Pushing the Culinary Barrier

While eating a tofurkey sandwich one day in London, Mark L. Nuckols had a brilliant idea. “If you can make tofu that tastes like turkey,” he says, “why not tofu that tastes like human flesh?”

A year and a half later, Nuckols developed Hufu, a vegan, tofu-based food product that he calls the “healthy human flesh alternative.” Nuckols, a student at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth University, brushed up on his cannibal literature to perfect the flavor.

“When I tried the final sample batch [of Hufu],” he says fondly, “I bit into it. I chewed it. I closed my eyes, and thought, ‘Does this taste like what human flesh would taste like?’” According to Nuckols, it did.

Since an early age, Nuckols has been fascinated with the idea of sampling human meat, and he believes that most are as well. “I suspect there is an inner cannibal within us all,” he says.

FM decided to investigate this theory by conducting a Hufu taste test.

The Cabot Dining Hall chefs volunteered to sautee—as per Nuckols’ instructions—and taste test the manmade delicacy. All three doubted the flavor’s authenticity. One said that it was “a little bit salty, very chewy.” He suggested mixing it with some vegetables and teriyaki sauce.

Some students—mostly male—were eager to try Hufu. After eating several pieces, Wen Xu ’06 said that it tasted like a “cross between a chicken and a turkey.”

Others were utterly repulsed by the idea of eating pseudo-human flesh; one young woman even called it “offensive.”

Perhaps, but offensive doesn’t seem to be in Nuckols’ vocabulary. He is currently developing three new “exciting” products: Delicious Baby Seal, Endangered Panda, and Underprivileged Child.

“I think quite a few people from the ruling class would actually favor eating the flesh of poor children,” he says. “Larry Summers would love this product!”

Although he’s quite the comedian, Nuckols is serious about Hufu. He earnestly says that “you can have the visceral experience of eating the flesh of another person.” And that’s no laughing matter.