Daiya Vegan Cheese

In case you haven’t heard, Daiya Cheese is here in Edmonton. You can pick it up at Earth’s General Store (on 82 ave and 96 st.) The new location is right before the bridge over Mill Creek ravine. When I went in it was $17/kg (which, I believe makes it the cheapest vegan cheese in the city, and on par with reg. cheese pricing.) I’ve also heard there will be new packaging soon, so it may be available in other stores. (But I think I’ll stick with Earth’s General Store for my Daiya needs. I love them.)

I picked some up on Thursday, and the first thing I did when I got home was make nacho’s. I sliced up a tomato, an onion, some olives, and sprinkled some “cheddar” and some “mozzarella” on top, threw it in the microwave, and made fresh and spicy Pico de Gallo to go with it. It was yummy as expected. It really melts!

I first tried Daiya back in November or December from Food Fight Grocery in Portland and I was really amused to find out that Daiya was actually produced in British Columbia, Canada, but was available south before it was available east of there.

The most important thing about this cheese, at least to me (beyond the fact it doesn’t have animal products in it), is that my parents LOVE it, and omnivorous friends have also been very positive.

It’s so close to the real thing that I think it might have some serious potential to sway some of the folks that say “Oh I can’t be vegan, I just can’t give up cheese.”