You’d Never Know It’s Non-Dairy

Apr 1, 2024 by Chef David

By Chef David – Updated April 2024

Looks like dairy. Tastes like dairy. But these products are pareve, plant-based, vegan, dairy-free, and delicious. While kosher consumers have many options to select from, some are tastier than others.  These two products are so good that they could even stump the experts. They are 7th Heaven’s chocolates certified by Badatz Belz and the Chief Rabbinate of Israel (sold in Israel under Panda Chocolate) and Parma! parmesan certified by Oregon Kosher.

Taste and Texture

Americans are adopting plant-based options due to concerns about health, the environment, and animal welfare. Yet, not all plant-based items are healthy. Consumers need to read the labels and understand the ingredients. A general rule is to limit your consumption of highly refined processed ingredients.

Taste and texture matter as well. Foods should be satisfying to your palate with a taste profile that complements your meal.

For the kosher consumer, being pareve and providing flavor are important considerations. Although we might be unaccustomed to recipes that combine dairy and meat, just being able to eat high-quality pareve chocolate after a fleshing meal or sprinkle some pareve parmesan on meatballs and spaghetti is exciting.

7th Heaven

7th Heaven is pareve plant-based chocolate created in 2013, by an Israeli vegan couple Daniel Bareket and Elya Adi who missed the taste of dairy milk chocolate.

We discovered the 7th Heaven chocolates at Kosherfest 2022, where it was touted for tasting like dairy milk chocolate. We were skeptical.  After just one taste, we agreed. 7th Heaven has a rich creamy texture and full-body flavor commonly associated with dairy milk chocolate. The label clearly shows that this delicious dairy-free milk chocolate is vegan.  The ingredients include sugar, cocoa butter, soy, and coconut. Not a coconut lover? Not an issue, there is no residual coconut taste. The mouthfeel and flavor will have you convinced you are eating dairy milk chocolate.

Even the shape and color scream out – dairy. Designed as a chocolate bar with pockets of flavor which provides a taste explosion as it dissolves in your mouth. The design makes the bars easily divisible into bitesize portions.

They produce two product lines, chocolate bars, and snacks. Their chocolate bars come in six varieties, Classic, Peanut Butter Cream, Hazelnut Cream, Hazelnut Crunch, Caramel and Sea Salt, Cookies & Cream, while the snack-size comes in Peanut Butter Cornflakes, Pistachio & Halva Cream, Caramelized Coconut, and Hazelnut Cream & Rice Crisps. We enjoyed the rich melt-in-your-mouth creamy texture. Our favorites were the Pistachio & Halva Cream snack size and the Classic bar.

In 2024 they introduced Oat Milk Peanut Butter Cups, a delicious addition to their line of pareve vegan chocolate bars. We were impressed that they were environmentally friendly, without unnecessary wrappers.  Our testers found them to be rich and creamy.

7th Heaven can be purchased online or find them at a local store.

Parma! Pareve Parmesian

Parma! was created in 2004 by Shannon Schnibbe who believes plant-based products should be simple, commenting that ‘Parma! contains only a handful of ingredients — nothing you can’t pronounce!’. It is made without additives or preservatives. Parma! comes in six flavors, Original, Garlic Basil, Garlicky Green, Jalapeńo Bacon, Chipotle Cayenne, and Better Than Bacon, each containing only a handful of ingredients. Its taste is distinctive, and it is a pareve, gluten-free, soy-free, superfood. Garlic Basil and Jalapeńo Bacon are nut free.

Parma!’s signature cheesy umami taste comes from a combination of nuts, seeds, and nutritional yeast. The nutritional yeast is cultured, pasteurized, and dried to kill the live yeast, a process that makes it nutrient dense. They include raw walnuts, which are a good source of Omega 3, and hemp seeds, another good source of Omega 3 and 6.

One tablespoon, 6 grams of Chipotle Cayenne Parma! contains 90% of the Daily Value (DV) of thiamine, 80% of DV of riboflavin, 60% of vitamin B6 and 40% of vitamin B12, and contains 2 grams of protein. Each serving is 30 calories.

What’s on the label? Chipotle Cayenne lists nutritional yeast, sunflower seeds, walnuts, ground chipotle pepper, Himalayan crystal salt, hemp seeds, onion powder, and cayenne pepper. While the ingredients differ slightly the health profile remains the same. For example, Better Than Bacon includes paprika, dried onion, brown sugar, and smoked salt. Garlicky Green – (which is our favorite) includes pumpkin seeds, garlic kelp, basil, and oregano.

Parma! is sold under the Sister River Foods brand which is devoted to the health of self and planet and compassion. The name was inspired by the Native American story, “The Earth is Our Mother”, and reflects Schnibbe’s unrelenting focus on creating a world that works for everyone with grace and ease.

We enjoyed the freedom to sprinkle this faux-cheese topping on chili, soups, and salads. The taste profile was subtle and satisfying.

Parma! can be purchased online or you can find them at a local store.

Perfectly Pareve

These products provide healthier vegan-friendly alternatives. They introduce kosher consumers to taste combinations associated with the non-kosher world, making them appropriate for the adventurous kosher cook. Equally important, they address the need of the lactose-intolerant population in a healthful way that does not compromise on taste or quality. It shows how ingenuity and experimentation can produce taste profiles that may be healthier than the original products.

Initially, it felt wrong to include Parma! as a condiment on the table, but over time, we have grown accustomed to the unique flavor, and bright colors as a welcome garnish. As for 7th Heaven, these chocolates make the perfect end for any meal, rich and satisfying.