3 chefs have their say on the future of meat and fish

In the last few years, meat has become an ever more politicised subject. It’s a topic that seems to elicit many differing opinions, from those who aspire to a meat-free future, to those who believe that modern farming practices are only responsible for a fraction of climate change and that production should instead be ramped up.

From hand-reared, sustainable meat products to plant-based meat and the promotion of insect proteins, the only thing that seems certain about meat is that it how we produce it and how we eat it, will change. One such future includes the proliferation of lab-grown meat and fish, which although presents a solution to many of the pressing issues facing meat production, for many is a concept somewhat hard to digest.

Whatever the future of meat and fish is, chefs will play a pivotal role in changing public opinion about how we see them. Some of the world’s best chefs like Dominique Crenn and Marco Pierre White have publically endorsed lab-grown meat, while others remain on the fence or even oppose it. We asked three leading chefs about what they think the future of meat and fish looks like.

Andoni Luis Aduriz, Mugaritz

Lab-grown meat: Yes or no?

“Lab-grown meat is not for me, but that doesn't mean not for the world. Especially because, from my point of view, behind this meat are hidden investment funds, food speculation.... under the idea of making the world of food more sustainable, which is full of good intentions. Moreover, all this comes hand in hand with ultra-processed products, all these kinds of masses that have little to do with the biology we know, they are going to end up being stuffed, sausages, hamburgers... things that will take us further and further away from nature itself and I don't like that idea.”

Jessica Rosval, Casa Maria Luigia

What is the future of meat and fish?

“Let’s just use common sense. It’s like anything, it doesn’t have to be a hard yes or a hard no. Let’s just be conscious about what we’re putting in our bodies, conscious about when the last time we ate meat was and do we really need meat in this dish? Do I need meat for breakfast, lunch and dinner? No. Do I need meat once a day? No. Do I need meat, if I’m flying on a plane to who knows where and there’s a chicken dish, why do I have to eat that chicken when I know it’s the bottom of the quality that we can find, probably raised in terrible conditions, Why is it even here?

“It’s all about making choices, about everything we eat. Not a hard-line position on things, but just using common sense in our lives.”

Lab-grown meat: Yes or no?

“Sure. Why not? I don’t know if I would serve it in my restaurant. I’ve never worked with lab-grown meat, there are other interesting ways to introduce clean vegetable proteins into a dish. Without necessarily using modified ingredients. I don’t really know how they are cultivating these products in the lab. If you come up with a good, ethical, clean ingredient, something that has been made in the right way, something that’s healthy and tastes really good, sure. I’d do it. If it’s morally right.

“But when it comes to making meatless dishes, there is so much in the vegetable world, which can offer us that protein, umami flavour, without resorting to lab-grown meat products. I’m not for it or against it. I have yet to come across something that I would say that I would absolutely put on the menu.”

Niko Romito, Reale Casadonna 

What is the future of meat and fish?

“I don't think that meat and fish should be demonised and necessarily disappear from our diets, but we certainly have to be extremely demanding when it comes to the supply chain. Meat and fish, coming from responsible farming or fishing and consumed in the right quantities, can be sustainable, more so than some intensive farming. But of course, we have to be very careful and choose well.”

Lab-grown meat: Yes or no?

“I have never tasted it and I confess that I am not particularly interested in doing so... I have always been a supporter of cutting-edge technology in the kitchen, but for the purpose of cooking, preserving... I prefer to work with a sustainable meat supply chain and with the vegetables we find in nature.”