According to Mark Nuckols Tu'06, humans do not taste anything like chicken. The founder and CEO of Hufu, LLC -- the company that produces hufu, a type of tofu that simulates the texture and flavor of human flesh -- claims that his company's product "tastes like beef but a little softer in texture and a little sweeter in taste."
"I have to admit that I myself have never sampled human flesh," Nuckols said. "However, I've done quite a bit of research on the history and anthropology of cannibalism and read enough accounts to have come up with a fairly good approximation."
Nuckols, who enrolled in the Tuck School of Business this year, went to Excelsior College and Georgetown University Law Center after dropping out of high school in the tenth grade. He has worked at various times as a bike messenger, dishwasher, trader on Wall Street and practitioner of securities law.
His product, which contains zero fat and 100 calories per ounce-sized serving, was developed by a Dutch food processor and will be available through his website, eathufu.com, which is set to launch Thursday. The website, which ships internationally, will initially only offer Hufu Classic Strips, which, according to Nuckols, "will basically resemble the choicer flesh, which is upper arms, thighs and buttocks." Nuckols, however, assures customers that plans have been made to develop Hufu Hearts and Dr. Lector's Liver.
"For the cannibal gourmand, those are really the best parts," Nuckols said, noting that a recipe for Dr. Lector's Liver and Fava Beans will also be available on the website, along with several Aztec recipes and pieces of literature about cannibals. Nuckols called the website, which will also feature hufu t-shirts and aprons, "an entre into thinking about cultural practices of other people."
Some, however, are skeptical about the success of hufu.
"It definitely tastes meaty, maybe a little like pork," Thaddeus Olchowski '08 said at a tasting offered by Nuckols at Tuck yesterday. "I don't like tofu and I don't like human flesh so I don't think I'll be buying this. It definitely tastes like something I've had at Food Court,"
Marketing aside, Nuckols admits that he doesn't actually hope to convert many cannibals to his people-safe alternative.
"There's going to be a very limited market for the food product itself," he said. "I do believe that there are actually people, for example students of anthropology, who perhaps have read about cannibalism and are intrigued by the practice. I also think there are some people who will try anything. However, I think a larger market will be for the clothing items, which I think are extremely well done."
Nuckols reportedly came up with the idea for human-flavored tofu while eating a tofurkey sandwich and reading anthropologist Marvin Harris' book "Good To Eat: Riddles of Food and Culture," which features a section on cannibalism.
He also claims that the name "hufu" was actually coined by actress and model Milla Jovovich. Several years ago, a business associate was discussing Nuckols' idea, then called "hofu," with a friend on a Eurostar train going from London to Paris. Jovovich, intrigued, allegedly turned around to join in the conversation, commenting, "'Hofu' sounds like 'c*ck' -- you should call it 'hufu.'"
"As far as I can speculate, she meant 'ho food,'" Nuckols said. "She's a supermodel -- she doesn't have to make sense."
Jovovich's publicist has not replied to inquiries from The Dartmouth.
