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).

Redwood: Super Melting Mozzarella Slices

I thought after that appalling review for Tesco's medium soya cheese I should try and recommend a good cheese alternative. So far the best one I've come across is Redwood's Super Melting Mozzarella Slices. I'm basing this review on a few uses when the slices have been cooked, and just making pizza or pizza bread. I say that because when it's raw from the fridge it's not very dense and its quite brittle. I also haven't tried it raw, but I did smell it and it didn't smell bad. In fact not really much odor at all.

Anyway, cooked slices on a pizza it's really good. They do melt, but I would recommend using an oven and not a microwave as it seems to respond better to that kind cooking. At first they'll start to glisten, like you can see moisture or fat coming out, then they melt and then it starts to golden. Taste wise, I think it taste's a bit more like mild cheddar than mozzarella. But unlike many vegan products that try to taste like some kind of animal product and fall short, I think on a blind taste taste this one might be able to fool people. The texture is also more like cheddar than mozzarella, because it's not stringy at all, you can cut right through it. Perhaps they should change the name, or maybe should try their cheddar version first.

4/5
*updated 30/08/14 - changing rating to a 4 because it's not stringy and has room for improvement.