The ‘Fuah!’ sweeps Spain: why this vegan foie has triumphed in all Christmas meals

Vegan foie gras. This is the product that has swept this Christmas in Spain and is the alternative to traditional foie. The formula for ‘Fuah!’, as its creator, Javier Fernández from Asturias, has baptized it, is made from a cashew nut base, coconut oil, turmeric, yellow lentils and a touch of brandy. The result of putting these ingredients together is a hyper-realistic alternative to traditional foie gras, which is currently prohibited in 18 countries.

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The irruption of vegan foie. The controversial method of making this product of animal origin has made even meat eaters remove this food from their diet.

• In many campaigns by animal advocates, ducks have been seen being forced to eat, in order to fatten the liver of the animals. They fatten them to such an extent that they end up losing their lives.

• However, Spain is one of the 5 countries in Europe where it continues to be produced and, according to data from the sector, it is the second largest consumer per capita in the world.

How has ‘Fuah!’, the vegan foie, been made? Javier has spent a year testing up to 880 recipes to achieve the greatest similarity with the traditional foie flavor. The definitive recipe consists of a cashew base, coconut oil, yellow lentil and various spices, as well as Armagnac and French brandy. The fat layer is made with coconut and turmeric.

• The Asturian, who is in charge of the Hello Plant Foods startup, assures that since he launched the product at Christmas, he has run out of stocks despite having increased production by six.

• It has released up to 30,000 more units. “80% of our consumers are carnivores and they don’t notice the difference,” explains Fernández. The price of ‘Fuah!’ is €7.90 for 150g.

Fernández comments that they did not expect this success at all, with which they have been overwhelmed. “Our customers have taken ‘Fuah!’ They take it home and have taken it to family meals. When diners try it, they don’t even remotely suspect that it’s vegan. And when it’s revealed to them, they don’t believe it. In fact, we appeared in an international medium, and since then they have reached us to call from India or Taiwan, both suppliers and final customers”.

A Fuah! Excellent. The proposal of the Asturian who leads ‘Hello Plant Foods’ has even captivated the Ibero-American Academy of Gastronomy. This is how its president, Rafael Ansón, has let us know. “We have to put health before everything else, but you only eat what you like. And Javier has managed to make his products appeal to the consumer, even the carnivore. Fuah! He even traces the texture of the product of animal origin.”

• The president of the Academy considers Fuah! an ideal product to combine with meat consumption, which he says has been in excess in recent years. Also, he points out, it’s a very interesting time for Fuah! because, finally, in France, it has been forbidden to continue mistreating the geese.

• Ansón confesses that he is one of the people who has joined this social experiment of putting foie on the mensa without saying its origin and his diners have never suspected its vegetable origin.

Why is foie gras a controversial food? Because animals are mistreated in order to get this product. For the foie to reach our tables, the ducks or geese are fattened until they cause illness, and this, death. The producers feed the animals until their liver grows larger than usual (fat cell hypertrophy).

• In ducks they make the liver grow up to 300 grams and in geese up to 400 grams, 10 times its normal volume. These practices begin when the animals are only four months old. That is why animal organizations denounce that animals are mistreated during this process.

• The production of this food is prohibited in 18 countries: Argentina, Austria, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Finland, Israel, Turkey, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

• In Europe its production is illegal, except in 5 countries: Spain, Belgium, France, Bulgaria and Hungary. Spain, in addition to being one of the few countries that produces foie gras on the continent, is, according to data from the sector, the second most important consumer in the world. Other countries, however, even want to ban its import, such as New York, the United Kingdom or India.