Not all foods have their own URLs, but aquafaba ("AF"), the viscous canned chickpea liquid you usually dump down the drain, does. Aquafaba.com was registered in 2015 by a savvy software engineer in central Indiana, Goose Wohlt, after he, along with a 45,000-person Facebook group (Vegan Meringues - Hits and Misses), settled on a name. Other contenders were "bloop" and "l'egg," but the winner came from a Googling spree: "Latin for bean" plus "latin for water," combined—fabaaqua—and reversed—aquafaba.

The obsession with the ingredient began after Wohlt and his wife discovered French cook Joël Roessel's tutorial on how to make vegan meringues. Turns out, the thick, gelatinous byproduct of soaking legumes is a perfect vegan egg substitute. Now haute restaurants, bars, and news and media outlets all over the country, from Los Angeles to New York, are catching on. Here's everything you need to know.

What Is It?

Aquafaba is the thick liquid that results from soaking or cooking legumes, such as chickpeas, in water for an extended period of time. It's the translucent viscous goop you probably rinse down the drain when you open a can of chickpeas. And, in vegan cooking circles, it's become the silver bullet to making airy meringues and expert whiskey sours without any eggs.

Jason Eisner, the lead bartender of Gracias Madre and Café Gratitude, operates a vegan bar program and has found replacers to be excessively smelly, foul-tasting, or difficult to work with. He has spent over 100 hours learning about aquafaba, and it's the only substitute he'll use now. "If you fill two glasses, one with egg whites and the other with aquafaba, you wouldn't even know the difference," he said. "The only telltale sign is the smell: Egg whites smell like wet dog and chickpeas have no smell whatsoever."

The Hotline Sling at Gratitude Newport Beach. Photo: Café Gratitude Courtesy of Café Gratitude

Why Should You Care?

The word "aquafaba" was, no joke, invented just a little over a year ago, but it's blowing up among the growing population of vegans. Restaurants such as Nix in New York as well as Blue Hill at Stone Barns have incorporated it into their cooking, as a way to make foams and cocktails from plant-based materials. This is the year aquafaba is poised to hit it big, according to the New York Times, New York Magazine, Eater, and Serious Eats, which all wrote about the wonders of the liquid recently.

How to Use It

Sub in for eggs and egg whites wherever needed—pancakes, waffles, mayonnaise, meringues, you name it. Wohlt says the rule of thumb is: 1 Tbsp. for one yolk, 2 Tbsp. for one white, and 3 Tbsp. for one whole egg. That said, the consistency of your aquafaba makes a difference. Wohlt suggests reducing watery aquafaba about 25 percent on the stove to thicken it up. If it's already thick (as it sometimes is from canned chickpeas), you don't have to reduce. With some trial and error, you'll get a feel for it.