Dairy-free cheese slices from Greece, via German firm Veganic. The cheese has just launched in the UK, along with a grated pizza cheese bearing the Veganic name. The Violife slices are produced by Viotros, a specialist cheese producer that makes dairy as well as non-dairy cheeses. The Violife cheese slices are Vegan approved and come in packs of ten slices. Could this new cheese finally mark the arrival of a vegan cheese worthy of the name?
The Veganic pizza cheese that launched with this Violife cheese will be the subject of a separate review... as part of our melting-cheese Taste Test (coming soon).
What's amazing about this Violife cheese is its uncanny likeness to dairy cheese in several respects. The colour is a soft buttery yellow and looks far more like cheese than anything we've tried before. The smell of the cheese is the most convincing thing though... this smells like cheddar cheese... really really like cheddar cheese.
The taste is a little bland, but still very good. The flavour is far better than any other vegan cheese on the UK market. The one thing we found less cheese-like was the texture, which is more like processed cheese than anything else. It could probably pass for gouda or emmental, but not a hard british cheese.
We gave some of this cheese to a vegetarian (one who normally hates vegan cheese) and they thought it was really convincing and could pass for dairy cheese.
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| Vegan Cheeseburger - with very convincing vegan cheese |
Of course the real challenge for any cheese is meltability. We've tested lots of vegan cheeses and many of them require excess heat to melt. Most vegan cheeses won't melt at oven temperatures normally used for home cooking and need really hot ovens or direct heat from a grill (broiler). The Violife cheese is different, and melts at lower temperatures... it even softens when placed on top of a burger in a frying pan.
We're hugely impressed with Violife cheese and we'd like to see it make inroads in the UK market. Frankly, it's better than anything UK producers have come up with so far and deserves to become the first choice for vegan cheese.
We're awarding Violife our first 5 stars for a vegan cheese. That doesn't mean it's perfect but it's a big leap forward for vegan cheese.
For stockists, please see the Veganic UK website: veganicfoods.co.uk
One more thing: Hurray for frustration-free packaging. This cheese comes in a packet where you peel back the top, take a slice, then the top sticks back down again.... it's as brilliant as the cheese.
Verdict: Champion Cheese
Veganoo Score: ★★★★★
Viotros Violife Original (vegan cheese)
Viotros Violife Original (vegan cheese)
Footnote: Ingredients
Here is the ingredients panel from the pack we reviewed.
Oooh these look great, I have just turned vegan and cheese is something I really miss. Havent been able to find a cheddar alternative that I like, but this looks promising! Can't wait for your review on the pizza cheese!
ReplyDeleteCheese is something we all seem to miss initially, something to do with a chemical in dairy that's addictive, to make sure ickle baby cows don't spit it out.
DeleteI'd advise waiting a while before trying vegan cheese though - so you don't instantly compare it to "the real deal" so to speak.
I've been looking at this substitute for a while at my local Morrison's - I really should take the plunge.
It's available through our shop Vx and webshop www.vegancross.com
ReplyDeleteToo bad it seems to be Vegourmet rebadged (ingredients the same) which has been around in the UK for over a year (I reviewed last April).
ReplyDeleteOn an unrelated note, veganicfoods.co.uk is registered in Germany.
Yep, we spotted that too - exactly the same as Vegourmet Jeezini, which we're also about to review...
ReplyDeleteI tried the sliced one last night. I loved it on veggie burger and on crispbread. I thought it was brilliant. My wife was less impressed. But she still eats dairy cheese so would be harder to please.
ReplyDeleteI also have tried their 'parmesan' prosociano, which worked nicely in small amounts but tastes a bit too sock like to really endorse 100%.
Yes, Pro-socks-iano! ;-)
DeleteI hear it's an awesome product. I haven't been able to find it yet but I have high hopes! The only downer to this great product is that it's made by a dairy producer, so really by buying it we are still contributing to cruelty of that industry? :(
ReplyDelete