Verena, my sister, set me off on my vegan pathway 30 years ago. Basically, I went to California to visit her and came back a vegan. She now lives in Alaska and keeps her ear to the ground about all things vegan as she knows we love our food so much. With great effort to keep the refrigerated goods cool, she brought us some wonderful vegan offerings on a recent visit. Wow, what a treat it was too.
You might have the image of Alaska as being frigid, the back of beyond, a wild expanse of wilderness, a vegan nightmare of hunting and fishing. That is what the TV series' frequently repeated over here would have us believe. This is certainly not the case in Anchorage where Verena lives. Vegan wonders abound. Cornwall may be a little bit warmer in the winter (surprisingly not always in the summer!) but it's a wilderness when it comes to experiencing the vegan wonders my sister brought us.
The first of these lovely products we sampled was the Kite Hill Cream Cheese Style Chive Spread. The ingredients list for this almond milk based cultured cheese spread is reassuringly short. The creamy delight of tangy cheese balanced beautifully against the oniony bite of chive. Spread deliciously and decadently on freshly toasted bread, the generous 8oz package stood no chance of making it to even halfway towards the 'use within 7 days of opening' date.
Next up was the Field Roast Italian Sausages; seitan and vegetable based chunky sausages with a firm, filling texture from the Seattle based Field Roast Grain Wheat Company. With such few ready made seitan options on the market in the UK, it was nice to give these a go. The full rich flavour of these Italian style sausages, which incorporates aubergine, fennel, red wine, garlic and sweet peppers, is more than satisfying served on their own as part of a meal, or they would hold their own in a hearty stew.
Miyoko's Creamery European Style Vegan Butter now came under our scrutiny. It is so good to see a palm oil free vegan butter on the market; this one being a coconut oil and cashew based cultured butter. The firm texture, which was more slice-able than spreadable, was quite unlike the usual selection available over here. It has a pleasant enough mild buttery taste, and melted delightfully on hot toast, but I actually preferred the taste of my homemade options. That said, if readily available in this country, no doubt I would buy it if I was feeling lazy enough to forego the effort of making my own. In fairness, we didn't end up cooking or baking with it either and, as it states that it 'melts, cooks, bakes and spreads like butter', I feel that this one would have the edge on mine as the virgin olive oil in mine could be overbearing in some sweet bakes.
Two more Miyoko's Creamery Products were saved until last. We had a feeling about these cheesy spreads, and this was mostly based on the fact that Miyoko is also the author of Artisan Vegan Cheese; a book I have owned and 'cooked' from for a few years now. I've had some great successes with some of the recipes, but I was more than interested to taste 'the real deal'. It didn't disappoint. These rich and creamy cashew based cultured spreads delivered a tangy sharp flavour punch that led to both of our packets; Classic Double Cream Chive and Double Cream Sun Dried Tomato Garlic, disappearing pretty swiftly once opened. We just couldn't help ourselves! These two spreads, particularly the Sun Dried Tomato one were definitely top of the list from my sister's gifts. They certainly had me reaching for the Artisan Vegan Cheese book again and, after finding the Sun Dried Tomato and Garlic recipe in there, no doubt a cheese spread making session is imminent.
Thank you Sis for sending me on the vegan pathway and also for the lovely gifts. XX
You might have the image of Alaska as being frigid, the back of beyond, a wild expanse of wilderness, a vegan nightmare of hunting and fishing. That is what the TV series' frequently repeated over here would have us believe. This is certainly not the case in Anchorage where Verena lives. Vegan wonders abound. Cornwall may be a little bit warmer in the winter (surprisingly not always in the summer!) but it's a wilderness when it comes to experiencing the vegan wonders my sister brought us.
The first of these lovely products we sampled was the Kite Hill Cream Cheese Style Chive Spread. The ingredients list for this almond milk based cultured cheese spread is reassuringly short. The creamy delight of tangy cheese balanced beautifully against the oniony bite of chive. Spread deliciously and decadently on freshly toasted bread, the generous 8oz package stood no chance of making it to even halfway towards the 'use within 7 days of opening' date.
Next up was the Field Roast Italian Sausages; seitan and vegetable based chunky sausages with a firm, filling texture from the Seattle based Field Roast Grain Wheat Company. With such few ready made seitan options on the market in the UK, it was nice to give these a go. The full rich flavour of these Italian style sausages, which incorporates aubergine, fennel, red wine, garlic and sweet peppers, is more than satisfying served on their own as part of a meal, or they would hold their own in a hearty stew.
Miyoko's Creamery European Style Vegan Butter now came under our scrutiny. It is so good to see a palm oil free vegan butter on the market; this one being a coconut oil and cashew based cultured butter. The firm texture, which was more slice-able than spreadable, was quite unlike the usual selection available over here. It has a pleasant enough mild buttery taste, and melted delightfully on hot toast, but I actually preferred the taste of my homemade options. That said, if readily available in this country, no doubt I would buy it if I was feeling lazy enough to forego the effort of making my own. In fairness, we didn't end up cooking or baking with it either and, as it states that it 'melts, cooks, bakes and spreads like butter', I feel that this one would have the edge on mine as the virgin olive oil in mine could be overbearing in some sweet bakes.
Two more Miyoko's Creamery Products were saved until last. We had a feeling about these cheesy spreads, and this was mostly based on the fact that Miyoko is also the author of Artisan Vegan Cheese; a book I have owned and 'cooked' from for a few years now. I've had some great successes with some of the recipes, but I was more than interested to taste 'the real deal'. It didn't disappoint. These rich and creamy cashew based cultured spreads delivered a tangy sharp flavour punch that led to both of our packets; Classic Double Cream Chive and Double Cream Sun Dried Tomato Garlic, disappearing pretty swiftly once opened. We just couldn't help ourselves! These two spreads, particularly the Sun Dried Tomato one were definitely top of the list from my sister's gifts. They certainly had me reaching for the Artisan Vegan Cheese book again and, after finding the Sun Dried Tomato and Garlic recipe in there, no doubt a cheese spread making session is imminent.Thank you Sis for sending me on the vegan pathway and also for the lovely gifts. XX
