It’s taken me a long time – and a decent amount of searching my browser history (always an anxious prospect) – to work out how and when I first heard of Oumph! For anyone interested, Oumph! are a client of Snask, a brilliant brand and design agency based in Sweden. I visited their website after seeing their fantastic Shower Beer project featured on the Brand New blog. Which is a long way of saying, never underestimate the power and reach of great design.
Anyway, that was last Summer and since then I’ve bought Oumph! products on a number of occasions. Specifically, I’ve tried their Burger, Thyme & Garlic, Pulled, and Chunk offerings. I’ll review each in more depth individually, but I just wanted to give an overview of my thoughts first.
Because Oumph! is really good.
With the exception of the burger, the products I’ve tried are all chicken alternatives (the Pulled Oumph! is perhaps meant to be pork, but I found it to be almost exactly the same as the Chunk, which is definitely meant to replicate chicken). And when it comes to real chicken, I was always a bigger fan of thighs or legs, than breasts (so many innuendos…). Which is perhaps why I like Oumph! so much, as the texture is very similar to thigh meat. I’ve used it in curries, pastas, and paellas – for me it’s a perfect replacement for chicken. The texture is perhaps a little tougher than the real thing, requiring a bit more chewing, but otherwise it’s spot on.
Also, it may not be an issue for everyone, but I love the fact that Oumph! LOOKS like chicken. It just makes it so much more enjoyable to have my favourite dishes appear like they used to when I was a meat eater. And Quorn chicken style pieces are so lacking in this regard, it’s almost reason enough for me to not use them. Which I actually don’t, unless I’m cooking for my children. We eat with our eyes first, right?
The company recently announced on Instagram that their Sticky Smokehouse is now available in Tesco stores, so I’m looking forward to trying (and reviewing) that. In the meantime, Oumph! will continue to be my go-to chicken replacement for when I need a damn good curry.
Oumph! is made with soy protein and their website gives a great deal of information about their ethical stance and sustainable, climate-conscious sourcing and production. It is a Food For Progress brand: read more here.
