The Eggheads of Silicon Valley

Science Fridays

      Silicon Valley is a place known for anything to do with computers, software, and electronics.  How about eggs?  Does that create an image in your head of some old semi-retired hippie on that back of a tractor on a hobby farm selling eggs produced organically and green by really happy chickens?  Well get that image out of your head.  Now get an image in your head that looks more like something from one of Terry Gilliam's animations on Monty Python.  Instead of growing them from chickens, they are growing them from plants. 

      No, it's not quite like that.  Josh Tetrick and the people of Hampton Creek Foods are using various vegetables and things to create what they are calling the perfect eco friendly vegan substitute for eggs.  They are using peas and sorghum as their chief ingredients.  They call their product "Beyond Eggs."

      They say that their fake eggs are best used in baking.  They are using them in muffins, cakes, and cookies, and other baked goods.  They are 19% cheaper and have a much longer shelf life.  Their commercial possibilities have investors going crazy and wanting a slice of the pie (or rather slice of the egg).  Bill Gates is one of them.  
      Tetrick and his team tried out about three hundred plants in varying combinations until they got what they say are the perfect egg substitute.  They worked on getting the right taste and egg-like qualities first.  Then they used the "winning" ingredients list and honed it down until they got the right qualities.  "One combination (they had) made great cookies, that were really moist", Tetrick said, "but the cookies dried out after only a couple days."  
      They are also trying to create eggless mayonnaise.  They are making scrambled eggs too, but they tend to break up into powdery little balls.  The interviewers like the cookies they tasted, but didn't like the scrambled eggs.  They said the texture was all wrong, and didn't taste like scrambled eggs.  

      Tetrick says that he is working on this because of Earth's rising population, methane from chicken manure, and other Green issues.