Chhheeesssssse
Cheese is the Problem, it really is.
I’ve often told people that I’d go vegan if it weren’t for one thing. Cheese. During my first year at TESC, I was pretty much vegetarian anyway cause I didn’t trust the meat they served us in The Greenery (our cafeteria)because just looking at it, you could tell that it was cooked this morning, or last week. It was pretty common knowledge that most meals came pre-made and that most things we were served had come freshly from the microwave.
So, I always figured that going vegan was just a step away. All I’d have to give up was eggs (which was fine because I don’t really enjoy them anyway,) Butter (and how hard is that now? I mean really,) Milk (I know I’m not supposed to be drinking this anyway, and I rather like the taste of soy milk – It’s the price I’m not so fond of,) And cheese. Yummy, creamy, delicious, perfect cheese. Mana from heaven cheese. So I ran into a bit of a problem there.
And I’ve been standing at that cross road for a while. What’s a burger joint with out a cheeseburger? Sure, I can have the world’s longest cheese list available to my carnivorous customers. But the goal of The Burger Bar is too provide fair and even food for all. I can’t say I’m doing that if all my vegan consumers are eating slightly warm, tofu cheese. I’ve tried that. I’d rather eat grass than eat that cheese again. I’ll leave names out of it.
Imagine my surprise when I stumbled across this blog: Eating Vegan: The Cheese Problem .It was like it had been written just for me! I was more than excited when I found out that the author Becky Striepe cited one of my favorite foods, Avocados, as a suitable replacement for cheese, as I already feature it twice on my menu. Once as a topping for burgers, and again in place of fries.
Wondering what other’s had to say about this, I ventured into the comments. I found a link to Alicia Silverstone’s blog. No I don’t know if it is THE Alicia Silverstone, I didn’t stay very long because after reading the post, I did some searching and found Dr. Cow’s Cheeses.
Looking through the list of items provided, I think that Dr. Cow cheeses might be a great answer to my conundrum. So I emailed them and asked about their supplies. I’m waiting for an answer as we speak.
Anyone try these cheeses before? And if not, does anyone have any other options they enjoy?
Thanks for reading.
Michael.
The Burger Bar 
I totally understand your sentiment. Last year when I had been lactose intolerant for a few months, I decided to see if I could happily be vegan. As long as I could manage to bake without eggs, I’d never miss them, and I already was drinking soymilk. I knew, though, I just couldn’t be without cheese. I picked up some “mozzarella” by Vegan Gourmet (I’ll name names, even if you don’t) and…um…well. It makes a great vegan broccoli-cheese soup. It tastes acceptable, but on the other hand, it doesn’t melt very well, and the soup was actually the only thing I was really happy with. Long story short, I decided to keep buying Lactaid.
On the bright side: there’s a brand new product I saw at the Co-op called “We can’t say it’s cheese.” It’s made from oats; I haven’t found out yet if they use GF oats or not. Still, I imagine it would be pretty creamy and nutty-tasting. I’ve also heard good things about cashew cheese.
Oh, and avocados? Yes. Definitely yes.
I was reading Dr. Cow’s website, and apparently their cheeses are all made out of different kind of nuts, but using the same process as making real cheese. This excited me, and I’m wondering if there’s anyway I can find a sample from them. All of their cheeses are gluten free too, which is a great big plus. I’ll certainly have to see if I can get my hands on that Co-op cheese. my only experience with cheese that is not cheese is what they sell on campus.
Thanks a lot Meg!