I have been eating a mainly plant-based diet for a couple of years now and one thing I have found is that cheese is not easily replicated without dairy. Many who have tried vegan pizzas or toasties will know that vegan "cheese" often has a strange plasticky texture that sticks to the top of your mouth when it is melted and personally, I think some of the vegan cheese alternatives out there are vile.
Having been burned before, I usually stay away from these often disappointing alternatives but I used to love cheesy comfort foods like lasagnes, mac & cheese and toasties. It must be said that a life without cheese can be bleak sometimes. So when I heard that Cathedral City, the cheddar giants who dominate dairy aisles in the UK, were bringing out a new plant-based range I decided to give it a shot and get my hands on a slice of their new vegan offering.
Earlier this year, major fast food names like McDonald's and KFC added vegan items to their menus such as the McPlant burger and KFC's vegan nuggets. In the past couple of years food giants like Richmond have even created whole vegan ranges of meat alternatives including sausages, bacon and mince. So why has it taken Cathedral City so long to come up with a plant-based block of cheese and some grated and sliced counterparts?
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Perhaps it was because they needed to really nail down the recipe with such a big cheesy reputation on the line, or maybe they are jumping on the vegan bandwagon now alternatives have become more popular. Either way, there has been a lot of excitement about their new range which includes three types of plant-based "cheese" including a 280g Block (£3.60), 150g of sliced "cheese" for sandwiches (£2.30) and a 150g pouch of grated "cheese". They launched on Monday, September 12 in Tesco and today I set out on a mission to track them down.
I had heard of people's difficulties trying to get hold of the new Cathedral City range and my first trip to the big Tesco Extra in Llansamlet, Swansea, proved unsuccessful. Powering on, I went to Neath Abbey Tesco Extra in the next town over and to my delight the shelves still had a few of the sliced plant-based options on them, although there was not many left and the rest of the range had sold out completely.
Once I got home, it was time to put this new kid on the block to the test. I turned on my grill, as a vegan cheese is nothing if it does not taste good melted, and took a bite while the oven heated up. On first impressions, the cheese smelt a bit stronger than usual cheese alternatives like Violife but it was not too overpowering.
The texture was what really impressed me - it tasted smooth but crumbly at the same time which is very rare for a vegan alternative. Once I chucked it on a slice of bread and popped it under the grill, it started to melt really nicely and did not take ages like other vegan cheeses which I sometimes have to put in the microwave to melt as they take so long under the grill. Although the plant-based alternative is coconut oil-based which can be a deal breaker for some, it does not taste at all like coconut.
The cheese even bubbled slowly on top of the bread like dairy cheese would. So, what is my verdict? If you are someone who eats standard cheese made from cow's milk, you probably will not be that impressed with it. It still tastes like vegan cheese which is just not the same. But as someone who has tried the very worst of what is on offer in the vegan cheese world and tries to avoid most dairy products, I would confidently say this is the best yet and it has added calcium too which is a plus. Although there is always controversy when dairy or meat giants such as Cathedral City and Richmond cash in on the vegan market, it is encouraging that better options are out there for those who want to eat more plant-based products.
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