At this newly opened vegan butcher shop in Minneapolis, you can find barbecue ribs, pastrami and numerous cheeses that taste like the real deal, as brother and sister Aubry and Kale Walch aim to repurpose the word butcher

In a newly opened butcher shop in north-east Minneapolis, customers can find hand-cut salami, Sriracha-flavored bratwursts, meatballs, and nearly any other cut of meat that comes to mind.

The only catch? Nothing in the store is made from an animal product. Everything at the Herbivorous Butcher is 100% vegan.



Five years ago, after learning about the environmental impact of eating meat from books and documentaries such as Forks Over Knives and Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret, brother-sister duo Kale and Aubry Walch started making vegan meats and cheeses themselves.

The Walches soon took their products on the road, selling them at farmers’ markets and breweries across the midwest, before returning to Minneapolis and opening the Herbivorous Butcher on 23 January. More than 5,000 patrons visited the shop on its opening weekend.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest More than 5,000 patrons visited the shop on its opening weekend in January. Photograph: Mike Ross/The Guardian

The idea for the business came from a shared concern for the environment, and a desire to spread awareness of the benefits of going meat-free.



“The easiest way is just to offer an alternative and say: ‘Hey, you like meat. We do too. Why not make it plant-based?’” Aubry says. Aubry, 34, has been a vegetarian since she was 14 and became a vegan when she was 18. Kale (yes, that’s his real name), 22, became a vegan about five years ago.



To make the vegan meats, Aubry and Kale make doughs and broths out of different juices, vinegars, spices and herbs. The mixtures then get steamed, baked or pan fried to taste just like real meat.



On Wednesday afternoon, Kale had just made a batch of porterhouse steaks from a mixture of tomato and apple juices, and garbanzo flour to get a meaty texture.



“We’re a bit like a savory bakery,” Aubry says.



Creating the recipes took months of trial and error. For Valentine’s Day, Kale made a batch of filet mignon steaks that did not go over so well with customers.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘To make the vegan meats, Aubry and Kale make doughs and broths out of different juices, vinegars, spices and herbs. The mixtures then get steamed, baked or pan fried to taste just like real meat.’ Photograph: Mike Ross/The Guardian

“It worked out perfectly at home,” Kale says. “But when I multiplied it by 40, something went wrong. We were just handing out these hockey puck filet mignons.”



The siblings insist they run their store similarly to a more traditional butcher shop. Everything in the Herbivorous Butcher can be found at any other butcher shop, Kale says, only each item is made out of plant-based goods. Customers buy each item by the pound, as they would at other butcher shops, and prices are similar to those at organic grocery stores, Aubry says.

“We’re here to bridge the gap so that omnivores can switch over,” Aubry says. “We don’t use funny words for our products. We call them what they are.”



A perusal through the store website finds butcher shop classics like Italian sausage, barbecue ribs, pepperoni, bologna and Mexican chorizo, among many other vegan meats. Cheese fans will find camembert, dill havarti, pepper jack and cheddar among a collection of many dairy-free delicacies.



The word butcher brings to mind bloodstained aprons, imposing knives and windows of hanging carcasses, and the Walches aim to repurpose the term.



“We’ll stop calling ourselves vegan butchers when they stop calling it ‘humane slaughter’,” Kale says.



Originally from Guam, Aubry and Kale were inspired to create the vegan meats to preserve family customs. Vegetarianism is not a common concept in Guam, and family dinners usually consist of at least four meat dishes on the table.



“It’s not something that’s normal at all, culturally,” Aubry says.



But the siblings say the time spent with their families around the dinner table was very valuable. They didn’t want to lose the tradition or the memories of smelling steak on the grill. So, to make sure each product tastes and feels like real meat, the Walches have their father conduct a taste test.

“He’s our harshest critic,” Kale says.



Among the most popular products at the Herbivorous Buther are Korean barbecue ribs, pastrami, smoky house ribs and all of their cheeses, which contain a soy milk and coconut oil base; Kale adds vinegars and nutritional yeast for flavors and texture.



Animals are not harmed in the making of the vegan products, but Kale says he has likely developed carpal tunnel syndrome in his right arm (his “stirring arm”) – the creation of each product requires much stirring and kneading, and his right arm is now “five times bigger” than his left.



“It just hurts to make,” he says.

