Vegourmet

[Firestorm]

Vegourmet cheese is now available to order from Alternative stores, its more expensive that Vegusto, but you get 400 grams.

Has anyone tried it? Is it any good? I just ordered some Santeciano and can't wait for it to arrive!

[harpy]

What did you think of yours, Firestorm? I have tried this now (the herbal one) and I can't say I was overwhelmed but I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with vegan cheese generally.

I have ordered some of their new fake sausages now as well as I feel they may help with my ongoing Currywurst project

[Firestorm]

Sorry its taken so long to respond - on a night shift in work and my phone wouldn't let me post for some reason

It only arrived last week so I haven't opened it yet (I'm also refraining from eating any more soya cheese until my cholesterol has been checked in a few weeks!), I will be trying it shortly, but from the looks of it I will probably prefer Vegusto.

With regards to Currywurst I like to use 2 Redwoods Hotdogs, covered with 60 grams of ketchup mixed with curry powder (between 1-3tbsp depending upon house spicy I am feeling), you can get a vegan version ready made here, but I wasn't impressed when I tried it - preferred my own.

[harpy]

When I did it before I used some kind of bockwurst thing from Wholefoods which was a bit chewy (though some of the ones I've had in Germany were too). I was thinking of trying the Taifun frankfurters next. I don't think I've had the Redwood hotdogs - are they good? As well as the VeggieStuff version I have seen ones with integral curry advertised somewhere, but that doesn't seem anything like the real thing which is, as you say, sausage with ketchup and curry powder

[Firestorm]

I don't think I've had the Redwood hotdogs - are they good?

I really like them. IMO they taste far better than the rest that I have tried (I hate myself for saying this -they taste more like none vegan hot dogs do than any other brand I have tried). The texture is very good and they are quite low in saturated fat as well so I can get away with pretending they are moderately healthy.
I have also tried Viana (nice but texture wasn't great), Frys (similar texture to Redwoods but less taste) and Taifun (tried these ages ago and think they were quite good, but not as good as Redwood). You can also get mini Redwood hotdogs in their mixed selection, which could be useful for making Currywurst.

I have seen ones with integral curry advertised somewhere

Redwoods also do curry sausages, could it be these?

P.S I don't work for Redwoods, although I do sound like it. I just have a great fondness for their sausages!

I will post about Vegourmet as soon as I open it - should be quite soon.

[jj]

Ive just tried the Vegourmet Cheeses over the last week & I really like them.
The Vegusto is just getting too expensive as its just gone up again, although its nice.
Vegourmet is better value as the packs are twice the size. Its rather different, more inline of how I used to remember cheese before I went vegan.
It cooks & melts well, slightly better than the vegusto. Its also really nice in sandwiches cold. Some are great to eat as it is but most are better in something else.
The Santeciano is my favourite as a snack cheese on its own or in a sandwich but its closely followed by the Montanero as its like a Bavarian smoked cheese. This really explodes with flavour when you cook with it.
The others are all good & Im just playing about with them. Ive also tried mixing them with the fake meats from vegourment too and really enjoying some of them.

[Firestorm]

The Vegusto is just getting too expensive

You can say that again! I bought some Vegusto Piquant at the same time that I bought my Vegourmet but I have put the Vegusto away as a special Christmas treat - its too expensive to buy on a regular basis.

[Firestorm]

I just opened the Santeciano (finally), I dont really like the texture (kind of plastic) when its cold, but I melted some in the microwave and it really improves it. This is one that is definitely better melted than solid, but I have had to change my meal planner for the week to accommodate that

[BilTan]

I have just ordered and received 5 No-Moo cheeses from Vegusto - Classic, Herb, Mild Aromatic, Piquant, and Walnut. Unless they are exceptional, I cannot see me buying them again, because they are very expensive pro-rata to their size. I also bought their Mushroom & Cheese Burger, and Veggie Mince, and their prices are ridiculous for the small amount you get - I thought they must have shrunk in transit!

However, I have also just received 7 Vegourmet vegan cheeses from Alternative Stores - Bianco, Herbario, Mediteraneo, Montanero, Paradiso, Santeciano, and Volcano. I actually bought 3 Santeciano, because, from its appearance and description, it seems that it might be the best vegan replacement for my favourite vegetarian cheeses - McClelland's Mature or Extra Mature Cheddar. They are much better value for money than the Vegusto range, albeit more than 3 times the price I used to pay for McClelland's cheese ( I used to stock up when the local Tesco store had "Buy 1 Get 1 Free" offers, and on some occasions even "Buy 1 Get 2 Free" extra special offers).

The proof of the pudding will, however, be in the tasting and cooking tests, but it is likely to be a few months before I have tried all of them, because they have very good "Use By" dates, and I will not be eating anywhere near as much vegan cheese as I did vegetarian. I will try the Vegourmet Santeciano first, and see how that fares.

I think vegan cheese is at about the same stage as vegetarian cheese was when I first became a vegetarian 21 years ago. Vegetarian cheeses were very far and few between then, and the ones that were available were tasteless in comparison to dairy mature Cheddar, and also had a "rubbery" texture. However, the advent of "Mad Cow Disease" changed everything, and most UK cheese producers changed over to non-animal rennet. Now virtually all UK produced cheeses are vegetarian, and the taste and texture is at least as good as, and in most cases better, than their animal rennet based predecessors. Hopefully, vegan cheeses will improve both in taste and texture in future years, and have more appeal to others than vegans. Then, if produced in larger quantities, prices might fall to a more comparable level with vegetarian cheeses. Or am I being too optimistic?



Tried the Vegourmet Santeciano last week, but found it somewhat tasteless - very disappointed, because from its description it seemed as if it would be the one which tasted most like mature Cheddar cheese. I have not tried it melted, only in between 2 slices of toasted wholemeal bread. It has a bit of a plasticky feel on the outside, but not on the inside, and it slices easily. However, at more than treble the price I used to pay for McClelland's Mature/Extra Mature Cheddar cheese, I can't envisage buying Santeciano again.

Have just tried the Vegourmet Paradiso, and that has a lot more flavour than the Santeciano. Still has a plasticky feel on the outside, and again I have not yet tried it melted, but I definitely prefer it to Santeciano.

[Firestorm]

I have to agree about the Vegourmet - its really not great but melting it does improve it (especially in the microwave?). I think Vegusto is better, far more expensive but better.

[BilTan]

Have now tried Volcano, Montanero and Herbario, but still have Bianco and Mediteraneo to try.

Volcano has a hot, spicy taste, and, I will certainly buy it again.

The same applies to Herbario, which has a pleasant taste of herbs.

However, my favourite so far is Montanero, which has a distinctive smokey flavour. It is also more similar to cheese in its composition than the others.

Unless Bianco or Mediteraneo knock it off its perch, Montanero is the one I would most recommend.

I am going to try it in this Vegan Shepherds Pie in the near future:
http://www.animalcrackers.org.uk/recipes.htm

But before then I am going to make the Hearty Mushroom Soup, which is further down the list of recipes. It looks absolutely scrumptious. I have all the ingredients, but am just awaiting delivery of a Chefpan which I have ordered, because I do not have a large enough frying pan to make the full quantity.