Just say cheese

A group of local producers are making sure that vegans no longer have to miss out on the foods they love, and even non-vegans are fans

Mac and cheese, potato bake, cheese toasties — just some of the foods you miss when you are a mature-age convert to veganism.

Dani Wheatley of Lauds — Plant-based Foods says she and her life and business partner, Simon Paul, both grew up in meat-and-three-veg families, before becoming vegetarian.

And when, three years ago, she made the transition to veganism she found it “quite difficult because I absolutely love cheese”.

Unhappy with the artificially flavoured vegan cheeses they found in the supermarkets, they began experimenting and two months ago opened their business (so named because they live in Lauderdale).

Their website says it all came about because they wanted to continue to eat foods they grew up with (and therefore had strong psychological attachments to) “without doing the damage to ourselves, the animals or the planet”.

Becoming vegan can involve “so much organisation and relearning” Wheatley says, but this way “you can still enjoy the food you love, and use them the same way in cooking without a new recipe repertoire”.

Julie Martyn quit a job in Sydney working on cancer research and moved to Launceston 18 months ago with the idea of stetting up a vegan food business.

Cheese won out ahead of cakes or ready-to-eat meals, not because of a hankering for it but because she knew there was a demand for dairy-free cheeses.

Her cheeses are dusted in pepperberry, truffle, contain saffron or wakame, or are washed in pinot noir.ir. Gold-medal winner at thiss year’s Hobart Fine Food awards, Coal River, is dusted fennel pollen. It is a creamy, spreadable freshh cheese. There is a blue cheese washed with Tasmanian stout. Not all cheese are available all the time.

Cashew or almond nuts are the base of the cheeses and the market for them is not confined to vegans. Martyn says vegans make up about a third of her customers, lactose-intolerant people another third, and the rest are friends or families of the first two groups, or those simply curious.

The biggest seller for Lauds is Aged Cashew Cheese, which is sold at four months old, but will continue to improve even after it is cut. Second-best seller is Melt Me, the cashew cheese for pizzas, lasagnes and such. It can be grated and tastes great

in a cheese toastie with mustard.mustard Almond nuts are the base for Persian Style Feta, which has a rich umami flavour. The feta is spreadable and can also be used like sour cream — it melts into a dish. And there is Greek Style Feta in a salt brine, which can be chopped and tossed through a salad or used in baking.

The culture to start the fermentation process in all the Lauds cheeses is an oat yoghurt they make themselves (from Kindred Organics oats), which means the products are not gluten free. And, of course, they are unsuitable for anyone with nut allergies.

Paul says he enjoys being in a business where, whether your principles or your doctor are calling for a change of diet, “we can help people make decisions they want to make”.

Other artisanal Tasmanian food producers easing the way for vegans are CashewCashe Creamery, which makes a highly regarded ice “cream” that is free of dairy, soy anand gluten. Flavours are mint, vanilla, coffee, strawberry and chocolate. And there is, Eden Pantry, which makes yoghurt from coconut flesh in plain, vanilla, blueberry and cherry flavours. Unpacked at Kingston stocks all four brands I have mentioned. IGA X-press at Lindisfarne has both brands of cheese and the yoghurt. The Lauds shop at 77 Chapel St, Glenorchy, is open Tuesday to Friday from 10am (but closed October 10-13). The range is also sold at City Organics, The Wholesome Health Bug Huonville and Cygnet Garden Larder.

The Artisa shop is at 140 Westbury Rd, Prospect, Launceston, and products are available at City Organics, Hill Street Home, Wholesome Health Bug and online.

Cashew Creamery is sold at Eumarrah, City Organics, Lipscombe Larder, Salamanca Fresh at Kingston and Wholesome Health Bug. Eden

Pantry coconut yoghurt is sold at Hill Street and Salamanca Fresh shops, Eumarrah and City Organics.

“You can still enjoy the food you love, and use them the same way” DA N I WHEATLEY OF VEGAN CHEESE