Anyone familiar with the book Vegan Cheese (Jules Aron)?

[bernardsmith]

Anyone here experiment with vegan cheese (nut based or bean based)? Made a cheese from chickpeas the other day - not one in the book by Aron (raw chickpeas, miso, nutritional yeast, salt). Edible, but more like a thick pate than a cheese, IMO, but I am planning to make one of Aron's nut cheeses in the next day or two. Just because...
Thoughts?

 

[fatnhappy]

I'm very interested in vegan cheeses. Dairy and I just don't get along. Did you make any yet?

 

[bernardsmith]

I made a couple of the nut based cheeses but am not particularly impressed with them as "cheese". I did discover the rejuvelac recipe from her book and have been using that a) to help make sour dough bread and b) to experiment with the lactic bacteria to make sour mead. Nut cheeses are far more grainy than milk cheese - but the truth is that even if you are lactose intolerant hard, aged cheese tends tends to have very little lactose as the bacteria used to "ripen" the cheese eat the lactose and convert this into lactic acid. (True, lactic acid has a pH of (I think) 2.0 and the curds and whey in cheese is more like 4.5 so there may be some lactose left ). Still, I intend to continue experimenting with nut cheeses over the next few months.

 

[fatnhappy]

It's not the lactose, it's one of the proteins in all dairy. I do miss butter and a good sharp provolone. I found a tasty commercial cheese, Chao, made from tofu. It's made in Greece. Tasty, but doesn't melt well

 

[Gadjobrinus]

I made a couple of the nut based cheeses but am not particularly impressed with them as "cheese". I did discover the rejuvelac recipe from her book and have been using that a) to help make sour dough bread and b) to experiment with the lactic bacteria to make sour mead. Nut cheeses are far more grainy than milk cheese - but the truth is that even if you are lactose intolerant hard, aged cheese tends tends to have very little lactose as the bacteria used to "ripen" the cheese eat the lactose and convert this into lactic acid. (True, lactic acid has a pH of (I think) 2.0 and the curds and whey in cheese is more like 4.5 so there may be some lactose left ). Still, I intend to continue experimenting with nut cheeses over the next few months.

Yep, to my knowledge only trace amounts of lactose remain in hard-aged cheese, with some displaying zero on nutritional labels (as sugar). So much is lost in whey during the typical cooking and draining (and pressing, if applicable) process, with the obvious metabolism by bacteria as well, as you say.

I presume you guys use microbial rennet, then?

 

[bernardsmith]

It's not the lactose, it's one of the proteins in all dairy. I do miss butter and a good sharp provolone. I found a tasty commercial cheese, Chao, made from tofu. It's made in Greece. Tasty, but doesn't melt well

So some of the cheeses in Jules Aron's book are meltable - Not tried these myself but she offers a recipe for a golden cheddar (made from cashew based "yogurt") and a mozzarella (made also from cashew nuts)

And @Gadjobrinus: no, I won't use animal rennet as I am a kosher vegetarian.

 

[fatnhappy]

So some of the cheeses in Jules Aron's book are meltable - Not tried these myself but she offers a recipe for a golden cheddar (made from cashew based "yogurt") and a mozzarella (made also from cashew nuts)

And @Gadjobrinus: no, I won't use animal rennet as I am a kosher vegetarian.

I'll have to get the book. It's worth a shot. Most vegan cheese that I've bought isn't very good.

 

[Gadjobrinus]

So some of the cheeses in Jules Aron's book are meltable - Not tried these myself but she offers a recipe for a golden cheddar (made from cashew based "yogurt") and a mozzarella (made also from cashew nuts)

And @Gadjobrinus: no, I won't use animal rennet as I am a kosher vegetarian.

I'm sorry, bernard, it's been awhile for me and at that time, I seem to recall a debate on whether this type of rennet qualifies. I understand we're still talking about living microbes. I just looked it up, and I'd confused rennets. It was the mold Rhizomucor miehei. Is that not kosher - do you rely on plant-based coagulants, then?

 

[bernardsmith]

There are two kinds of vegetarian rennet - one is a vegetable source (not sure what the plant is but thistle has the enzyme needed) and the other is a microbial product. I have some of each. The one that is neither vegetarian nor kosher is the rennet that is made from the calf's stomach.

 

[Gadjobrinus]

There are two kinds of vegetarian rennet - one is a vegetable source (not sure what the plant is but thistle has the enzyme needed) and the other is a microbial product. I have some of each. The one that is neither vegetarian nor kosher is the rennet that is made from the calf's stomach.

Thistle, I know, is a source, though you probably know isn't as strong.

So, I mentioned the microbial rennet (Rhizomucor) above, just a bit confused. Are you saying it's vegetarian, but not kosher? Do I have that right?

 

[bernardsmith]

My understanding is that microbial rennet is both kosher and vegetarian. Can't say whether vegans would view this as acceptable but microbes, though living are not considered animals either in terms of kashrut or by the understandings of vegetarians (otherwise yeast would be prohibited too and yeast is OK)

 

[Gadjobrinus]

My understanding is that microbial rennet is both kosher and vegetarian. Can't say whether vegans would view this as acceptable but microbes, though living are not considered animals either in terms of kashrut or by the understandings of vegetarians (otherwise yeast would be prohibited too and yeast is OK)

Interesting, thanks bernard. Believe it or not it bums me out when I bake (or brew) that yeast die an explosive death, lol.

Interesting subject too, guys. Thanks for the thread.

 

[bernardsmith]

Bread baking ..I understand. We cook the yeast. But in wine making the yeast die a natural death, don't they? And we aim to make their lives as stress free and delightful as possible, no? Most yeast simply go dormant unless of course you pasteurize your beers, meads, wines or ciders unless we are deliberately working at alcohol levels beyond the tolerance for the particular strain of yeast .

 

[Gadjobrinus]

Bread baking ..I understand. We cook the yeast. But in wine making the yeast die a natural death, don't they? And we aim to make their lives as stress free and delightful as possible, no? Most yeast simply go dormant unless of course you pasteurize your beers, meads, wines or ciders unless we are deliberately working at alcohol levels beyond the tolerance for the particular strain of yeast .

Yeah, but I'm a psycho. I drop M-80's onto yeast cakes, just to watch the mayhem.

 

[bernardsmith]

 

[fatnhappy]

Yeah, but I'm a psycho. I drop M-80's onto yeast cakes, just to watch the mayhem.

Ha