I have covered a lot of vegan products on my site. I am not vegan but I have family who is vegan and I like to make sure to try and expand my choices as much as I can. Before I get into this I need to explain. I am not the biggest cheese fan. I am a mozzarella kinda girl. I try an avoid dairy when I can due to ongoing stomach problems including IBS. I am also allergic to Soya.
So when Violife Offered to let me review their products I was very willing and able to try them. So I decided to do a taste test with my cheese-loving husband to see what we both think about Violife's different cheese products.
First about Violife
Violife is 100% vegan an award-winning alternative to cheese. It is plant-based It is also free from dairy preservatives, casein, lactose, gluten, nuts and Soya. It is made with coconut oil and is fortified with vitamin B12 we all know how important B12 is right so I don't need to go into that.
Violife has a massive range of noncheese cheese options.
My mini-review. Unfortunately, I had a camera malfunction and lost my photos. The one time I don't just use my phone lesson learnt there.
First, you need to go into vegan cheese without the expectation of dairy cheese it is a different thing.
Smoky Cheddar Flavour Slices This is where we started our Violife journey. With the smokey chedder-flavoured slices. Now, these tasted better than normally smoked cheddar. I used these in a panini with some pickles. The cheese has a different consistency than normal cheddar so bear that in mind. But the taste to me is better and I will buy these ones again.
Epic Mature cheddar flavour Block This to me smells like actual cheddar. It is lighter in colour yes but it does smell the same to be. It can be used in the same way you would with a normal cheddar. I found it softer than normal cheddar to cut and it melted differently when I made a toasty with it. Not in a bad way just a little harder to melt I would say. It had a strong chedder-like taste in my opinion.
Le Rond Camembert Flavour This was the one my husband was most excited about as he loves Camembert. This comes with a booklet on how to use it. But we just baked it in the oven like we would with dairy Camembert. It took around 6 minutes to fully get gooey. We tried this with bread to dip. I have to say I was more taken with this than my other half. I really liked the taste and texture of this one. It just also felt a bit fun to be included in the camembert tasting as I don't eat the dairy version. A very good alternative.
Original flavour Grated This is the most versatile cheese alternative I think we tried. You can make pizza which we did or have it with your pasta meal or sandwiches or paninis you know the drill. Where ever you would have grated cheese pop this one on instead. I found this one will brown in the oven and go a little crispy which I love. A great more neutral taste was akin to my favourite mozzarella.
Original flavour Slices If I was to be completely honest this is the one I wouldn't buy. I found this compared to the other version a little too subtle but saying that would be perfect for children's lunch sandwiches and lunch boxes. I am not sure why this one didn't excite me as much as the others but I have always promised to be honest. I would rather have the smoked version. But you can use this in place of any dairy cheese slices.
My final thoughts
I am surprised but how much I enjoyed trying all these varieties of Violife cheeses. They are all so different and unquiet and I really love that they are so inclusive. Being vegan, gluten or dairy free can be a struggle and you always feel like you are missing out on the good stuff but Violife has proved there are alternatives to dairy that are just as fun and tasty. I would buy them again and especially when my vegan relatives come to visit and I am trying to make vegan recipes.
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