It wasn’t long ago that it was difficult to find a vegetarian or vegan dish on television. Every now and then, a dish using tofu or a black bean burger would appear on the fringes, but things have altered dramatically in the last several years.
Vegan chefs are gaining a name for themselves in the culinary world, as seen by the first-ever totally vegan episode of Bobby Flay’s Beat Bobby Flay.
The famous food competition show stars Bobby Flay, a celebrity chef, and two other chefs, cooks, or restaurant owners who want to fight against him in a culinary duel.
A cooking competition pits two guest cooks against one another at the start of each show. The victor of the round advances to the finals, where they will face Bobby Flay himself. A long-time vegetarian contender was featured in an episode in 2016, but it wasn’t until the night of January 20th, 2022 that the show featured two full-fledged vegan candidates.
Tamearra Dyson, the chef-owner of Souley Vegan, and Adyre Mason, the chef-owner of The Veggie, were guests on the vegan edition. Both chefs are known for their plant-based culinary abilities, but would they be able to defeat a traditional high-level chef in a competition?
Dyson and Mason faced up against Bobbly Flay in a competition hosted by vegetarian billionaire Mark Cuban and Food Network celebrity Sunny Anderson. Chef Dyson eventually defeated Mason with a vegan dinner that the judges praised, and she was given the opportunity to compete against Bobby Flay.
Few individuals get to claim at the conclusion of an episode, “I beat Bobby Flay,” but Dyson’s vegan dish wowed the judges, who selected her plant-based dish over Bobby’s in a blind taste test!
It was a big deal for Dyson, but it was also a big deal for vegans all across the world. More vegan and plant-based information in the mainstream media can help normalize the topic and inspire consumers to try more plant-based meals and products.
Source: “‘Beat Bobby Flay’ Airs First-Ever Fully Vegan Episode” by One Green Planet
