The race to serve the Impossible Burger is on across the country, and kosher restaurants are not sitting this one out.

For those unfamiliar, the Impossible Burger is a vegan/vegetarian burger that most closely represents a real beef burger in nearly every way: taste, texture, and sight, except it’s made entirely from plants. According to their website , the I.B. is made of “wheat protein, coconut oil, potato protein, and heme. Never heard of heme? Heme is responsible for the characteristic of taste and aroma of meat.”

The nationwide freak out over this product is justified. Former carnivores missing their juicy burgers, kosher observant Jews abstaining from eating meat during the 9 days / who want to have a milkshake with their burger / who finally want to have a cheeseburger / who just don’t want to be fleishigs, and many others who generally avoid meat are ecstatic over the developments of this product.

Having tried the Impossible Burger for the first time this week (served as a classic cheeseburger with Cheddar, lettuce, tomato, onion, and special sauce) at LolliBop Cafe in the 5 Towns, I understand what the fuss is about. It was as close to the real thing as I’ve had in a “veggie burger”.

While the real excitement for this burger for most kosher keepers will be to have it with real dairy cheese (opt for cheddar if available), there are many vegan and meat restaurants putting this burger on the menu too, giving vegetarians and vegans more options for dining out.

With the 9 Days approaching and the collective community generally abstaining from meat for the week (save for a local siyum), I wanted to bring this deliciousness closer to consumers to try.