Thrive Baltimore Vegan Crabcake Cookoff
Today was an incredible day of vegan eating at Thrive Baltimore. Thrive, an event & community space hosted a vegan crabcake cookoff. Baltimore is famous for their seafood, and today five local restaurants and caterers were bringing their best fishless fare to the table. This was especially exciting for me because I had never eaten at any of these vendors before. But after today, I'll definitely be checking them out! Every diner got to cast a ballot for their top 3 favorites, and I took copious tasting notes. I felt like I was judging a challenge on MasterChef, living the dream.
Here's a rundown of the competitor's samples and how I ranked them. I'm still awaiting the official results, and will update the page when I found out what the public thought!**
**The results are in:
1st place: Flight
2nd place: Sprout Natural Choice
3rd place: Good As Green
Garden of Vegan: The crabcake looks like a meatball. It was served dry, without any sauce, but the flavor stood on its own (and frankly a sauce was not necessary). The flavor was nicely acidic with a superb texture. This tasted mildy crabby. [3rd place for me]
The Big Bean Theory: Their speciality is beans, and you could tell that this crabcake was made of white bean. It wasn't totally blended, so the texture was creamy with some whole beans as well. The taste was pretty good, and it actually had a little spice. The sauce tasted like a honey mustard, and for me, the sweetness didn't pair well with the seafood. Also this was my only sample that was unfortunately cold. [honorable mention]
Good As Green: The crabcake had a great fried and crispy exterior. Inside the texture was stringy and mimicked seafood really well. I'm thinking they probably used hearts of palm or artichoke. The remoulade sauce was absolutely incredible. This tasted pretty crabby and so both taste-wise and texture-wise this shined. [2nd place for me]
Flight: The crabcake was small but had a very nice fry. The cake was served with a deliciously creamy remoulade and microgreens! This was the most flavorful crabcake, and like Good As Green, the texture was very similar to the real deal (again I'm thinking hearts of palm or artichoke). The taste was briny and a little acidic. This was the most crabcake like of the bunch! [🎀1st place for me]
Sprout Natural Choice: The crabcake had a nice chew and excellent, excellent flavor. Although, this delicious flavor tasted like a fake chicken I've had before, just shredded. So the texture was great to simulate the crabcake, but tasted more like chicken (and not seafood), so I have to penalty for that despite the deliciousness. [honorable mention]
In addition to the crabcake, my plate was piled high with sides by Pep Foods: smoky collard greens, melt-in-your-mouth cabbage, and an insanely delicious creamy macaroni salad. To drink was a tart raspberry lemonade, and it was so refreshing.
Here's a rundown of the competitor's samples and how I ranked them. I'm still awaiting the official results, and will update the page when I found out what the public thought!**
**The results are in:
1st place: Flight
2nd place: Sprout Natural Choice
3rd place: Good As Green
Garden of Vegan: The crabcake looks like a meatball. It was served dry, without any sauce, but the flavor stood on its own (and frankly a sauce was not necessary). The flavor was nicely acidic with a superb texture. This tasted mildy crabby. [3rd place for me]
The Big Bean Theory: Their speciality is beans, and you could tell that this crabcake was made of white bean. It wasn't totally blended, so the texture was creamy with some whole beans as well. The taste was pretty good, and it actually had a little spice. The sauce tasted like a honey mustard, and for me, the sweetness didn't pair well with the seafood. Also this was my only sample that was unfortunately cold. [honorable mention]
Good As Green: The crabcake had a great fried and crispy exterior. Inside the texture was stringy and mimicked seafood really well. I'm thinking they probably used hearts of palm or artichoke. The remoulade sauce was absolutely incredible. This tasted pretty crabby and so both taste-wise and texture-wise this shined. [2nd place for me]
Flight: The crabcake was small but had a very nice fry. The cake was served with a deliciously creamy remoulade and microgreens! This was the most flavorful crabcake, and like Good As Green, the texture was very similar to the real deal (again I'm thinking hearts of palm or artichoke). The taste was briny and a little acidic. This was the most crabcake like of the bunch! [🎀1st place for me]
Sprout Natural Choice: The crabcake had a nice chew and excellent, excellent flavor. Although, this delicious flavor tasted like a fake chicken I've had before, just shredded. So the texture was great to simulate the crabcake, but tasted more like chicken (and not seafood), so I have to penalty for that despite the deliciousness. [honorable mention]
In addition to the crabcake, my plate was piled high with sides by Pep Foods: smoky collard greens, melt-in-your-mouth cabbage, and an insanely delicious creamy macaroni salad. To drink was a tart raspberry lemonade, and it was so refreshing.
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| The Goods |
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| Tour de Plate |
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| Who will be reign victorious? |
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| The scene: first seating noon to 2. |
Me with my krabby patties.
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