Last night I tried my first Quorn product, late on the boat as usual. Quorn is a fungus-based meat replacer. Yes fungus, just like mushrooms are fungus, except this is “mycoprotein.” In other words, it’s better than mushrooms because it has protein. Regardless, I’m afraid to know what it looks like before it’s processed into cute little breaded nuggets and patties.

Quorn’s long been the rage in England and bowed here a couple of years ago. Created some controversy at the time because some people (not me, apparently) are allergic to them and the FDA was wary, probably because the soy lobby was telling them to be. Now watch for Quorn to grow in popularity since people are freaking out that too much soy may make man boobies and a host of other estrogen-related problems.

I had a plain old Quorn chick’n patty, but was this close to buying the cranberry & goat cheese chik’n cutlet — woo! I liked the fake chicken but was also underwhelmed. My expectations were sky high, having heard many a vegetarian rave about how exactly like meat it is (it’s that sticks ‘n’ twigs problem again) . Really, it’s not much like meat at all, in flavor, texture, or nutritional composition, but it’s still tasty. At 150 calories a patty, with a good balance of carbs and protein, it made a perfect post-yoga snack. I slept like a baby.

So there are probably more Quorn products in my future. They’ve got the most interesting product line of all the fake meats. I’ve heard talk the turk’y roast beats Tofurky hands down — but at $5.99 for about 10 or 12 oz. at my local Whole Foods, I’m sorry to say a few more heads are likely to roll for my Thanksgivings. (Although I may spring for free range.)

And remember folks, this is a super-processed convenience food. Eat your veggies!