Discover Vegan Cheese – Miyoko’s Creamery

Jul 27, 2022 by Chef David

By Chef David

Vegan cheese is a plant-based food, not a cheese wanna-be. It has a distinctive texture and flavor of its own. While you can use it as a cheese substitute to create a parve dish, why would you?  There are vegan versions of just about any cheese, from creamy mozzarella to exotic cheese wheels. Vegan cheeses have complex taste profiles with a unique savory flavor.

Cheesemaking is an ancient art, developed as a way to preserve milk from spoiling. Whereas vegan cheese is a refinement, a relatively new creation. It is believed to have originated in 1500s China in the form of fermented tofu, it did not arrive in the US until the late 1800s. Since then, vegan cheese has evolved from its humble origins becoming sophisticated and artisanal. Miyoko’s Creamery, which is certified by Kuf K, produces an amazing line of plant-based products. While most of Miyoko’s cheeses are cashew based, they recently began producing oat milk butter, which is certified by the OU. For vegans and the lactose intolerant vegan cheese is arguably superior to its dairy equivalents.

More Than a Dairy Alternative

Vegan cheese is typically made from nuts, commonly cashews or almonds. The nuts are soaked and then blended to create a milk base.  Then plant proteins are separated using bacteria. Ingredients such as oils and thickeners are added to help create the desired cheese-like consistency. Often nutritional yeast is added to give a flavor reminiscent of dairy cheese.

But not all vegan cheese is alike. So, check the ingredients label, paying attention to added oils, fillers, or gums and the sodium level. Vegan cheeses are typically lower in protein and calcium than dairy cheese. Because vegan cheese is made of nuts, the high-fat content can be equivalent to dairy cheese (a 28-gram serving contains approximately 9 grams of saturated fat).

Pareve vegan cheese, especially brands that behave like the dairy equivalent expands the kosher chef’s repertoire of possible recipes.

We learned a lot from tasting Miyoko’s Creamery offerings. First and foremost, let the flavors speak for themselves. We began using it as a dairy replacement and grew to like the unique savory flavor as a stand-alone culinary staple. Their vegan butter melts spreads and tastes like dairy butter, but it’s pareve!

What’s In the Ingredients?

Let’s look at the ingredients. The mozzarella contains cashew milk, coconut oil, tapioca, agar, mushroom extract, konjac, and cultures.  This exotic mixture gives it a taste and a mouth-feel characteristic of dairy cheese. We found that it melted well. We tried it in pasta, and pizza and both met with approval. They are innovating in this category also with their pourable meltable mozzarella. It was easier to use in recipes with similar results.

We liked the cheese wheels best. They provided a one-of-a-kind taste, with a similar appearance to dairy cheeses, but with a mouth feel and flavor of their own. Miyoko’s Black Ash cheese wheel, which presents a black foreboding color, gives your palate a mixture of tastes. The cheese contains cashew milk, combining chickpea miso with flavors from plum, flaxseed & oregano, vegetable ash, and nutritional yeast. The outside is unmistakably black, but the ash coating is edible and enhances the visual presentation. While the mozzarella has 1 gram of protein per serving, Miyoko’s Black Ash contains 4 grams of protein. We also enjoyed the Smoked English Farmhouse which, like many of the other wheels, is aged like traditional dairy cheese.

Miyoko’s – Real Plant Dairy Innovation

Miyoko’s Creamery began making high-quality artisanal cheeses in 2014. What impressed us most was that they reinvented vegan cheese, by introducing new and exciting tastes in their cheese wheels and a pourable pizza mozzarella, which browns and melts.

Named after founder and CEO Miyoko Schinner, a Japanese immigrant who now lives on an animal sanctuary in northern California’s western Marin County. She began by teaching cooking classes and hosting a cooking show “At the time there was no good vegan food available, I was a bona fide gourmand. I was determined to make foods that were delectable, healthy, and vegan.” She has done exactly that, beginnings with 4 employees in Miyoko’s home kitchen, she transformed the industry, creating a brand of vegan cheese that works well in recipes and meal preparation. Instead of trying to mimic dairy cheese, Miyoko creates a solid offering of tastes that can be substituted in recipes, but that stand on their own.

Many of Miyoko’s vegan cheeses use cashews. Their website explains that cashews are more environmentally friendly than dairy, producing 98% fewer greenhouse gasses than traditional dairy products. Miyoko’s cashews are 100% rainfed and grown without synthetic fertilizer or pesticides.

Perfect on Crackers

We were fortunate to have sampled a wide range of products, including their cream cheese, cheese wheels, and mozzarella. It took a mental re-set to change our expectation of what vegan cheese should be and to welcome an entirely new spectrum of tastes. The vegan cheese has a different color than dairy, slightly more beige – as it should. It has a different taste profile. Embracing the difference made sampling Miyoko’s Creamery a culinary adventure.

It is the unique flavor profile that makes this a healthy compliment for crackers, finding its way into a fruit and cheese platter to end a fleshig meal. Miyoko’s aged cheese has the character of hard dairy cheese, packed with subtle flavors, which can be savored and enjoyed. Miyoko’s Creamery cheese can be purchased online and in local retailers.

Miyoko’s might just be the crème de la crème of vegan cheeses with a wealth of shapes, tastes, and inventive flavors, they may have rewritten the book on what a kosher consumer can expect from a vegan cheese.