In the fall of 2013, we met the world’s first lab-grown burger. Introduced by Dr. Mark Post of the University of Maastricht, the protein was cultured using cattle cells, grown in-vitro and harvested without the messy and sometimes horrifying practice of butchering the cow. The product of two years of research, the burger cost a meagre sum of $325,000. With luck and scale, Dr. Post projected that it would take about another ten years of work to make cultured meat commercially viable at a projected cost of $30 a pound. For those who might not be able to wait out the decade, the In Vitro Meat Cookbook might whet your appetite.
Knitted Steak highlights the potential for in-vitro meat preparation to experiment with form, now that it is “freed from the constraints of the body.”
Produced by the Amsterdam-based design studio Next Nature Network (NNN), the In Vitro Meat Cookbook includes 45 speculative recipes with lab-grown meat—an innovative exploration of this nascent field of research with huge potential to transform our food system and unexplored ramifications on consumer bodies. To support the publication of the book, the Network and Submarine Channel launched a virtual restaurant to engage the audience in the potential impact cultured meat might have on the culinary culture.
Lab Sweetbread
Described as “an online interactive documentary,” visitors can select their choice of starter, main course and desert, share their set menu via social media and then listen to scientists, restaurant critics, experts and chefs discuss their ideas on in-vitro meat.
Celebrity Cubes are cultured from celebrity stem cells so you can literally take a bite out of your favorite star.
Explore the menu, hear the experts and engage in the infinite possibilities for the future. But most importantly, make a reservation to taste the future.
