Review: Nutcrafter Creamery Cheese


More cashew based vegan cheese, this time from the Glasgow artisan producer Nutcrafter Creamery. We recently reviewed Tyne Chease and thought it would be a good idea to compare it to the competition from north of the border.


We bought three varieties, the Aged Gomasio and the Scottish Dulse which are both hard cheeses, plus the Double Cream Frawmage, which is a cream cheese. All of these are cashew cheeses, although the company also make almond cheeses.

Nutcrafter Creamery vegan cashew cheese

The hard cheeses are handsome rounds, small but perfectly formed, and arriving in recyclable aluminium containers. The presentation is excellent, although we struggled to get the cheeses out of the tins!


The Aged Gomasio is a deep orange colour from 'achiote tree annatto'. Gomasio is a Japanese dry condiment, similar to furikake, made from unhulled sesame seeds and salt. The flavour has a hint of the smokiness of toasted sesame oil but also has a satisfying umami cheese flavour. 


Nutcrafter Creamery Aged Gomasio Cheese

This Gomasio cheese is unlike anything we've ever had, and unlike any dairy cheese we know, but is a brilliantly new and delicious take on 'cheese'. The cheese doesn't have the lemon acidity or tangy high notes of other cashew cheeses (including the Tyne Chease range), but rather a deeper more mature flavour. You can certainly enjoy this one as as simple cracker topping, but the punchy flavour also works in cooking too.


The Scottish Dulse is also an aged cheese. It's softer and paler and looks a bit like gorgonzola with its deep purple veins of north atlantic dulse. This cheese is another curveball, in that it doesn't try to replicate a dairy cheese (except in appearance), but sets a bold new standard. 


This cheese is fruity, sweet and almost floral. It's slightly more pastey than the Gomasio cheese - more readily identifiable as a cashew nut cheese, but none the worse for it. The cheese is more acidic than the Gomasio, but stops short of being tangy.


The Double Cream Frawmage is a soft cream cheese that comes in a glass jar. It's spreadable, smooth and distinctly creamy. This cheese is sharp and tangy, which we didn't really like. We'd have preferred a more delicate flavour that's a little less in your face. Don't let us put you off trying it for yourself though.


None of these cheeses melt, but that doesn't mean they're off limits for hot food and in cooking. One simple way we enjoyed the Gomasio was added to a baked potato, although you'll also need a creamy cheese or some dressing, otherwise the whole thing is too dry (we used CreamyRisella rather than the Frawmage).



Round Up


Nutcrafter Creamery is one of the new breed of artisan vegan cheese makers in the UK, and they're ploughing their own flavour furrow. The cashew cheese idea is now a familiar one, but the execution here is great, and the flavours are innovative and exciting.

Whether you're a Nutcrafter fan, a Tyne Chease aficionado or prefer to culture your own nut cheeses, it's great to have all these dairy-free options alongside the commercial vegan cheeses.

You can buy Nutcrafter Creamery cheese from their website:
https://www.nutcrafter.co.uk/collections/all

If you're in Scotland, you'll find local stockists in Glasgow and Edinburgh:
https://www.nutcrafter.co.uk/pages/wholesale


Veganoo Score: ★★★
Nutcrafter Creamery - Cashew Cheese
~
The Good: Excellent textures and flavours in the hard cheeses
The Not-so-Good: Frawmage too strong for cream cheese


Footnote: Ingredients
Here are the ingredients panels from the packs we reviewed.

Aged Gomasio
Ingredients: Organic raw cashew nuts, acidophilus culture, achiote tree annatto, sesame seeds, nutritional yeast, filtered water, Himalayan pink salt.

Scottish Dulse
Ingredients: Organic raw cashew nuts, Organic Scottish dulse, acidophilus culture, filtered water, Himalayan pink salt.

Double Cream Frawmage
Ingredients: Organic activated raw cashew nuts, acidophilus cultures, Himalayan rock salt.









Web: veganoo.net   Twitter: @veganoo   Facebook: fb.com/veganoo.net   Flickr: veganoo


Vegan Blog · Vegan Product Reviews · Vegan Food Reviews · Vegan News · Vegetarian

4 comments:

  1. Do you think people who eat dairy cheese will enjoy these, since you say they aren't reminiscent of dairy cheese? I know that's kind of a difficult question.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tough to say. I think that vegans will approach these with an open mind, but the fact they're presented as cheeses may influence omnivores into thinking they're like dairy cheeses, with inevitable disappointment...

      Delete
    2. I was a cheese snob before going vegan and I'd say any omnivore likes the french artisan goat cheeses will like these.

      Delete
  2. I tried their cashew basil pesto recently and I didn't like it. I thought it was way too bland. Gozo Deli's cashew basil pesto is amazing but they took them off the shelves recently!! :( Any other recommendations?

    ReplyDelete

We love to hear from you! Links to other vegan or related sites are welcome in the comments.

ANONYMOUS COMMENTS ARE CURRENTLY TURNED OFF DUE TO THE AMOUNT OF SPAM WE'RE GETTING.