Food Battle: the Toastie

The other I decided I really wanted a cheese toastie so I went and bought a toastie maker... but wasn't happy with the cheese I used. In the fridge I had the cheddar style slices by Violife. These are nice and I eat them uncooked in sandwiches, or on top of a burger. This is because they have a firm texture and non-offensive mild taste - sort of like a posh american style cheese slice or a cheap cheddar. However...in a toastie it wasn't that great, the cheese melts (which I suppose is a good thing) but it turns into a thick orange liquid, like nacho cheese, rather than any kind of dairy cheddar... not stringy or firm as it should be. And the texture had a kind of slimy feel. I did manage to eat it all, but this is likely due to having sausages in it too, because I really wasn't that impressed with the cheese. Put it this way, I won't be making it in a toastie again. So I bought a couple of different cheeses to try. I got one that I've had before and liked which is Cheezly White Cheddar Style, and Violife for Pizza. I decided on getting another Violife one because I had only ever had their Cheddar slices and thought it might be different; looking at the picture on the packet it looks like mmozzarella.. it's pale and the lifted pizza slice is stringy! What followed was much disappointment...

I folded a slice of bread to make a tester of each cheese, as you can see from the picture at the end (the Violife one is on the left). I tested it against the Cheezly as I knew I liked the Cheezly one (though it's not perfect) and didn't want to do it from memory as I haven't had it in ages. The Cheezly one was good. Not stringy but the flavour was alright and nothing really bad about it (some people say it's a bit chalky, but this is more when it's uncooked). The Violife one? Nothing like the packet... it went into a yellow liquid, that picture on the front can't be right! I will try using it again on a pizza... just to see if maybe it needs to cooked with ventilation but I'm not holding my breath. It was maybe a bit better than their other one, but it had the same slimy texture... like PVA glue. So yeah, I'm still holding out for a decent vegan cheese that has some stringy-ness, be it like a cheddar style or a mozzarella style. If you have any suggestions please let me know in the comments! Many vegan cheeses I've bought don't get finished because I don't like them, so I'm hesitant about wasting money/food, especially as I don't like strong cheese smells or flavours.

For toasties only - I'm giving Violife 2/5, and Cheezly 4/5. (But remember I still like Violife uncooked).

Sainsbury's: Tomato Pasta Pots

I bought a few different pasta pots from Sainsbury's the other day knowing full well they might be quite dissapointing. But - I wanted to see if there was any real difference in how they tasted. I think there are 3 different types of pot, the two pictured are the midrange 'Tomato & Basil Pasta 550g' and basic 'Tomato & Herb Pasta 400g'. I also had a roasted vegetable one which was pretty much the same and I think only 300g but the same price as the 550.
The common problem they all share is that the sauce is quite acidic, and by quite I mean very. The 550g pot was my least favourite, and I was really hungry when I ate it too which usually makes me less fussy. I did eat them all but disappointment was in the air. It wasn't nice and tomatoey just very sharp and acidic. I think the only reason I finished it was because I was so hungry. The other two pots were less bad, but they tasted like they were trying to cover up the acidic taste with garlic and some other bitter taste. Not surprisingly the sauce in the more expensive 300g pot tasted the best but only just. It had a rich flavour but was very strong in the garlic and acid department too. The basics pot was OK, at first it tastes alright and then once you've swallowed you start getting this acid aftertaste. It's just weird - it smells normal but why make them all so acidic. I can only think its the shelf life. Don't get me wrong I might buy one again if I wanted some pasta for lunch, but you'd want something else too. Half marks I think 2.5/5 (decimals over fractions I know...)

Tesco: Free From Creamy Original Spread

So, reviewing another free from cheese from Tesco. Maybe this one will be my last. Tesco have a few varieties of this cream cheese creation, there's a garlic and herb one, something else and plain. I went for the plain this time. Now texture wise, quite good, compared to some kind of non-vegan cheese the colour is more matte. I'm not sure that's relevant though, flavour is. It's not for me, I had one bite on some nice baguette and I wished I hadn't. I didn't spit it out like that medium cheddar, like it wasn't making me wretch, but still not nice for me. Cream cheese is probably hard to make vegan, although Le Sojami's seemed quite alright, perhaps I need to try their plain there version. To me, I don't like it partly because it doesn't taste like cream cheese, but mainly the flavour is too strong, and it's the wrong flavour to begin with. I couldn't eat it on it's own, and with bread I'd rather just eat bread. 2/5

Provamel: Organic Soya Strawberry Flavour

Not much to say in this review. I had this the other day, and it was ok. The milk is thin like you would expect and as it's soya you can taste the soya. The strawberry flavour isn't that strong, it's there but not intensely sweet (which I'm not saying is a bad thing). So I would have given 3/5, but towards the end the straw sucked up some yoghurt material. I did shake it quite well beforehand, and it had 6 months left on the date. So it was an unpleasant surprise and I had to spit it out. It was a bit like a skin. So I would have to give it 2/5 now as I'm not sure I would buy it again.