Fancy Feast Made Cat Food For People — And We Tried It
Amanda Hassner, Fancy Feast’s in-house chef, believes it’s important for a cat to love a meal just like humans do.
The chef, at a food event that took notes from a range of the brand’s products, introduced several cat food-inspired dishes to cat aficionados as the workday came to a close in New York City on Monday.
It’s an act she deemed “exciting” as diners chowed on pâté and bisque in the middle of the Big Apple.
“You’ve got to be able to imagine how your cat is enjoying their food. You do that mostly by getting more in touch with the way you’re experiencing it,” Hassner told HuffPost.
“And that’s really where my job comes in, to create the human food to give you an experience that you can easily go, ‘Oh yes, my cat would love this.’”
Fancy Feast kicked off Fête du Feline, a two-day outdoor food celebration, as cat lovers dined on several cat foodie dishes (for humans) in Madison Square Park to recognize International Cat Day, which was Tuesday.
The menu ― with dishes from Hassner and Andrew Rea, founder of the popular culinary YouTube channel Babish Culinary Universe ― included feline food-like fare such as pâté, shrimp-topped lemonade and a bisque with honey pepper salmon.
We were on hand to test out a meow-ful of dishes on Monday.
Trying The Menu
The evening’s cat-like cuisine began with a basil lemonade topped with an everything bagel-seasoned shrimp.The shrimp accent was a subtle New York-themed touch that my 3-year-old cat, Sullivan, would eagerly swipe if I left it for a moment on my kitchen table.
Sullivan, however, was at home, but I already knew he’d be jealous of the feast I had before me as I eyed the topiary cat seated at my table.
Guests were served a basil lemonade “Fancy Feast Style,” garnished with a shrimp coated in an everything bagel seasoning, an ode to the event’s New York City venue.
I next tried the Tuscan Panzanella, which had a texture that brought to mind the shreds that Sullivan can’t help but run for when I prepare his dinner bowl. The flavorful dish, inspired by Fancy Feast’s Medleys entrées, looked the most like human food on the menu, and it tasted like a salad of tomato and beef that I could scoop up at an outdoor picnic.
Chef Amanda Hassner crafted dishes that included Tuscan Panzanella with braised beef in what Fancy Feast said utilized “flavors and cooking philosophies” from Italy’s Tuscany region, much like its Medleys entrées for cats.
I went on to grab a bowl of Silky Saffron Bisque with honey pepper salmon in what easily had the most striking resemblance to a Sullivan meal on presentation alone.
After sending a picture of the tasty bisque to my friends, who were duped into thinking I was eating actual cat food, I gave Sullivan some of the brand’s broth that night. He may have enjoyed the broth more than I did, as it was hard for me to shake off the image of his serving tray.
The Silky Saffron Bisque with honey pepper salmon was inspired by broths from Fancy Feast.
I concluded my dining experience by getting my paws on two pâté dishes: one inspired by both the brand’s Savory Centers and classic pâtés and another from Chef Rea.
The Savory Centers-inspired pâté was infused with a cider gravy. It was a lot to take in, having a round, cat food-like pâté right before me. But after I got over my fear, it tasted like a chewy and worthwhile complement to a pair of crackers.
Rea’s dish offered a biscuit alongside pâté shaped like the brand’s Gems line, a sweet, gravy-topped end to an experience that left me wondering what my cat would think of all this.
Sullivan, clueless to what I just put my mind through, chowed down on two of the brand’s Gems on Tuesday and napped the rest of the day away.
An eye-opening experience for me and a regular weekday for a cat.
Behind The Menu
Amanda Zaydman, senior brand manager at Fancy Feast, told HuffPost the brand works with Hassner to learn about human food culinary trends, translating that to dishes cats will love.
“And then sometimes, like today, we then in turn use the cat food to inspire human food,” said Zaydman, who added that International Cat Day ― and its earlier Gatto Bianco food pop-up ― inspired its “feastival” this year.
Chef Amanda Hassner served the dishes to cat-loving diners in New York City’s Madison Square Park earlier this week.
Aside from food, cat lovers and pet parents were also able to meet the guest of honor (the Fancy Feast cat), get portraits of their furry friends, grab custom dinnerware for their cats and get insight from a pet behaviorist at the grand tasting on Monday.
An 11-year-old holds his cat, Tsar, a 4-year-old Arabian mau, in New York City on Monday.
Caesar Yance (right) and cat mother Cheryl Goer bring Goer’s cat, Pixie, a Norwegian forest cat, to the Fête du Feline grand tasting on Monday.
The Fancy Feast Cat, a serene white Chinchilla, made an appearance at the brand's Fête du Feline event in New York City on Monday.
Rea, a YouTuber known for re-creating dishes seen in pop culture, told HuffPost that he has tried his hand at cooking for his cat Bucky before, noting that he once grabbed salmon, peas and carrots to make her a cat-appropriate dish in a ring mold.
“And she didn’t touch it. Since then I’ve learned that if I just fry chicken breast or shrimp with no fat or oil, she enjoys that a great deal,” said Rea, who added that the experience has influenced his approach to feeding Bucky.
Rea, who has re-created cat-themed food like the Cookie Cat from “Steven Universe” and lasagna from the “Garfield” comics, said the event showcases how well pâté works in the human culinary realm.
“The biggest takeaway here is love for the cat. This is all a celebration of how you can make eating fun for you and your cat,” he said.
