tropit

I love the almond cream cheese, made by Kite Hill, which is naturally cultured, just like dairy cheese. I have been forever hunting for the starter culture that they use to make it. (I don't think it's the same culture that you would use to make dairy cheeses.) Of course, that's KH's company secret and I doubt they're going to tell anyone. I've tried to save a bit of it, to culture my own almond milk, but haven't yet been successful.

Recently, I came across a site that sold a, "Vegan Cheese Making Kit," and I thought...hummm...maybe this is it. It included culture, sunflower seeds, arrowroot/Irish Moss flour, a nut bag and a little thermometer. I bought it online and it arrived the other day. I was a bit skeptical when their recipe told me to add a 1/2 of arrowroot/IM powder, but I followed the recipe exactly.

This stuff was absolutely disgusting!!!!! First, it was nothing like cheese in any way. The color of the sunflowers made it a greyish green...so unappetizing. The taste was just bland, no cheesy flavor whatsoever and the texture was...I dunno...something like the stuff that comes out of your nose when you have a bad cold. I cannot believe that they passed this off as cheese. I couldn't flush it down the garbage disposal fast enough! Maybe I made an error, but there were so many things not right with the final product that I don't think anything that I might have done wrong would have made any difference.

So, if you're like me...looking for that illusive, vegan, cheese culture, don't fall for this marketing ploy. Be wary of anything that calls for arrowroot, or tapioca flours and use sunflower seeds for the base. If you do come across a natural culture for almond milk, please let me know.

~ C