Mythical Kitchen and MSCHF Drop Illegal Chips, Inspired by Foods Banned in the US

If you ask Americans what their stance is on consuming horse meat, many will likely recoil at the notion. But the widespread aversion to the consumption of horse meat has nothing to do with nutrition, as most countries freely partake in what is considered pretty standard fare. Instead, the American (and U.K.) stance against it is ostensibly a moral one—unsurprising for a country where the horse is considered as beloved of a companion as a cat or dog. This, among other factors, led to an effective U.S ban on horse meat in 2006. Though certain nationwide legal barriers have been lifted since, most states continue to forbid its sale and consumption. Food, to me, is entertainment. I love to lean into that entertainment factor and that sense of play and experimentation.Josh Scherer, Mythical Kitchen According to Mythical Kitchen and art collective MSCHF, such prohibition only makes the horse meat—and blowfish and several varieties of cheese, apparently—taste that much sweeter. To prove it, they've developed a line of Illegal Chips with flavors that defy social acceptance and, you know, the law. MSCHF, the daring creative team behind Lil Nas X's Satan Shoes with real human blood, and Mythical Entertainment dropped the limited line of chips today, which are inspired by three foods that have been banned in the U.S. The team cited a desire to encourage consumers to reconsider the boundaries of acceptable consumption and the future of food technology in a manifesto. "Technological advances free us from the mundane concerns of the past," one line reads. "Forget fully-automated luxury communism, our advances in food science will lead us to the promised future: fully-synthetic luxury omnivorism!" https://twitter.com/mschf/status/1460276442227523588 Freedom to Snack The line consists of three varieties. The Horse Meat flavor is reminiscent of red meat with a distinct sweetness and notes of onion, mushrooms, thyme, mustard and horseradish. Casu Marzu—Sardinian sheep milk cheese with a fermentation process that involves live maggots—tastes of gorgonzola, aged brie and white cheddar. But perhaps the most impressive feat is the Blowfish Fugu-inspired chip. According the Mythical Kitchen chef Josh Scherer, the snack not only evokes the white fish, ponzu, soy sauce and mirin profiles of the prohibited dish, but also (safely) mirrors the numbing affects caused by potential neurotoxins sometimes found in the fish. He tells Adweek that this was accomplished through extensive research, close work with flavor scientists and a special plant called Zanthoxylum. "It's found in a Brazilian flower," Scherer explains. "It really does give your mouth this numb, electrocuted feeling, so we played with different ingredients to get that in there. The team then went through numerous rounds of testing to make sure that the chip was both accurate and genuinely tasty, which the chef cited as the team's biggest challenge. "On the one hand we wanted to make the coolest, most interesting product possible," he said. "Then on the other hand, if I'm sitting down launching a college basketball game, I want to be able to slam these Blowfish chips." For Scherer and Mythical Kitchen, the line is an opportunity to challenge culinary boundaries and demystify certain cuisine that has endured negative reputations cultivated by pop culture, social norms and the government. "Food, to me, is entertainment," he shares. "I love to lean into that entertainment factor and that sense of play and experimentation. And somehow that wound up with Blowfish chips." Curious foodies can purchase a pack of the limited-edition chips from the line's dedicated site. Each pack will contain four bags, which will include a bonus bag of one random flavor. Read the full manifesto for this latest drop below: "The distinction between food animals and non-food animals is a social construction. The same, of course, can be said of law in general. In a Hobbesian state of nature, humans live in constant conflict, eating whatever they feel like. Prohibitions create desire. The grass is always greener on the other side, and forbidden fruit tastes sweetest. Illegal Chips compiles the flavors the government doesn’t want you to try. And, buddy, do they ever taste good! Technological advances free us from the mundane concerns of the past. Artificial flavoring is the future, our path to disengaging food production from the deleterious environmental effects of industrial agriculture and the sheer inefficiency of living animals. Forget fully-automated luxury communism, our advances in food science will lead us to the promised future: fully-synthetic luxury omnivorism! Science is blinded by nostalgia for the past and the false idol of the familiar. Why simulate when you can make new? What a waste to devote millions in R&D funding to the pursuit of artificial cow or chicken when all the animals of the earth stand arrayed before us for inspiration. Better late than never–it’s time to move from food realism to food modernism! Born too late to explore the earth. Born too early to explore the cosmos. Born just in time to eat horse chips." A Brief History of Bloodvertising