As dairy intolerance increases, vegan steps in
Alternative cheese products growing in popularity
There's a revolution happening in the cheese world, and it doesn't have anything to do with dairy.
For decades, vegan cheese has had a bad rap. It was well deserved. Rubbery and often with an aftertaste compared to pencil erasers or Play-Doh, the plant-based varieties just did not stand up to the real thing. Now, a new generation of vegan chefs and food entrepreneurs has figured out what was missing: fermentation.
Vegan cheese "started out as 'How can we make something look like cheese?' " says Miyoko Schinner, owner of Miyoko's Kitchen, the artisan vegan cheese company based near San Francisco. "But the problem was that it didn't taste like cheese. Then we realized that we needed to apply actual cheesemaking techniques to develop flavor."
Crafting vegan cheese using traditional techniques makes sense. It requires patience, just as with dairy-based cheese; the advantage is that a plant-based cheese can take less time to make, but it still requires a few days or even weeks to develop complex flavor. "Vegans want to be able to make cheddar cheese in fifteen minutes," Schinner says. "No omnivore would ever expect to do that."
Vegans are not the only audience for nondairy cheeses. There's a huge portion of humanity — 65 percent — that cannot digest dairy products, says Washington's own vegan chef-restaurateur, Doron Petersan. "So, when you think about it on that level," she says, "it doesn't make sense to use animal products to create cheese. The problem is that cheese is so freakin' delicious, everybody wants to eat it."
Kale Walch certainly had no intention of becoming a vegan cheesemaker, but he started experimenting with recipes about four years ago after being inspired to follow his sister Aubry's plant-based diet. "I couldn't stay vegan without a good cheese replacement," says the Minneapolis resident.
After some trial and error, the siblings decided to take their products — handmade with a base of high-quality soy milk and coconut oil — to their local farmers market. They were shocked by the enthusiastic response. A crowdfunding campaign soon led to a private investor and the opening of their brickand-mortar store, the Herbivorous Butcher, in early 2016. They now make 400 pounds of vegan cheese each week, in eight-pound batches, including dill havarti and pepper Jack, along with plantbased versions of capicola, beer brats and pastrami. The biggest sellers are American and provolone.
"It started out that we were just making the food we were hungry for," Walch says. "But it turned out that a lot of people were hungry for the same stuff."
As it turns out, close to 75 percent of Walch's customers are not vegan; instead, they have concerns about factory farming, sustainability and global warming. "It's getting harder to avoid the facts about the environmental impacts," Walch says. "People are starting to catch on a little bit, and our products are probably the easiest way to bridge the gap." Consequently, consumers spent $5 billion in the plant-based food sector in 2016. And alternative cheeses are the biggest single subcategory.
"A generation ago, this was a lifestyle choice," according to Neal Barnard, author of "The Cheese Trap" and president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a vegan research and advocacy nonprofit based in Washington. "But now it's also about the impact on the environment and animal welfare."
Here are more manufacturers that make nondairy cheeses:
• Bragg Nutritional Yeast. This product is an inactive yeast grown with beet molasses, sugar cane and water, then fortified with vitamin B12. Widely available in the health food section of most grocery stores, it adds a distinctly cheesy flavor to many recipes and is delicious sprinkled straight over pasta and popcorn. bragg.com.
• Kite Hill. Co-founded by Los Angeles chef Tal Ronnen with an emphasis on sustainability, the company sells nationwide and specializes in nut-milk-based soft cheeses and spreads. kitehill.com.
• Daiya. Recently purchased by the Japanese pharmaceutical company Otsuka, this brand produces shredded cheeses that have become the go-to for makers of vegan pizzas. Its line includes meltable slices, and it's widely available in many grocery stores. daiyafoods.com.
• Three Girls Vegan Creamery. This newcomer from Connecticut ships cashew-based mozzarella pearls, aged grated Parmesan made with almond meal and mustard seeds, and mini French-style soft cheeses studded with edible flowers. threegirlsvegan.com.
• Treeline. This array of French-style nut cheeses takes its cue from boursin, boasting a soft texture and swirled with herbs, and can often be found alongside products from Miyoko's Kitchen. The green peppercorn style has a tangy goatcheese quality, and two new aged cashew-based hard cheeses can even be grated over pasta. treelinecheese.com.
• Vromage. Youssef Fakhouri has been wowing Los Angeles locals with cheese made from a variety of nuts and seeds, including macadamias, pistachios and hemp seeds. Some of the styles that can be shipped include asiago, spicy cheddar and "veganzola." vromage.com. Hartke is a Washington writer.
Vegan Shaved Parm Makes 2 cups
Brazil nuts provide a luscious fattiness to this vegan version of Parmesan, and the addition of miso and nutritional yeast provides plenty of umami, making the taste strikingly similar to traditional Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
Scatter it over pasta and salads or melt it onto garlic bread.
MAKE AHEAD: The nuts need to be soaked for at least 4 hours. The cheese mixture needs to cure at room temperature for 2 to 3 days. The cheese can be refrigerated in an airtight container for 3 or 4 months.
Vegan cheesemaker Miyoko Schinner's use of sauerkraut liquid is not only easy but also adds tangy flavor to the finished product. But you can make a vegan cheese starter called rejuvelac, a probiotic liquid made from sprouted grains that serves as a plant-based rennet, or buy it at natural foods stores and via Amazon.com.
From "The Homemade Vegan Pantry" by Schinner (Ten Speed Press, 2015).
Ingredients
1 cup Brazil nuts 1/2 cup pine nuts 1/2 cup sauerkraut liquid (may substitute a vegan cheese starter called rejuvelac; see headnote) 2 tablespoons white, yellow or chickpea miso 1/4 cup nutritional yeast 1 teaspoon sea salt
Steps
Place the Brazil nuts in a bowl and cover with water. Let sit at room temperature for at least 4 hours.
Drain the Brazil nuts, discarding their water. Transfer to a food processor or highspeed blender, along with the pine nuts, sauerkraut liquid, miso, nutritional yeast and salt. Puree on HIGH for 2 or 3 minutes, until the mixture is smooth, then transfer to a container; cover tightly and let sit at room temperature for 2 to 3 days, until the flavors are sharp and have deepened.
Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 250 degrees. Line two or three baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners.
Use an offset spatula to spread the mixture almost paper-thin on the baking sheets; depending on their size, you may have enough cheese mixture to spread on three of them. Bake two at a time (upper and lower racks) for about 30 minutes, rotating them from top to bottom and front to back halfway through, until dry and golden brown.
Let cool, then break into shards and transfer to a tightly sealed glass container. Refrigerate for 3 or 4 months.
Nutrition | Per 2-tablespoon serving: 90 calories, 2 g protein, 3 g carbohydrates, 9 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 240 mg sodium, 1 g dietary fiber, 0 g sugar
Almond Feta Makes 1 pound
In her 2015 cookbook, vegan chef Miyoko Schinner writes that she had forgotten the "joy that feta cheese can add to dishes." Her vegan version made with blanched almonds adds the same tangy brininess as traditional feta cheese.
You will need cheesecloth and an 8-inch square pan.
This feta can be marinated; see the VARIATION, below.
You can make a vegan cheese starter called rejuvelac, a probiotic liquid made from sprouted grains that serves as a plant-based rennet, or buy it at natural foods stores and via Amazon.com. But Schinner's substitution of readily available sauerkraut liquid is not only easy but also adds tangy flavor to the finished product. Powdered agar-agar is available at natural foods stores.
MAKE AHEAD: The almonds need to be soaked for 12 to 24 hours. The cheese mixture needs to cure at room temperature for a few days. The mixture with agar needs to be chilled for several hours. The almond feta will taste best after 3 or 4 weeks, and can be refrigerated for 3 to 4 months.
From "The Homemade Vegan Pantry" by Schinner (Ten Speed Press, 2015).
Ingredients For the feta
2 cups blanched almonds, soaked in water for 12 to 24 hours 1 cup sauerkraut liquid (may substitute a vegan cheese starter/ rejuvelac; see headnote) 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 2/3 cup water 2 tablespoons powdered agar-agar (see headnote)
For the brine
6 cups water, or more as needed 3/4 cup sea salt or kosher salt
Steps
For the feta: Drain and rinse the almonds.
Place them in a high-speed blender (such as a Vitamix), along with the sauerkraut liquid and salt. Puree on HIGH for 1 to 2 minutes, until smooth and no longer grainy; if you don't have a high-speed blender, it may be easier to blend half the almonds, liquid and salt until smooth, then add in the other half to finish blending. Pour the mixture into a clean container and cover with a plastic, metal or glass lid (or plastic wrap). Let sit at room temperature for 1 to 2 days, making sure you taste it each day, until it begins to get tangy. Keep in mind there is no hard-and-fast rule about how long it needs to culture — your taste buds will have to guide you in determining the right length of time. In warmer weather, it could be just a day, while in cooler weather, it could take 2 days or longer.
Once the cheese is slightly tangy, you can move on to solidifying it. First, prepare the mold for the cheese by lining an 8-inch square pan with cheesecloth. Combine the water and agar in a medium saucepan and whisk well. Cover the pan with a lid and warm through over low heat. Don't peek for 3 to 4 minutes, then check to see whether it is gently bubbling. At first, if you peek too early, it may look as though it has solidified. However, if you let it cook a few minutes more, it will start to liquefy again and bubble away; the mixture will be a little cloudy and slightly thickened, but still pourable when ready.
Once the agar has fully dissolved, pour in the cultured almond mixture and whisk until fully incorporated. Pour the cheese mixture into the cheesecloth-lined pan. Refrigerate for several hours, until very firm.
For the brine: Whisk together the water and the salt in a large bowl until most of the salt has dissolved. Cut the cheese into 4 equal pieces and place in the brine. Cover and let them sit at room temperature for 8 hours.
To finish, transfer the feta to a storage container and pour the brine over the cheese until it is halfway submerged. Add more plain water to completely cover the cheese and dilute the brine. Cover and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 or 4 months. The flavor vastly improves after the first 3 to 4 weeks.
VARIATION: To make marinated vegan feta, cut 8 ounces of the plain/brined feta (that has been refrigerated for 3 to 4 weeks) into 1inch cubes, placing them in a clean 16-ounce jar as you work. Add 1 teaspoon herbes de Provence, 1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes, a wide swath of lemon rind and enough olive oil to cover the feta cubes. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours before serving with bread or crackers.