Its official: The final frontier of veganism has been reached. Dairy and casein-free cheese, that illusive substance that has typically tasted like burnt plastic at best, is now just as good, if not better than the original animal product. And this time, it really melts- Not just sort of, if you coddle it and sing it sweet songs while it stews for an hour- But throw it under a broiler and it becomes gooey, creamy, and everything one could hope for in any sort of cheese. Teese, the newest kid on the “cheese”-making block, has taken the vegan world by storm, showing up in innumerable commercial restaurants and homes alike. I’m actually a bit late to this party, as you can find reviews of this stuff all over the place, but I just had to check it out for myself anyways.

Arriving in the shape of a plump sausage, wrapped up tightly in red plastic, I must admit I was a bit dubious at first. Knowing full well that it would be good after reading so many rave reviews, it was just a matter of getting past the packaging to focus on the savory goodness that lay within. Peeling back the faux casing, I was struck by how genuinely cheesy it smelled! I don’t know what else I was expecting, but it stopped me dead in my tracks, and I simply couldn’t decide what to do with it first. Not wanting to go with the pizza route since everyone and their mother had already done so, I quickly defrosted a package of puff pastry and made a similar, but different concoction.

While I may have ended up with a bit more pastry than intended, there wasn’t a single flaw with the filling. Combined with a simple dice of roasted red peppers and fresh herbs, the Teese took on a delightfully soft, gooey texture. Mild but with a good hit of salt, it was everything one might expect from your average mozzarella. Grating easily to the point of mush, I tossed the remaining brick into the freezer after this first experiment. For a more user-friendly consistency, I would suggest storing it there regardless of its final destination.

Next, I knew I would really be pushing it by going against all wisdom of working with faux cheeses: Eating it raw. Every time I tried unadulterated “cheese” products previously, my taste buds rebelled so severely that you would have thought I was eating oil-soaked rubber. Hoping that it would be different with the magical Teese, I whipped up a quick caprese salad (Note: This was before the recent tomato recall, in case you were wondering!)

Most surprising of my entire trial was how tasty this stuff was with just a drizzle of olive oil, accompanied by sliced tomatoes and basil fresh from the garden. An excellent platter to start off a meal with, even my omnivorous mom agreed that it was quite palatable! Her thoughts were that it tasted like low-fat (dairy) cheese, as it had a lighter texture, and wasn’t quite as smooth or dense. Talk about impressive!

Finally, there were ravioli, one of my childhood favorites. I cheated a bit by using wonton wrappers as the pasta, but really, it’s pretty tough to screw up when you have such an amazing filling. Just some grated tease, herbs, salt, and pepper created the innards, and I had an incredibly delicious meal in mere minutes. You could also thin it out a bit and add more protein by mashing in some tofu, but this stuff does wonders on its own. Seriously, do I even need to tell you how amazing it was?

If you’ve been holding out on buying Teese due to bad faux cheese experiences in the past, but are craving melty, irresistible cheesy decadence, what are you waiting for? Go order a pound or two of this, right now!

[Written for Go Dairy Free.]

If there were one thing that I could almost guarantee you will find in your local grocery store, no matter where in the world you reside, it would be a vegan alternative to milk. From soy to oat to hemp, the varieties are endless, and availability is at an all-time high. What you might have more difficulty finding, however, is vegan milk chocolate. No, I’m not talking about the chocolate milk you drink, I mean the real stuff, found in bars, chips, and chunks, sweeter and lighter than the jet-black dark chocolate that should be a staple of any well-stocked pantry. Why the deep roots of chocolate addiction and prevalence of milk-alternatives have yet to meet, I can’t quite understand. Luckily, there are beginning to be a few stray companies brave enough to bridge that gap, such as Terra Nostra with their Ricemilk chocolate bars.

Each glossy bar weighs 100 grams (3.5 ounces) and has 12 rectangles for “portion control,” if you care to exercise restraint.

The plain Ricemilk bar seemed like a good jumping-off point, so that’s where I began. Tearing back the silver foil, a curious milky aroma wafted out and teased my taste buds. Upon first bite, I was struck by how reminiscent of Hannukah gelt it was- Of all things! Since the gelt of my childhood was always milk chocolate, I suppose they hit the nail on the head with this one. Luckily, it doesn’t have overwhelming “dairy” notes like Hershey’s nor is it watered down due to a lesser cocoa content, so there’s no loss of flavor here. Each bite yields a nice snap, and the chocolate melts smoothly into a sweet, creamy puddle over the tongue. This is something that kids would go nuts for, as it’s far less intense than dark chocolate. Personally, one rectangle is really enough to satisfy a craving, but the sweetness becomes a bit cloying beyond that.

What I was most curious about was the Dark Truffle Center bar- Truffles are one thing and chocolate bars are another, so how successfully could they be combined? Well, I was about to find out. Due to the soft interior, this bar had no snap to speak of, but instead surrendered easily to the most gentle bites. Immediately the deep, dark chocolate of the center came through and took hold of my palate, the slightly bitter, caramelized notes shining through. Tempered by the sweet ricemilk chocolate, the combination worked very well. I imagine that the truffle center would have simply been too intense on its own. Ultimately, the only thing I can fault this bar with is the format, as I would have honestly preferred a traditional truffle shape to maximize the amount of that complex and sophisticated filling.

Sporting the same “milky” chocolate as the original bar but now sprinkled liberally with roasted nuts, the Almond bar certainly was a beauty. They weren’t shy with the almonds, and every rectangle was studded with about equal amounts of this crunchy counterpoint. Sadly, while it add a delightful extra dimension of texture, I didn’t get any almond flavor from it. They were plenty fresh and crisp, but not exactly distinctive as far as the taste went. I would still make the case to try this bar out though, because I loved that the nuts took the sweetness down a notch, making it much easier to snack on than the plain bar.

If you’ve been missing milk chocolate, look no further. Although it’s been a while since I’ve had the real thing myself, I would venture to say that these bars are near perfect replacements that will please your inner child. Chocolate snobs beware; these are more of a simple candy at heart. However, kids are sure to love them, and it’s nice to have more options out there on the market. If only I had saved enough to bake with, I’m sure they would work beautifully in cakes and pastries as well!

[Written for Go Dairy Free]