Looking for a 12-Step Program for Cheese Addiction

According to the book Breaking the Food Seduction: The Hidden Reasons Behind Food Cravings by Neal D. Barnard and Joanne Stepaniak, researchers discovered that cow’s milk has traces of morphine. Cow’s milk also has a protein called casein. Casein breaks apart during digestion and releases a whole goody bag of opiates. Casein is in milk, and it is especially concentrated in cheese (51). So, essentially, I guess that makes me a cheese-tweaker.

Now, the first Step in “The 12 Steps” states that I must admit I am powerless over my addiction – and that my life has become unmanageable. Hmmmm. So, sometimes I do feel powerless in front of the cheese case at the Flint Farmer’s Market, but I can’t exactly say my love of Havarti has made my life fall apart. I can quit any time I want to. Seriously. I’m just a social fondue-dipper.

When I became vegetarian I found that there are many levels. Flexitarians eat meat in moderation. Pescatarians eat fish. Lacto-ovo vegetarians, like me, don’t eat any animal flesh but eat eggs and dairy. Vegans take it further still, and don’t eat any animal products, including things like honey, gelatin, and (damnit!) cheese.

Early into this process I gave up drinking cow’s milk or using it in my cooking. I developed a taste almost immediately for unsweetened almond milk (which has fewer calories than skim milk and more calcium than whole milk). I still occasionally eat eggs, but mostly out of laziness- I really don’t enjoy cooking breakfast and a quick egg sandwich is a nifty shot of protein. Even so, if I was told tomorrow that I couldn’t have another egg ever, I’d be fine with that. But cheese? Cheese, glorious cheese? I don’t know about that. After about five minutes of searching vegan/vegetarian blogs you’ll find that the one thing standing in the way of thousands of vegetarians becoming straight-up vegans is that crazy morphine-infused monkey, cheese.

There are cheeses which are vegetarian-friendly, in that the rennet used to create them is not animal-derived (see this list for vegetarian cheeses). Most rennet is derived from the stomach tissue of a slaughtered calf, but there is vegetable rennet as well, and the cheeses on the list use that (or no rennet at all). But these vegetarian-friendly cheeses use cow or goat milk, so for vegans, they are still off-limits.

There are whole industries built around producing the perfect non-dairy vegan cheese. If you scroll down the message boards of any vegan blog you’ll see a lot of posts very much like this one:

“Hi there. I’m a new vegetarian who would like to become vegan but I don’t think I can give up cheese. Are there any vegan cheeses that actually taste like real cheese?”

And following it, you’ll invariably see a response which simply reads:

“No.”

Some brands, like Daiya, are pretty close, but Daiya is no more like Swiss Gruyere than aspirin is like morphine. Even so, I have been trying to develop a taste for vegan “cheeses” and hope to one day kick my habit. I have kids, people. I don’t want to be a full-blown casein junkie.

This quest led me to today’s recipe. One alternative I found was to make cheese out of nuts. It is a little time-consuming, but once you get the method figured out it’s easy to make soft cheeses that fill the void in your heart left by sharp Cheddar. It isn’t the same, but nut cheese is delicious and really appeals to my creative side. Switching around the nuts used and the added ingredients produces all sorts of interesting flavors and textures. Have I given up cheese completely? Not quite. But if I get better at making my own vegan versions, I just might.

Garlic Ravioli with Cashew Cheese


First things first: make the cheese about two days before.

Cashew Cheese

(Stolen from The Conscious Cook by Tal Ronnen, page 121. I made a few minor adaptations)




The acidophilus capsules I used

2 cups whole raw cashews (no cashew pieces because they are too dry and not creamy enough. They have to be RAW, otherwise they'll get rancid and you'll get sick and die. Or they'll just taste awful. Why risk either of those things?)

8 capsules Solgar Advanced 40+ Acidolphilus (you just want the powder from the capsules). Tal Ronnen uses New Chapter All-Flora Probiotic (powder from 6 capsules), but I couldn't find it. Whatever you get, check to make sure the brand is vegetarian. Generally gelatin capsules are NOT.

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
½ tablespoon onion powder (or more to taste. He uses a full tablespoon but I found that a little over-powering)
½ teaspoon white pepper
Dash of nutmeg, grated
4 tablespoons fresh herbs (I used fresh garlic scapes- the green tops) Tal uses tarragon and chives

1. Cover the cashews with cold, purified water in a non-reactive bowl and let it sit overnight (at least 12 hours).
2. The next day, mix together the probiotic powder in 2 tablespoons of the soaking water.
3. Drain the cashew nuts and put them in a blender or food processor with the probiotic powder mixture. Blend until smooth and creamy (it takes some patience. Keep scraping the sides with a rubber spatula).
4. Cover the bottom of a fine mesh colander with three layers of rinsed (and wrung dry) cheesecloth. Put the cashew nut mixture into the cheesecloth. Fold the layers of cheesecloth to cover the top of the vegan cheese and twist to tightly close the top.
5. Place the colander over a bowl. Put something heavy on top of the wrapped cheese to help press it as it ferments. Let the cashew cheese stand in a warm area for about 14 hours. Liquid whey will collect in the bottom of the bowl. Don't throw it out; you can use it when you make the pasta!
6. After 14 to 16 hours your cheese will smell yeasty and have a soft dairy cheese-like quality to it. Remove the cloth and put cheese into a food processor. Mix in all the other ingredients except the herbs.
7. Shape the cheese on a piece of parchment paper and put it in the fridge until firm (a few hours, or best is overnight)
8. When firmed up a bit, roll cheese in the herbs (or garlic scapes in my case).
9. Cut the cheese (couldn't resist)!

NOTE: If you are a sissy and are afraid to ferment the cheese (or too lazy to wait), just soak the nuts overnight then proceed right to the mix-in stage. You'll want to let it firm up in the fridge for a few hours and it will taste ok, I guess, but fermentation is what makes cheese, well, cheesy. Try it, you'll like it!

Ravioli (Look, Ma, no eggs!)
(I followed the recipe by Bob's Red Mill, which is a traditional semolina pasta recipe.)



1. I followed the pasta recipe, but I substituted the whey produced from my cheese-making for the water. If you don't have enough whey to adequately make the dough, just add more water.

2. I cheated, and dumped the dough ingredients in my bread maker to knead it. I rolled the dough out with my pasta maker. I started at the largest setting, then kept rolling it until it was at the thinnest setting. I also sprinkled minced garlic scapes into the dough before I built the raviolis.

3. I put a tablespoon of the cashew cheese into each ravioli, sealed it with water, then crimped the sides with a fork.

4. I cooked them in boiling, salted water for about 3 minutes, until they floated on top. When done, I gently tossed them in melted Earth's Balance (a vegan buttery-type spread that we actually prefer to butter) and sprinkled them with some grated nutmeg and more garlic scapes. Then I brushed my teeth because Mama had garlic breath something fierce. But it was totally worth it!

In closing: making nut cheese was so easy, I ended up making two more batches (one with walnuts, one with almonds). They were all delicioso and only lasted about three days. In a less gluttonous household, nut cheeses last at least a week or two in the refrigerator. Here are some serving suggestions:

1. Thin it with a little soy creamer (or almond milk if you made almond cheese) and use it as a sauce over pasta
2. Spread it in a sandwich or wrap
3. Cut in thick rounds and make bruscetta
4. Using a tablespoon, eat it straight out of the wrapping (you need to be in your underwear, standing in front of the refrigerator at 1 am to do this properly). Go nuts!