November 7, 2022 — The following conversation is from a KDLG transcript:
KCAW: Hey, how are you doing?
Dalton Thomas: Nice to meet you. I’m Dalton.
KCAW: Nice to meet you.
Inside the Wildtype offices, a group of young scientists mills around in sneakers, and graphic-t’s obscured by white lab coats. Dalton Thomas, the company’s head of food service sales, seats me at a kitchen bar. Behind it, an in-house sushi chef prepares me a plate of their product before it hits the US market – lab grown salmon.
It’s a square block of marbled pink flesh, almost indistinguishable from traditional salmon – except this fish has never touched the ocean.
Thomas: So we have the nigiri version of the wild type salmon. It’s already brushed with soy sauce, so it’s just ready to eat. Here are some mustard, miso, and chives. And then this is more like a typical salmon avocado roll.
Wildtype’s fish is intended to be enjoyed raw, a decision made in part because of the sheer size and profitability of the sushi industry. However, as Thomas explains, “cell cultured” salmon is simply not as appetizing when cooked.
KCAW: It does have a sea flavor. But it’s like not as soft.
Thomas: It’s not fishy.
KCAW: It’s really smooth, that’s how I’d describe it.
Thomas: Kind of homogenous.
KCAW: It does taste like fish, which is weird.
Thomas: It’s not weird, because it’s fish!