Vegan Cheese Review Part I

The most common reason vegetarians don't go vegan is a belief "that I could never give up cheese." I base this on absolutely no data and very sparse anecdotal evidence, but I still think its an accurate assessment. I know I definitely said "I could never live without cheese," more than once. Now, I really don't miss it. I know, I know. You're now probably saying to yourself "like hell she doesn't miss cheese, she probable had a dream of baked brie last night." Well actually I had a dream about having to take the LSATs again, but that's for another blog post. The truth is, you're tastes change. I really do enjoy pizza marinara (pizza with just sauce), and no-queso quesadillas (made with hummus and salsa), more than I used to enjoy the "real" thing.

But that's not why I'm writing this post. This post is the first in a completely unscientific taste test of vegan cheeses. An endeavor I came up with all of five minutes ago, but seemed like a good idea as I was pouring my coffee. The are quite a few non-dairy cheeses on the market. Only a few of those cheeses are vegan. How can a non-dairy cheese not be vegan you ask? Many, MANY, non-dairy cheese have added casein. Casein is a cow's milk protein. For people who are avoiding cheese because of lactose intolerance, you might not think casein is a problem. However, I highly recommend The China Study for information on how casein is the root of all evil in this world.

So bottom line, check the labels. Casein bad. Many non-dairy cheeses NOT VEGAN! On to Vegan cheeses....

Daiya
The vegan world has been abuzz about Daiya cheese. First, let's discuss what Daiya has going for it. One of the biggest challenges with vegan cheese is getting it to melt. Daiya melts. Melting, though, is only have the story with cheese because cow's milk cheese not only melts, but is stretches into oozy strands. Daiya stretches. Daiya cheese is also soy free. I don't buy into the "soy is evil," movement one bit, but if you are allergic to soy or just want to change it up, Daiya is your friend. Daiya is made from pea protein, arrowroot, tapioca and various oils. Additionally, Daiya come pre-shredded so it is very easy to sprinkle on pizza, pasta or make a quick quesadilla.

However, I find that Daiya does not have much flavor. It is much better melted. In fact, that is the only way I would eat it. However, when you melt it, it takes on a waxy, rubbery mouth feel. That being said its kind of an acquired taste. Its very satisfying when you get home from yoga at 9 p.m. and want a quick dinner. However, I would NEVER feed it to my non-vegan friends. So based on my scoring system on a scale of 1 to 10, one being "I vomit in my mouth just thinking of it," and 10 being "I can't believe its not brie," I give Daiya a 6. What's you're favorite vegan cheese?