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).

Food Battle: Alpro Vanilla Soya Custard VS Provamel Organic Soya Custard

I'm back with another food battle... and this time it's all gravy. Yellow custardy gravy. Well this battle is a bit more clear cut I think. One is a nice custard the other is just a bad impression of custard. Which one is which? Well this battle goes to alpro soya. Which despite being a soya product tastes really good, not too soy-ee, and more importantly just like normal custard. It's sweet, creamy, yellow, smooth, and smells nice. The Provamel one on the other hand, and I'm sad to say, is none of those things. It's quite pale, has a weird lumpy slop texture, only has a weak vanilla soya taste and just wasn't enjoyable. And I had a the whole carton in a bowl so was really trying to enjoy it, but it didn't happen. Provamel gets 2/5, Alpro gets a 4 or 5 - I'll make my mind up next time.

Food Battle: Taifun Tofu-Wiener VS Wheaty Veganwurst ToRo

I've decided to start a new comparative review called food battle which will look at two similar products by different brands. In this battle I'm comparing Taifun's Tofu-Wiener with Wheaty's Veganwurst ToRo, they are both frankfurter type sausages and come in packs of 4. Below I've included another image so you can see the size difference. I'm also basing this review on eating the products cooked (shallow fried).

The Taifun sausages are about an inch or two longer which is good, and they might need a bit less time to cook. Once cooked the inside is quite soft, with a contrasting skin that's quite crisp although not as much as the Wheaty. The flavour is a little meaty and has a more smoked flavour. As well as a soft inside it tastes a little more oily, and like I said there is more difference between the skin and the inside.

The Wheaty one is more chewy (or not mushy) and it skin is better as crisping up. The flavour I think is a bit more succulent and for me is really moorish, it's richer and a bit meatier. It's also one of those rare foods which you think you could eat any time and not get bored of it. I couldn't say the same for the Taifun one because I was getting a bit bored of it. Having said that I know someone who prefers them over the Wheaty so it may be down to personal taste (and less of clear cut winner). I enjoyed them both but the Wheaty ToRo wins this battle - but I do wish they were bigger.

*Update 30/08/14 - I have since become much more a fan of the Tofu-Weiner sausages, buying them quite a lot. I think because you can eat them raw and also I haven't seen the others for sale in a while.