You see, decent vegan cheese is very hard to come by. In fact, the lack of good dairy free cheese was why it took me two years to transition to veganism - I'm a lifelong cheese lover (still waiting that decent Brie substitute). Not that long ago I got an e-mail from Gozo Deli who noticed the lack of vegan cheese on my vegan cheese board and offered to send me across a few of their cream cheeses created from chashew nuts to add to the collection.
Cream cheese is exactly the kind of cheese that is required on a cheese board, especially cream cheese with random flavours. Gozo have handcrafted four flavours of their chasheese: pesto, smoked parprika, French herb and chive. As you can see my cheese board contains three of the varieties (the crackers are Tesco own brand if anyone is wondering, which is probably nobody) and I am very happy to report that they are all delicious.
Soya makes me feel funky, so the fact that Gozo use cashew nuts as their base is a major plus point for me (and my digestive system). I also just think chashew nuts just taste better than soya. The texture is very creamy, but easy to spread all the same. On top of that the flavours are just at that perfect balance and honestly I think these are better than some of the dairy cream cheeses I used to eat. The cheeses all have a very strong savoury palate to them - which I love 'cause I'm a massive savoury girl - bring me some crisps and chashew cheese over a chocolate bar any day - and it makes a massive difference from the cream cheeses on the market with sweeteners (I haven't had Philadelphia in a long time - shockingly enough - but I seem to remember it having a very sweet taste? These chashew cheeses taste a world apart).
Cream cheese is exactly the kind of cheese that is required on a cheese board, especially cream cheese with random flavours. Gozo have handcrafted four flavours of their chasheese: pesto, smoked parprika, French herb and chive. As you can see my cheese board contains three of the varieties (the crackers are Tesco own brand if anyone is wondering, which is probably nobody) and I am very happy to report that they are all delicious.
Soya makes me feel funky, so the fact that Gozo use cashew nuts as their base is a major plus point for me (and my digestive system). I also just think chashew nuts just taste better than soya. The texture is very creamy, but easy to spread all the same. On top of that the flavours are just at that perfect balance and honestly I think these are better than some of the dairy cream cheeses I used to eat. The cheeses all have a very strong savoury palate to them - which I love 'cause I'm a massive savoury girl - bring me some crisps and chashew cheese over a chocolate bar any day - and it makes a massive difference from the cream cheeses on the market with sweeteners (I haven't had Philadelphia in a long time - shockingly enough - but I seem to remember it having a very sweet taste? These chashew cheeses taste a world apart).
Gozo Cheese was founded in 2014 by Lydia Davidson who, like me, wasn't really feeling the soya-based cheeses on the market and decided to #girlboss it up and create her own. Also passionate about plant-based living and sustainability, all these cheeses are organic, additive-free, natural, dairy and gluten-free. Also aiming for a high-quality product, her range falls into the gourmet category and is available in Harrods, and health-food stores across London (if you live outside of London you can still order the cheeses off their website).
Aside from eating them on crackers I also used then pesto tub to create a pesto and spinach pasta dish, which was just as lovely.
Versatile, savoury and high-quality: if you're not feeling a lot of the cheaper soya cheese on the market and you're looking to impress with your cheese board, you should definitely
Versatile, savoury and high-quality: if you're not feeling a lot of the cheaper soya cheese on the market and you're looking to impress with your cheese board, you should definitely
