I for one love my cheese, who doesn’t. But how can one replicate cheesiness without actual cheese keeping it vegan? Is it possible to get the rich and creamy cheese experience, without any milk? Actually there are ways.
There are many amazing vegan cheese brands across the world that use a wide variety of ingredients to make their cheese- Cashews, protein isolates, tapioca starch, fava beans, etc are just some of them. Violife, Applewoods, Dahiya, are just some of them.
In India , Cowvati in Pune and Soft Spot in Mumbai are making some amazing plant-based cheese, that can be used in any kind of recipe. It’s even possible to make a plant-based cheese at home that’s delicious. One may try any of the millions of recipes available online to get the desired result, but there is immense gratification once you understand how the ingredients behave with heat and water and begin to push the boundaries of what a good cheese should look and taste like.
The basic idea of this is to take a plant-based milk and then use various hydrocolloids / starches/ gelling agents to get the desired texture and thermo-reversible properties. The actual problem comes with flavour. Cheese has an Umami rich taste that is extremely desirable, but also hard to replicate precisely using plant-based sources so, as they say “When you can’t convince them, Confuse them.”
Adding layers of flavours that remind us of cheese and gives us a familiar comfortable feeling is what works best- Liquid smoke, garlic, chilly, onion powder, nutritional yeast, etc, works great. Finding the right combination for every recipe is crucial.
So here is a simple Mac n Cheese recipe that can be made with elementary ingredients.
Ingredients
1) Cauliflower
2) Cashews
3) Macaroni
4) Plant-Based Cheddar/ Mozzarella( Soft Spot Foods)
5) Onion powder
6) Nutritional Yeast
7) Garlic powder
8) Vegetarian Aroma seasoning powder
Method:
1) Boil the macaroni in salted boiling water , till it is almost cooked (Al Dante).
2) Remove, strain and cool the pasta.
3) Dry Roast Cauliflower in an oven. Soak cashews in Hot water. Blend with other dry powder ingredients to make the sauce base.
4) Add the sauce to the macaroni, place in a baking dish, top off with vegan cheese and bake in an oven at high temperature.
Sincerely,
Chief Of Innovation, Plantmade
If you’re a visual learner, then you can also watch this recipe on Youtube, by clicking HERE.
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