I’m often surprised by vegan food and how far it’s come both in variety and accessibility within our local supermarkets. Violife is a vegan cheese company that offers alternatives to cheese. As someone who loves their fair share of smelly blue cheese and brie, amongst others, I’m very particular when it comes to this type of food.
I was introduced to Violife at my sister-in-law’s place where she had vegan cheese spread from Violife. Granted, this product doesn’t feature in my review today but it converted me to vegan cheese, and giving it a fair shot. When Violife gave me the opportunity to try vegan cheese, I jumped at the chance. Sending me an abundance of cheese alternatives from their range, I thought I’d share with you my personal opinions on the cheese itself. Is it a suitable alternative to cheese?
*This is a collaborative post and contains gifted content.
*This is a collaborative post and contains gifted content.First of all, let me say I’m a stickler for packaging. I’m the ideal consumer for any marketing and design team in that I’m led by my eyes when it comes to picking new foods to try off the shelf. Violife, for some reason, reminds me of the old school chalkboards (yes I’m old enough to remember them back in primary school).
I’d like to think that there’s some subliminal messaging behind this choice of brand packaging in that it’s taking us, consumers, back to the drawing board in our attitudes toward vegan alternatives. However, I’m probably reading way too much into it!
Like I said, I’ve already tried the vegan cream cheese from the range, which is bomb by the way. With that being said, let’s look at what I got sent and what I thought of each one.
Violife Mature Cheddar
Rating – 4/5
Starting with the no-frills cheese – or should I say vegan cheese – is the Violife Mature Cheddar. To be honest, this was the cheese that would determine the remaining taste experience I had with the rest of the range. If they couldn’t get mature cheddar right, then I had little hope for the rest. Opening up the packet, you can definitely tell that it isn’t cheese. I often think vegan food doesn’t look real. It has that sheen to it that throws off the disguise.
However, when I tried a slice of it on its own, I was bowled over. Taken right back to when I tried the vegan cream cheese from the brand, this mature cheddar is certainly epic in flavor. You wouldn’t think it was vegan cheese, other than perhaps the texture. It doesn’t quite crumble as a mature cheddar would typically but it still has all the other components in taste that it needs.
It tastes great on crackers and as a mature cheddar, it’s something that you could put on a cheese board and I honestly wouldn’t have noticed that it was any different from real cheese. Having a free-from range that caters to lots of allergies is also one of the great benefits that this brand offers.
Le Rond – Camembert
Rating – 3/5
I don’t really know how to feel about this one. Again, the appearance of it isn’t quite like the appearance of real camembert although it certainly tastes like camembert. Saying that though, there’s just something missing from the Le Rond.
I think the benefit of this vegan cheese is that there’s no rind which can often make it difficult to scoop out the cheese when melted. Again, it was nice with a bit of toasted bread but it just felt a little lackluster in comparison to the other products from Violife.
To give it the benefit of the doubt, I didn’t put in any garlic and rosemary, so I think to give it a fair shot, next time I’ll try it the way I’d typically prepare camembert.
Smoky Flavour Cheddar Slices
Rating – 4.5/5
Considering I’ve tried some vegan cheese slices in the past and found them abhorrent, these smoky-flavoured cheese slices were probably my favourite out of the whole range.
I’d also say it’s on par with the cream cheese I know and love. They’ve got the texture, look and taste of this cheddar cheese down in comparison to the other vegan alternatives. The smokiness of the rind is my favourite part and I just know it would go so well on a pork and apple burger.
Suffice it to say, I ate these slices quickly – and without anything else needed. Aside from the burger suggestion, I think this would be great to melt on some toast, along with a squirt of BBQ sauce. There are plenty of vegan recipes that this product would go perfectly with.
Cheddar Slices
Rating – 4/5
Once you’ve tasted the smoky option, the original flavor is what it is. I definitely prefer these original flavour cheese slices to the mature cheddar or the Le Rond but it doesn’t compare in flavour when it comes to its smoky sibling.
Again though, I love the flavour of it regardless and despite its odd appearance that’s not quite cheese-looking, it still tastes a lot like cheese. I think Violife has nailed it when it comes to mimicking flavours of cheeses – apart from the Le Rond in my opinion.
For these cheddar slices, they’d be an OG for melting on toast, topped with some HP brown sauce – Yum.
Grated Cheddar Cheese
Rating – 3.5/5
It definitely does what it says on the packaging and that is, it melts well. When you put it in a soup or on a jacket potato, you wouldn’t have thought it tasted any different from real cheese. The texture of the cheese itself is pretty close to the real thing too.
To be honest, you can’t really go wrong with grated cheese and this one ticks all the boxes when it comes to a vegan cheese alternative. I’d definitely pick this one up again for use in a variety of dishes.
Overall, I’m really impressed by the Violife range. Despite Le Rond not being my cup of tea, I had a feeling that it would impress me, having already become accustomed to the brand.
Going forward, I’m keen to try some of their other products, including the creamy blue cheese and greek white. As someone with an intolerance but goat’s cheese, I’d be interested to see what that one tastes like.
Have you tried the Violife range before? Be sure to pick up the cream cheese or my new favourite, the Smoky flavoured cheddar slices -they’re delicious. This is also your public announcement to try more vegan products. The incredible flavors and creations have far exceeded my expectations of vegan food. Violife is a prime example of this!
*Disclaimer – This is a collaborative post. This post contains my own honest opinions.
