“But how do you live without cheese?”

That’s one of the first questions vegans are asked, usually by a well-meaning relative hovering over the Brie at a family function. (Followup questions often revolve around protein intake or bacon.)

At one time, vegans mostly had to accept a post-cheese world unless they were into bland, grey sludge or chalky bricks of questionable origin. Pizza was out of the question, the cheese plate a sad reminder of renounced indulgences.

These days, a vegan cheese board might include cheese curds or onion and dill cheese spread from Ladyship Vegan, or Sriracha jalapeno soft cheese from Culcherd, both made in Toronto.

Some flavours get even fancier: Kira Lancaster, founder of the Secret Vegan Cheese Club, makes a stinky Camembert from hemp seeds, a sharp cheddar with kimchi made from sunflower seeds, and a halloumi from lupini beans, which can stand on their own as vegan and not as imitations, she says.

“It’s taken a winding road to get there, but it finally has a place on the cheese plate, and it’s interesting and delicious and satisfying but doesn’t need to be a foolproof version of any particular cheese,” says Lancaster, who gave up dairy reluctantly when she was 10 for health reasons but now follows a vegan diet. She started making and selling vegan cheese for family and friends, omnivores and vegans alike.

“People love cheese, so we do definitely want to imitate the experience but we don’t need it to be an exact dead ringer anymore.”

She began experimenting seriously after obtaining a copy of Miyoko Schinner’s 2012 seminal how-to book, Artisan Vegan Cheese, and her club is not so secret anymore: it’s expanded to become what Lancaster calls a “micro business.”

With the explosion in popularity of “plant-based diets” and a loosening of some vegan strictures, as well as a wildly increased interest in fermented and cultured foods, vegan cheese is making a promising mainstream debut, accessible for home cooks as well as chefs.

Today it’s considered normal, at least in some circles, to have a kombucha starter or two in the fridge and homemade preserves and pickles in the cupboard. The DIY trend is even extending to vegan cheese.

“As plant-based and vegan eating and lifestyle choices in general have moved from the periphery of most cultures to the mainstream of many, especially in some of North America and Western Europe, forsaking cheese is often seen as the last barrier to overcome,” writes Vancouver’s Karen McAthy in the introduction to Plant-Based Cheesemaking: How to Craft Real, Cultured Non-Dairy Cheese, released in April.

“Cheese and cheesemaking are inherently involved in an ongoing evolution, and the latest area of development is the pursuit of plant-based, dairy-free alternatives.”

(According to Canadian regulations, cheese is a dairy product made from the milk of an animal, and vegan alternatives are often labelled with quotes — “cheese” — or spelled cheeze.)

Standards and expectations for non-dairy cheese have been raised, says Toronto chef Emily Zimmerman, who calls herself a “polite vegan”; that is, one who will eat pie for dessert if someone’s mom offers it.

She teaches vegan cheese-making at The Depanneur, a community food hub. The beginner workshops are offered every few months and routinely sell out, she says. Zimmerman’s experimentation started with a vegan supper club and pop-up dinners, where she would often get requests for her tofu-based “feta” and quick cheeze sauce recipes.

With more omnivores entertaining the idea of occasional plant-based dining, companies are competing for more taste buds, upping the ante on taste and texture, she adds.

“We’re moving away from the idea of vegan food being necessarily ascetic, where you’re depriving yourself deliberately and getting a moral thrill out of that,” Zimmerman says. “There’s a movement within veganism that it’s OK to really like and enjoy and indulge in good food. So now people want to learn how to make it.”

May Brand of Ladyship Vegan also started her company out of a desire to have better options for her friends and family. She says non-dairy cheesemaking can be intimidating for the novice because it includes ingredients such as agar and tapioca starch that may be unfamiliar to home cooks, on top of processes such as brining and culturing that might seem foreign and can take weeks.

But the process is really about going back to basics of cheesemaking: some form of milk, whether plant or animal, that’s fermented and aged with different bacteria to produce different flavours.

“We’re just adding new thinking to old techniques,” says Brand, a “hardcore vegan” for a decade. “If you can follow a recipe and you’re adventurous, it’s really no different from baking.”

Semi-soft cheeze

If fermentation and culturing seem mysterious, just remember that wine, beer, some pickles and sourdough bread are the result of fermentation. The process mostly refers to the addition of bacteria that produces lactic acid to a combination of ingredients to change the food from raw to preserved. Culturing is similar but in the context of cheese-making, also implies the involvement of a controlled intervention, such as aging and proper storage, according to McAthy.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Not all cheeses require culturing and aging, however. Novice vegan cheesemakers can make simple, semi-soft cheeses that are ready to eat within a few hours. Karen McAthy’s book explains how to make your own rejuvelac by fermentating sprouted wheat berries or other grains. But this recipe makes a quick cheeze, which relies on added ingredients such as nutritional yeast and agar, rather than a bacterial culture and aging time, to replicate that cheesy flavour and texture. Agar needs careful temperature monitoring using a candy thermometer, as it requires heating to 85 C (185 F) for at least five minutes to become activated. If you prefer a less salty cheese, reduce the salt to 2 tsp (10 mL).

2 cups (500 mL) raw cashews

2/3 cup (160 mL) nutritional yeast

3 tsp (15 mL) salt

1/2 cup (125 mL) lemon juice

1 cup (250 mL) full-fat coconut milk

2 tbsp (30 mL) tapioca starch

2 tsp (10 mL) powdered agar

1-1/2 cup (375 mL) water

Soak cashews in water at least one hour. Meanwhile, layer ramekins, springform pans or other moulds with enough cheesecloth to drape over sides. Drain cashews.

Add cashews, nutritional yeast, salt, lemon juice and coconut milk in a high-powered blender or food processor. Blend until very smooth, scraping the sides of the blender or food processor bowl as necessary, until no graininess remains, about 8-10 minutes.

In a medium heavy-bottom saucepan, add blended mixture. Add water and whisk until thoroughly combined. Turn heat to low, stirring frequently with whisk or wooden spoon. Add tapioca and agar, stirring until combined. Gradually increase heat to medium, continuing to stir frequently. As texture becomes smooth and glossy, increase heat to medium-high and monitor carefully. Once temperature reaches 85 C (185 F) monitor while stirring for at least five minutes. Mixture should simmer but not boil rapidly. Mixture will become difficult to stir and start to pull away from saucepan sides. Remove from heat.

Pour mixture into moulds, spreading smoothly. Allow mixture to cool and firm up on counter until room temperature, about 3 hours. Cover cheese with cheesecloth and refrigerate overnight. Do not cover with plastic or lids.

Remove cheeze from moulds. Change covering with fresh cheesecloth. Store several days in refrigerator on wood or bamboo board, flipping daily. Serve on bread, pizza, baked potato, or torn into chunks on salads.

Makes 3 medium rounds.