Rocky Shepheard has perfected a paradox: a vegan egg yolk, no feathered friend required. Nope, it’s not one of those coconut-and-carrot-puree concoctions that molecular gastronomists are so fond of. This sulfury golden goo is every bit as eggy as anything laid by a hen. Since February, the Vegg has been selling at health food stores and at TheVegg.com. More than 7,650 powdered packets have sold worldwide, ready to whip up into no-ovo French toast, frittatas, and hollandaise sauce.

The improbable globule was conceived after the 58-year-old went vegan to protest factory farming. He missed the salty richness of fried eggs. “I thought, how hard can it really be to create a vegan egg?” Shepheard says. He blended nutritional yeast and Kala Namak (black salt) to create something that tasted remarkably like yolk. The red-orange glow was achieved with beta carotene. For additional substance he used sodium alginate, a seaweed extract and thickener. Mix the powder with water and behold: the incredible, edible Vegg. Thanks to the chemical properties of alginate, you can “spherify” the Vegg by stiffening its outer surface a bit in a simple calcium chloride solution. For his next trick, Shepheard’s working on a whole Vegg with a fryable white. It could be the answer to vegans’ secret cravings, if they aren’t too chicken to try it.









Video: Alexa Inkeles