vegan cheese

Vegan halloumi for the UK

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If I had a pound for every time someone told me they would be vegan except they love halloumi too much, I’d be writing this blog post on a gold plated keyboard.

Well, get ready to see a whole bunch of non-vegans make the switch because Violife is about to launch a vegan halloumi into the UK market.

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Eating fried #vegan halloumi. Made by @violife_foods and available in Sainsbury’s in mid August.

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I was able to snap up a pack of this new cheese from the Violife stand at the recent Just V Show in London where I was told it will be available via Sainsbury’s stores in mid-August.

We have tried frying the cheese in a pan and it was extremely tasty. I have never tasted halloumi made from animal milk in my life so I am unable to tell you how this compares. That said, I would definitely buy this vegan version and can’t wait to try it in a melted cheese sandwich.

How excited are you about vegan halloumi?

London Vegan Beer Fest this Saturday July 15

Sheffield Vegan Beer Fest July 29

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Vegan cheese for London

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Hey, vegan cheese lovers.

If you get along to superstar vegan grocery store GreenBay in West London, you can buy some amazing vegan nut cheeses made by the wonderful Essential Vegan.

Yes, Essential Vegan have found something to do following on from their wildly successful residency at Haunt in Hackney. They are pushing forward with their plans for vegan cheese domination!

Everything that Vanessa at Essential Vegan makes is superb, but believe me when I say the aged smoked nut cheese is on another level.

Get along to GreenBay as soon as you can to grab some of this gorgeous cheese. The shop is also selling the Essential Vegan cookbook.

Like Essential Vegan on Instagram. Like GreenBay on Instagram.

Click here to see the exact location of GreenBay thanks to Google Maps.

Vegan cheese tour of the UK

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Hey, have you ever wanted to attend a super fancy vegan cheese workshop? Well if you live in London, Nailsworth or Manchester you have got this exciting vegan cheese workshop tour coming your way.

Asparagasm are thrilled to present, all the way from Berlin, one of the leading artisan cheesemakers in the world, Anderson Santos Silva, aka Cashewbert.

Originally from Brazil, Anderson is a committed and passionate vegan, who is an international leader in this type of vegan cheese making.

In this workshop you will learn the principles of aged vegan cheese, why and when you need curdled cheeses, how to allow the cheese to age and develop the flavours and much more.

Some of the cheese types you will learn how to make in this workshop:

  • Fresh cheese types, like feta and queso blanco
  • Mold-ripened cheese types, like camembert and blue cheese
  • Fermented cream-cheese types, that can be used as spreads

With those basics you can create your own type of cheese.

This workshop will focus more on techniques rather than recipes, but you will receive recipes for the aforementioned types of cheeses at the end of the workshop for you to make at home.

You will also be able to try different Almond and Cashew based cheeses at the end of the workshop.

The Manchester and Nailsworth events are 4 hours long, while the Manchester session runs for 2 hours.

Click here to get all the details and book your spot.

Finally Pizza Express joins the club

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I’m really not sure why this has taken so long, but it finally has arrived so you need to know.

After years of watching multiple other pizza chain restaurants introduce a vegan cheese option to their menu, Pizza Express is now offering vegan mozzarella.

It used to be that you could take your own vegan cheese into one of the almost 500 outlets in the UK and Ireland for the chefs to add to a customised pizza (I’m not joking), but now you can go into any one of their restaurants and order a vegan pizza without having to bring some of the ingredients yourself.

The following is from the official Pizza Express announcement online this week:

For some time now, our customers have been telling us that they want a vegan mozzarella alternative on the menu and in parallel, the world of vegan ingredients has opened up and become so interesting, enticing and tasty too. So, after a lot of tasting and testing, from June 20th we finally have an option that we believe you’ll love. One that we can say is sufficiently delicious to warrant it’s inclusion on our menu and sit atop our unique dough and delicious passata.
Made in Italy using Italian ingredients, our new vegan mozzarella alternative melts perfectly in our pizza oven and gives a creamy finish to any recipe. To celebrate, we have taken some of our favourite ingredients and created a new pizza recipe that combines flavoursome artichokes with our new asparagus, red onion, garlic oil, black olives and seasoning on a classic dough and passata base to create our new Vegan Giardiniera. Not only this, our vegan mozzarella alternative is available to be used across all of our pizzas, making this a great option for those looking for a dairy-free alternative.

How do you feel about this new option? Is it going to make your life any easier when it comes to dining out with friends, family or colleagues?

Yay for vegan pizza!

Buy bulk vegan cheese

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Is there such a thing as too much vegan cheese?

Not when you speak to the friendly people over at Coffee & Cheese.

Coffee & Cheese is a catering supplies company specialising in (do I really need to say it?!) coffee and vegan cheese. Yep, that’s pretty much their entire game plan and to be honest they are doing a grand job of spreading vegan cheese across the entire UK.

The company mainly deals with getting non-vegan cafés and restaurants to add vegan cheese such as Violife to their menus, instantly transforming their offerings and increasing the quantity of their plant-based dishes.

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Coffee & Cheese owner Pedro doesn’t just sell bulk packets of Violife to restaurants, he also takes the time to explain the demand for veganising menus and demonstrates the best way to cook with vegan cheese.

If you have a local café or restaurant you think would be open to expanding their vegan offerings, put them in touch with Coffee & Cheese.

You can also buy from this fabulous catering supplies company if you want to save money by purchasing your vegan cheese in bulk for your own home, if you run a vegan catering business or if you need vegan cheese for a large function you need to cater.

Other products you can source from Coffee & Cheese include huge tubs of vegan mayo, plant-based milks, vegan hot chocolate powder and, of course, everything you need to make and sell coffee.

All contact details for Coffee & Cheese can be found on their website.

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Vegan cheese hampers

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I adore Vegusto cheese.

This brand is actually one of my all-time favourites. Ever since I first blogged about it way back in 2011, there hasn’t been a week when I haven’t had some Vegusto in my fridge.

Given my unwavering love for this brand, you will understand my excitement at this latest development.

Subscription hampers from Vegusto!

cheese

Click here or on the image above to visit the shop.

Imagine getting a box of this delicious vegan cheese delivered to your house every month! I also like the look of those meal packs featuring the additional ingredients needed to cook up tasty dishes.

Yay for home delivery of vegan cheese!

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New vegan Parmesan shreds in a tub!

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Wowsers.

I love a good vegan cheese and I especially love a good vegan cheese when it’s in nifty packaging.

I picked up the Follow Your Heart Parmesan shreds in the Mr Tofu vegan grocery store in Mexico City only yesterday and it is almost gone completely. I’m in love.

permesan follow your heart

I wouldn’t say this tastes like Parmesan (being vegan for so long means I have forgotten) but it is one of my favourite vegan cheeses I’ve tried in along while. I’ve already eaten it in a delicious toasted sandwich and Josh loved it on top of a hot plate of pasta.

And I suppose UK people want to hear the good news?

Follow Your Heart is launching this Parmesan cheese in the UK this July (2016) as well as a grated version.

If you are a trade person (or sneaky), you can be one of the first people in the UK to try this vegan Parmesan when Follow Your Heart preview samples of it at the Natural & Organic Products Europe show in London in April.

Rejoice, vegan cheese lovers!

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UK-made vegan parmesan now available

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Love parmesan cheese but hate cruelty? Here is some news you will love.

Good Carma Foods have unleashed their range of vegan parmesan products upon the country and the popularity of the three flavours (original, garlic and chilli) is building at a healthy speed.

In addition to a large number of independent health food retailers, the plant based parmesan can also be found in almost fifty Waitrose stores UK wide.

good carma

Get over to the Good Carma website to find out if there is a stockist near you (or shop online!) and be sure to follow the vegan cheese topping brand on Twitter and Facebook.

Have you tried these products? Let me know what you think!

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Nut cheese masterclass

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Love nut cheese but not sure what in the world you would need to do in order to make it?

This class is for you, London!

My friends at Made in Hackney have organised a superb sounding vegan cheese masterclass in partnership with raw chef and nutritional therapist, Bruna Oliveira.

Bruna says of the event:

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Cheese spreads even further

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I recently asked the question “Is Violife the best melting cheese in the UK?” and many people replied in the affirmative.

However, some readers asked a question of their own. They wanted to know where in the country they could buy this vegan cheese.

Well, I’m happy to report I have an update on where you can pick up this plant-based favourite.

A super considerate reader named Jon reached out to me today to let me know he found the Violife brand in an Asda store. This vegan cheese is spreading across the UK faster than I can handle!

Check out Jon’s haul of the good stuff in his shopping trolley.

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