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Old 01-18-2020, 07:53 AM
  #5  
tropit
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Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Mendocino Coast, CA
Posts: 4,810
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Originally Posted by Iceblossom View Post
LOL, funny and great review!

I'm a former vegetarian, I'm ok with dairy and vegetable enzyme cheeses (as opposed to rennet), but Son and DDiL are full vegan. For me, part of the joy of cheese is the melting it and none of the substitutes I've found do that well although some are fine in a sandwich.

I've never been a big fan of analogs (vegan/vegetarian "fake" meats and such), but they have certainly gotten better over the years and I live in a wonderful area for foodies. Back in the 1970s, all I had in Alaska was Hain's Vegetarian Chili, my store didn't even have non-lard refried beans.

I use Bob's Red Mill Nutritional Yeast flakes for the cheezey sauce. I find smoked paprika really helps, but I'm still looking for my favorite combination of ingredients and techniques. I usually forget to soak cashews ahead of time, they are often used so I use recipes that don't need them. For Thanksgiving I made green bean casserole using fresh green beans, the cheezey sauce, fresh mushrooms and french fried onion rings (checked ingredients of store brand, they were fine).
I can make a pretty good "cheezy" sauce too and I don't use cashews either. They leave an unwanted, slightly sweet taste, IMO. Nooch and smoked paprika also plays a part in mine. But what I was really looking for was a naturally, cultured cheese recipe, not a "mock" anything. Tal Ronnen, the well known chef at Crossroads restaurant in Los Angeles, came up with a way to make real cheese out of almonds. It is aged and fermented just like dairy cheese and it tastes really good. Hence, Kite Hill was born. Kite Hill also makes a very good yogurt. I want to know what cultures they use to make it. I've tried inoculating my almond milk with a spoonful of their cream cheese and it did change the taste of the milk, but it did not get thick. I think that they use other thickeners to make it firm up.

There's also Field Roast's Chao, which is like a sliced cheese for sandwiches. It's a tofu product and it melts nicely on a hamburger. I think that they ferment it over time, then add thickeners and oil to aid in its melting properties.


Anyway, I'm still on the hunt.

~ C
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