Even the shit-to-average stuff we have now is so expensive (even though it probably costs cents on the dollar to produce vs dairy)
Best vegan cheese I’ve had is from a fucking 16th century cookbook, a recipe from like 500 years ago…
Dont have a link, cause its a physical book but I will paraphrase. To make mock ricotta and butter from almonds: Get two pounds of peeled almonds and soak them for twelve hours. Grind them in a mortar, moistening them with reduced pike broth (here you substitute with mushroom, or dashi, or whatever vegan substitute you want. ) so that the mixture becomes like milk. Strain, adding to it three ounces of finely ground sugar, three ounces of starch and four ounces of rose water. Put it in a pot, salt and cook, stirring constantly until it thickens. When its firm take it out and put it in a ricotta mould (or any type of mould really), but before you do that sprinkle the mould with rose water. Leave in cool place until it is cold and settled. Serve with sugar and flowers on top. Instead of using starch, you can cook rice in the above mentioned broth.
You can also make a pseudo butter from above mixture, by making it slightly looser and coloring it with saffron.
Dont have a link, cause its a physical book but I will paraphrase. To make mock ricotta and butter from almonds: Get two pounds of peeled almonds and soak them for twelve hours. Grind them in a mortar, moistening them with reduced pike broth (here you substitute with mushroom, or dashi, or whatever vegan substitute you want. ) so that the mixture becomes like milk. Strain, adding to it three ounces of finely ground sugar, three ounces of starch and four ounces of rose water. Put it in a pot, salt and cook, stirring constantly until it thickens. When its firm take it out and put it in a ricotta mould (or any type of mould really), but before you do that sprinkle the mould with rose water. Leave in cool place until it is cold and settled. Serve with sugar and flowers on top. Instead of using starch, you can cook rice in the above mentioned broth.
You can also make a pseudo butter from above mixture, by making it slightly looser and coloring it with saffron.
Dont have a link, cause its a physical book but I will paraphrase. To make mock ricotta and butter from almonds: Get two pounds of peeled almonds and soak them for twelve hours. Grind them in a mortar, moistening them with reduced pike broth (here you substitute with mushroom, or dashi, or whatever vegan substitute you want. ) so that the mixture becomes like milk. Strain, adding to it three ounces of finely ground sugar, three ounces of starch and four ounces of rose water. Put it in a pot, salt and cook, stirring constantly until it thickens. When its firm take it out and put it in a ricotta mould (or any type of mould really), but before you do that sprinkle the mould with rose water. Leave in cool place until it is cold and settled. Serve with sugar and flowers on top. Instead of using starch, you can cook rice in the above mentioned broth.
You can also make a pseudo butter from above mixture, by making it slightly looser and coloring it with saffron.
Whenever I make vegan food I never try to recreate stuff like meat or cheese because that tends to be the fast train to Disappointment Town
Literally the only good one is the Bio Cheese Vegan Feta, and even then its way too overpriced for what I imagine is coconut milk and lemon juice.
We need a space for vegan shitposting, moral superiority and struggle sessions.
Totally. The amount of “cheddar” flavoured slices I’ve bought that literally taste of coconut lol. And shit just doesn’t melt and stretch properly. The fake meat has gotten so good, how can the cheese tech be so far behind??
I’ve dropped the fake meat for the most part, a little bit of seitan if I can get my hands on it cheap, but for the most part I just took the time to learn to cook tofu a little better and have a mix of legumes and the like in my meals.
As for cheese - just replace that shit with olive oil most of the time. It’s like a million times tastier than most vegan cheeses. I’m starting to get real iffy about the amount of capitalist buy-in vegan shit has had recently, trying to learn to strip things back to the basics.
Nutritional yeast has a nice cheesy flavor too. There’s a recipe for a queso style dip I’ve done a few times that involves cashews, cumin, jalapenos, and a ton of nutritional yeast and it’s actually pretty fuckin good. I might be forgetting an ingredient or two. I can dig it up if you want
Seitan is worth learning to make on your own. It’s easy and super cheap. And the ingredients keep forever.
I was told c/vegan is in the works but it’s since been delayed for reasons unknown.
It’s hard to find good theory on animal welfare, so in addition to patting each other on our backs for our very clear and rightfully earned moral superiority, I’d like a place to share reading suggestions too.
Also i want vegan cheese that’s a source of protein and not just coconut oil.
Good old Peter Singer is a good place to start for theory. I’ll see if I can pull together a larger list at some point.
Kinda hard to think of theory based on this, as it’s basically “murder is wrong”…
Also, nutritional yeast, as mentioned below. Just mix some in with literally everything you eat if you like that cheesy taste. Good source of B vitamins and protein.
thanks! of course i worship at the alter of nooch, but it doesn’t stretch when you put it on a damn pizza!
also yeah singer’s a great starting point, but i lose him when i try to flesh it out with larger leftist frameworks. he puts a hell of a lot of responsibility on individuals’ actions over larger systemic change (iirc he argued they’re morally one in the same at some point). also his some of his ethical arguments kinda dance around fashy when it comes to people with disabilities. would be great to have a dedicated community where we can try to compile resources like they do in other coms. and if you’ve personally got a list to share, please do make a post - it would be super helpful!