How can chefs creatively use lab-grown quail?

The Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) Board recently approved lab-grown quail from Australian company Vow, meaning the food is now with food ministers for approval or feedback. Vow is behind two cell-cultivated quail products: foie gras and parfait. Singapore has already approved Vow’s products, and they have since made their way onto the country’s high-end menus.

With the meat being potentially moments from the Australian market, Vow CEO George Peppou joins Hospitality Magazine to discuss what launch will look like in the Australian market – and how chefs might use the products.

Why did Vow start with quail? And why develop parfait and foie gras in particular?

Quail is a flavour some of us have tried, but it isn’t necessarily a meat that features regularly in our diets. It’s not foreign, but there is a sense it’s out of the everyday and yet, unintimidating. The parfait is a hugely versatile ingredient with a deep umami flavour and unique lightness, which chefs love. The foie gras exemplifies the possibilities of cultured meat and Forged’s purpose more broadly – bringing scarcely-seen meats and flavours to more people in ways that innovate, not imitate. Both the parfait and the foie gras work as standalone hero ingredients as well as complementary ingredients, particularly for other meats, which gives chefs a lot of room for experimentation.

Who do you expect to be your main market, and why?

Early on, we expect to see Forged Gras appeal to the same types of chefs who first brought it to life in Singapore – those looking for something new, exciting, and consistently high quality. Some are drawn to it as a novel ingredient, others for the practicality: it’s a product that’s apprentice-proof, yet still delivers the richness and finesse expected at a Michelin-star level.

How do you recommend the product be served?

If I’m honest, my favourite way to enjoy Forged Parfait is simply: on good sourdough, with a bit of flaky sea salt. It’s decadent and flavourful, and doesn’t need much else. I’ve seen some incredible chef creations, but I always come back to that clean, buttery richness on toast.

Now that it’s been launched in Singapore, how are restaurants using the product?

We’ve seen an incredible range of applications – sweet, savoury, and everything in between. Ryan Clift brought it onto the menu at Tippling Club in seven different formats. Christina Rasmussen at Fura created “A Quail Walks Into A Bar,” a playful canapé with Forged Parfait piped and torched onto a hazelnut biscuit, finished with dill cream, apple gel, and caramelised onion tuille. At Fiz, there’s a Forged Kaya Toast featuring our parfait with century egg, coconut kaya, and caviar. It’s exciting to see how versatile the ingredient can be across cuisines and formats.

Have chefs used it in ways you didn’t expect?

Absolutely. One that surprised me was Mirko Febbrile at Somma, who used it as a filling in handmade tortellini, served in a hay-infused broth. And more recently, Two Men Bagel House launched the “Foie King”: a bagel loaded with Forged Gras, sous-vide beef chuck, double cheddar, smoky mustard, and jalapeño relish. I didn’t think I’d see foie gras on a bagel, but it really works.

Have you talked with any restaurants or chefs in Australia about using the product?

We’re currently in conversations with several leading restaurants in Sydney and Melbourne. There’s real excitement around bringing Forged to their menus later this year – and we’re just as excited to see how they’ll interpret it.

What has the response been?

The most common response we get is how good it tastes. Forged Parfait is rich, smooth, and a little surprising – it’s something familiar, but made new. Chefs are impressed by its depth and consistency. Ryan Clift put it bluntly: “That’s really [expletive] good.” Consumers have responded just as enthusiastically. There’s real joy in discovering something delicious and different – especially when it opens up possibilities that weren’t there before.

Why should chefs use a product like this rather than non-cell cultured meats?

We’re not out to replace traditional meat and we don’t expect chefs to exclusively use Forged meats. We’re out to create exciting new meats that traditional farming could never produce. There will be some chefs who are excited by the prospect of using our Forged foie gras given it’s an ingredient that is otherwise very hard to access (and shrouded by understandable concerns about animal welfare). And there may be other chefs who are purely driven by the flavour possibilities of Forged ingredients.

There is a short period of government review happening currently. If it passes without holdup, what will your company’s next steps be?

We’ll launch on menus!