, and to one or two axial ligands.”
OK, letās start from the beginning.
- Itās pronounced /hiĖm/ (think team with a āhā)
- It is an iron-containing compound which forms the non-protein part of haemoglobin and some other biological molecules
- It’s in just about every living thing on Earth
- It helps to move oxygen throughout the body, carries iron and colours our blood red
- For most of us, the majority of the heme we consume comes from animals, but soy roots also contain heme
And why is it so interesting?
- It gives a true meat-like flavour to dishes and is the āmagicā ingredient in the famous bleeding Impossible™ Burger
- It could go some way to help save the planet by addressing growing issues attributed to livestock production
The Impossible™ Burger is receiving rave reviews: āThis product is delicious. Every meat eater should try this.ā I particularly liked this one: āOn behalf of all the chickens āgood jobā
This video is a must watch.
Itās a very interesting time in menu development, with the explosion of veganism, foodservice operators are having to work hard to ensure their plant-based dishes stand out within the market and ultimately satisfy peopleās appetites.
Has anyone tried an Impossible™ Burger and if so, what did you think? We must know! @JellybeanAgency
