You may remember that earlier this month, for Veganuary research purposes, I was a very brave girl and put vegan pizza cheese in my body. It did not set my world on fire. However, following that post, I was flooded with recommendations from long time vegans who had a favourite brand, so I felt it was my duty to delve into some of them. This is the first of those..

Sheese is heralded by almost everyone that’s recommended it as a bit of a wonder kid that tastes exactly like cream cheese. It’s a soya product that contains coconut oil, and the ingredients list is inoffensive, so I wasn’t quite as scared of this as I was of VioLife pizza cheese, but I was absolutely still scared. Let’s just dive right in, shall we..

Appearance

Let’s say challenging. If I were to squint at it, I’d be like “wow, you know that really just looks like cream cheese, good call internet I applaud you”. But if I look it right in the eye, in the stone cold light of day, I can see that it’s grey. It’s greyness unsettled me.

Spreadability

They’ve got this pretty much down. It’s a little stiffer than, say, philly, but it’s really not that far off and it’s totally spreadable. Top marks on this one, Sheese.

Taste

The most important category, obviously. Do you know what? It does not taste bad at all. It is not, unfortunately, exactly the same as herby cream cheese. To the people that recommended it to me with this promise: I love you, I don’t want to offend you at all and I’m very grateful for the top notch suggestion, but I’m guessing it’s just been a really long time since you tasted cream cheese, cause it’s not the same as the real deal. It’s really not far off though. It tastes like something that’s trying very hard to taste like cream cheese, and is really almost nearly succeeding.

Spot the difference

Cream cheese with herbs like.. for example.. Boursin, would be savoured. I’d grab a spoonful straight from the little package and let it linger on my tongue because it tastes so good. Sheese, however, regardless of it’s stellar effort, doesn’t have the same effect. I put it on a cracker, probably add a little pickle, and munch it down pretty quickly. That said, when consumed in cracker + pickle form, it really is like the real deal if you don’t pay it much attention.

So, just to be clear, because I think I sound sceptical and catty even when I’m trying not to be, I actually quite like this stuff. And I’ll be repurchasing it in a different flavour once this tub has run out too.

If you live in Brighton too and want to give this a whirl, you can get it in the back fridge at Infinity Foods.

What shall I try next?

I’m on the hunt for American-cheese-like singles for a vegan “cheese”burger, anything spring to mind? Hook me up.

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