There are currently two main types of vegan cheese: products intended for everyday eating - like Angel Food’s range - are made from a combination of starches and vegetable oils.

The starches can be from various vegetable ingredients such as corn, potato, pea or tapioca.

They’re not the same as the corn starch you might buy at the supermarket (this is known as ‘native’ starch) - these ingredients are processed in very precise ways so that they perform certain functions.

See Also: Alternative for Dairy-Free Cream Cheese

It is not easy making a replica of a dairy product without using any dairy ingredients, or any other animal ingredients!

The casein in dairy milk is particularly challenging to replace. Casein is the milk protein which delivers the stretch in dairy cheese.

There are various companies around the world - including in Aotearoa New Zealand - which are working on creating animal-free casein to make plant-based cheeses more authentic. At the time of writing, these products are not yet available on the market.

There are also gourmet or artisan vegan cheeses which are based on nuts or seeds. These products are cultured and fermented, in a similar way to artisan dairy cheeses.

See Also: Alternative Dairy-Free Grated Cheese

None of these vegan cheeses taste exactly like dairy cheese, but unlike dairy cheese which people have been making for thousands of years, this is a very new field of endeavour.

Every year new techniques and new ingredients are discovered, and every year vegan cheeses take another delicious step forward.