We all listened to our share of alternative rock in 2002. Don’t even lie; we all know you rocked out to Green Day in your car and memorized every Bowling for Soup song. Well now 2016 is here, and it is the era of alternative cheese.
According to the National Institute of Health, 30 million to 50 million American adults are lactose intolerant. USA Today published the following back in 2009. “Somewhat less than 40 percent of people in the world retain the ability to digest lactose after childhood. Being able to digest milk is so strange that scientists say we shouldn’t really call lactose intolerance a disease, because that presumes it’s abnormal. Instead they call it lactase persistence, indicating what’s really weird is the ability to continue to drink milk.”
All well and good that a scientist is validating my stomachache, but most of us grew up eating grilled cheese sandwiches when it rained, and Kraft mac and cheese for just about any occasion, or if we were lucky, our southern granny’s homemade baked macaroni bubbling with American cheese, a hint of cheddar and a whole lot of pepper. Cheese and apples were the “healthy” childhood snack. Cheese is a comfort food, and appreciation of cheese paired with wine one of the joys of adulthood.
So what’s the alternative to indigestible dairy cheese? Terrible vegan cheese comprised mostly of tapioca starch and other random ingredients almost as terrible for your stomach as dairy cheese? Thankfully not: a plethora of cheeses made of cashews, almonds, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, hemp, coconut milk and tofu now exist on the shelves of your local market or can easily be ordered online. Here are nine of our favorites.
Treeline
Herb-Garlic French-Style Soft Cheese
Artisan-made in the Hudson Valley, this cashew cheese is very accessible. It is sold in over 600 stores, including supermarket chains like Whole Foods and Lassens. Do you want to spread creamy soft savory cheese on your Triscuits while you watch the premiere of the newest Shonda show starring a kickass redhead and that hot guy from Dirty Sexy Money? Yeah, I thought so. This probiotic, raw, cholesterol-free, delicious and tangy cheese is what you want.
Riverdel
“Billy” Truffle
This goat cheese inspired Brooklyn-made soft cashew cheese is very sweet with no bite. And that’s a good thing. Slip this in your croissant with just a hint of lemon curd and you’ll think you just had the best cheese danish of your life.
Avellana
Handcrafted Vegan Hazelnut Cheese
Avellana is Spanish for hazelnut, and made of hazelnut and hemp, this cheese is a unique flavor in a sea of cashew. Created with organic hazelnuts and hemp seeds grown in the Pacific Northwest and using age-old traditional cheese-making methods, this cheese is made from actual nut and seed milk instead of nut pastes that are used in many vegan cheeses. The result is a cheese with a lush, silky-rich, cultured taste. If you’ve ever put hemp milk in your coffee and liked it, you’ll understand the creamy weight carrying this cheese.
Chao
Coconut Herb
Cayenne Herb