When Robert Louis Stevenson wrote about cheese in his famous book ‘Treasure Island’ – “Many’s the long night I’ve dreamt of cheese – toasted, mostly”, he was reflecting upon the sentiment that many of the cheese lovers share.
Whether the joy comes from its gooey, stringy texture or that it just goes with anything … (ever tried cereal and cheese?), cheese is the ultimate comfort food!
But for some, cheese is just the opposite of comfort food as up to two-thirds of the global population is lactose intolerant.
However, the growing trend of veganism has boosted the creation of vegan cheese so that no one misses out on this cheesy slice of heaven.
Vegan cheese is made using similar techniques to dairy cheese, such as fermentation, but also includes a wide variety of ingredients to achieve different textures and flavors. Most cheeses often have soy and brown rice protein bases, while creamy styles such as Camembert are often created with cashew nuts or almonds.
To achieve the stringy texture, tapioca starch is added while creating them. These cheeses look, taste and feel so much like the real thing, that most people can’t tell the difference.
The cauliflower cheese is the creation of Shaun Quade, a renowned chef and his wife Veronica Fil as part of their vegan cheese venture. The cheese is available on their company platform called Grounded Foods – with chefs in New York already trying to get their hands on it.
Spoonshot’s data suggests that there was a 67.5% increase in interest for vegan cheese in the past year.
Some examples of vegan cheese products include Nush vegan cheese that uses almond as the base and I AM NUT OK- Smoky Charcoal vegan cheese that is made of cashew.
The plant-based cheese sector is growing rapidly, with ingredients and technology now enabling fully meltable and delicious dairy-free alternatives in an effort to create an environmentally resilient alternative to dairy.
It is no wonder that this year, the Oscar nominees lunch was entirely plant-based, featuring vegan cheese, black rice, squash, and roasted mushrooms.
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