• VeganCheesecake@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    1 month ago

    Cheese was the one thing that kept me from going fully vegan for some time. Don’t care about meat, don’t care about milk, but cheese, cheese is special.

    • The Picard Maneuver@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 month ago

      Similar boat here. I’ve been vegetarian for 18+ years now, and my meals have been vegan most days lately, but I don’t know if I’ll ever fully cut out cheese.

      • electric_nan
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        1 month ago

        Vegan cheeses have improved a lot. I’ve been vegan for almost 25 years, and the last few years have been the best for cheese alternatives. I don’t know if you’re in the US or if these are international brands, but Miyokos and Parmela Creamery both make some good stuff.

        • VeganCheesecake@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          1 month ago

          I feel like it varies quite wildly. Hard cheese seems to be pretty difficult to emulate well, while softer cheeses seem to be more doable (though there are some horrible ones). We have a local store that makes their own vegan replacements for stuff, and they have some soft cheeses that use the same mold as the originals, and they’re pretty good.

        • i_dont_want_to@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          1 month ago

          I love how much better it has gotten! I am however allergic to cashews (and pretty much most nuts…). Besides nutritional yeast, is there any decent vegan alternative to cheese that you would recommend?

        • NιƙƙιDιɱҽʂ@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          If you haven’t had cheese in 25 years, I can see how you’d think the snotty vegan approximations are acceptable.

          -A vegetarian who is also addicted to cheese

          • electric_nan
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            1 month ago

            Fair enough point on its face, but if you haven’t tried any new offerings lately, you should check in. I’ve made grilled cheese and quesadillas for vegetarians that couldn’t tell the difference. Probably the more specialty or fancier cheeses don’t have good substitutes yet. I hope they don’t bother replicating feta ;)

            • The Picard Maneuver@lemmy.worldOP
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              1 month ago

              Oh hey, I tried vegan feta in salads recently, and it was almost indistinguishable (to me), which was surprising! I didn’t expect it to actually be good, lol

            • Firestorm Druid@lemmy.zip
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              1 month ago

              There’s a bunch of vegan feta cheeses in Germany. The one we’ve been buying the most recently is from Lidl’s own vegan brand “Vemondo” and costs like 1,30€ for 150g. It’s really good - melts the same as “og” feta, has a good consistency when raw, and tastes like actual feta.

  • nefonous@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    I’m still waiting the rest of the world to find out that there are so many types of pizza with no cheese

    • PSoul•Memes@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      I’d rather have pizza with no cheese than pizza with no red sauce but again, it’s like saying I’d rather have no green cones than no red cones in my eyes. Having both adds and extra dimension.

      • nefonous@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        In Italy cheese is absolutely not required, even if Margherita is the most common base so most pizzas have cheese. Even so, there are many types of pizza with no cheese, and many others with no tomato.

        It’s also very common to see pizza farcita, which you can imagine as a pizza sandwich. For example a very common one is “pizza e mortazza” in Rome, which is a pure puzza with no topping but filled with mortadella (a type of ham). But various kinds of fillings are possible

        Another example would be focaccia, most of them don’t have any cheese at all.

        There is even sweet pizza with no cheese, for example pizza with Nutella

      • olutukko@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        marinara is one of the best pizza I’ve tried. can’t come up with other examples. but not everyone thinks cheese is somehow necessary

          • olutukko@lemmy.world
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            1 month ago

            thanks america, but you bread is like bun. I don’t take you guys seriously with food

  • cmbabul@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    I really dont care for cheese as a general rule, the exceptions being unless it’s a on a pizza, potentially on a cheeseburger although I’d prefer it without, or otherwise incorporated into a recipe to the point where I can’t tell(I almost always can unfortunately). It’s based in sensory issues I have tried many times to overcome through trial and error, and I hate this aspect of myself, but this is a relatable screenshot from both romantic and platonic relationships over the years

  • MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca
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    1 month ago

    Is it lactose intolerance? Because that’s a weak argument. Lactose can be broken down in the gut in one of two ways, for the lactose tolerant, this is through an enzyme called lactase, which you create in your gut naturally. It separates the lactose into smaller parts that can be digested normally.

    For the lactose intolerant, they lack (or at least underproduce) lactase in the gut, so the breakdown of lactose to its more basic chains is done through fermentation (or something similar), which produces significant amounts of methane gas. That extra pressure in the gut causes your body to flood the area with whatever water it can, which creates the unpleasant experience associated with lactose for the intolerant.

    But get this… Science has found a way to package lactase into a pill that you can take. I know right? Mind blown. So you take the pills before or during your lactose filled meal and… You’re fine. Amazing!

    Science.

    • PraiseTheSoup@lemm.ee
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      1 month ago

      It all sounds great on paper but as someone that is lactose intolerant I can tell you that those little lactase pills do not always work and a single small ice cream cone is enough to completely ruin my evening.

      Cheese is fine though. The vast majority of cheeses are actually naturally low in lactose, because most of it is in the whey.

    • RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      My father is foodie. He fucking loves cheese and milkshakes and lots of dairy. He claims lactaid pills don’t do much for him. I wouldn’t know because I can pretty much eat anything.

  • chemicalprophet@lemm.ee
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    1 month ago

    I have a thoughts this a lot since dietary restrictions became the new badge of courage. I’m from the olden days where we were embarrassed and shamed for our shortcomings… My least favorite is the person with a dietary restriction they aren’t even up to speed on. Damn my toxic masculinity! Thanks, Dad…

    • I_Fart_Glitter@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      It was pretty tough working at a bakery stall at farmers markets when people were just starting to jump on the gluten free train. I’d have folks come up to me and start screaming at me that they needed spelt bread because of their celiac disease, and I was a heartless removed for not having any. Explaining that spelt actually has more gluten than regular wheat was not a good idea, nor was explaining that to be safe for a person with celiac disease, bread would need to be 1) free of gluten containing grains, not just wheat and 2) baked in a facility where the air is not thick with wheat flour dust, depositing itself on every surface. “Give me my special bread! IT MAKES ME FEEL SPECIAL!!!”

      • Chetzemoka@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        Those people also frustrate the hell out of my aunt with actual celiac disease. She’s basically had to stop eating in restaurants because there’s no real way for her to differentiate between “gluten-free” and “no, no really, we cooked all of this in a completely separate area of the kitchen with dedicated utensils that never come into contact with anything from the other side of the kitchen”

        She has a couple of places she can trust, but just trying out new places for funsies is not a thing she could ever do.

      • chemicalprophet@lemm.ee
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        1 month ago

        A work in progress. When I notice it in myself I announce it so people, especially my kids, know I’m out of line, don’t endorse the behavior, and am working to change. It’s truly a struggle. But like GI Joe says, knowing is half the battle! Stay gold🖤

  • Kallioapina@lemm.ee
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    1 month ago

    This is really a thing ive been wondering about USA… Dont you have lactose free products? I mean, if the tiny Nordics can and do produce lactose free versions of pretty much everything, in pretty much every possible place, why cant you?

    Is it a sadism/eugenics thing (kidding but not 100% kidding)?

    • colmear@discuss.tchncs.de
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      1 month ago

      One interesting thing about lactose free products is, that most aren’t lactose free. They only contain the enzymes to digest the lactose. If you are lactose intolerant this is perfectly fine, but if you’re allergic to lactose it doesn’t change anything for you

        • colmear@discuss.tchncs.de
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          1 month ago

          I‘m not from the US (Germany) and neither have I much experience with lactose free products. I know someone who is allergic to lactose though and when I was buying stuff for him he told me the exact brand of stuff I needed to get due to the issue I mentioned.

          • Kallioapina@lemm.ee
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            1 month ago

            True enough - I have to very careful when visiting local Lidls and browsing their products (though Finnish Lidls tend stock a lot of local lactose free stuff, luckily), else one invites the shitrocket.

            But again this invites my query, invoked earlier on another comment in this thread - Germany is a much larger market with lots of immigration and the tech exists. Why not sell it to people, when there is also volume available?

        • Promethiel@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          Like most “but why US” questions, the answer starts with ‘M’ and rhymes with ‘oney’.

          The dairy lobby is powerful in the US, for reasons I’ve never bothered to look into the few times one of their tantrums end up on the news.

          It’s a matter of the Nexus of regulatory capture, unrestricted money in politics, and historic Inertia is my surface understanding of why ‘Dairy’ is such a bristly thing here.

          • The_v@lemmy.world
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            1 month ago

            Dairy’s really got their power in the 1940’s-1950’s when most farmers had around 10 head of dairy cows they milked. If was a major source of income to most rural American farmers. These farmers established dairy associations that were and still are highly politically active.

            Most of them established a association fees based upon the amount of milk they produced. So they had a lot of money to spend on lobbying and voting power in rural communities. They then used that power to shape national policy and do national marketing campaigns.

            With the consolidation of the industry since the 1980’s their voting power has declined but the money for lobbying keeps flowing. Since the u.s. government is controlled by legal bribery at this point…

            • Kallioapina@lemm.ee
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              1 month ago

              That does not really explain the lack of use on the technology (which you do have, to make milk products lactose free) and the lack of products/marketing on lactose free milk products.

              Isnt USA all about making new products for new consumers? If we can do it here, in a much smaller markets and with less resources, why cant it be done in the USA? You do have lots of lactose intolerant people there, through immigration alone - why on earth dont you, salesmen of the planet, want to sell that to them?

              Thats why I do kinda of suppose that maybe its an cultural/social issue?

              • Alexstarfire@lemmy.world
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                1 month ago

                Isnt USA all about making new products for new consumers?

                If the corps that make the original product are making the alternative, yes. If they are not, then no. Just see all the fighting over meat alternatives and even lab grown meat. The meat industry is fighting pretty hard to make sure they can’t market them as meat or meat alternatives.

    • Codex@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      We do. Vegan soy cheese is in a lot of groceries now, but usually only specialized restaurants will offer fake cheese as an option. We’re just starting to get fake meat in various eateries, and that’s still mostly limited to burgers.

      A few pizzerias around here will offer a cheese -less pizza or other vegan options (fake cheese, onions paste instead, etc).

      Edit: oh we also have milk and cheese but engineered to be lactose free. I’d say that’s even rarer in restaurants than vegan options though.

      • hydroptic@sopuli.xyz
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        1 month ago

        oh we also have milk and cheese but engineered to be lactose free. I’d say that’s even rarer in restaurants than vegan options though.

        That’s really surprising. Lactose-free milk has been really common here in Finland for gods know how long, probably 20 years at least. Low lactose even longer.

        Not sure I’ve ever seen low lactose or lactose free cheese though, although it’s not something I’d pay attention to. I thought many cheeses are pretty low in lactose to begin with due to the process naturally converting it to something else?

        edit turns out lactose free cheeses are also extremely common, I just didn’t know because I can digest lactose without pooping

        • breakingcups@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          Fun fact! Practically all hard cheeses are lactose free!

          You can check for yourself by checking the nutritional label for sugars. If it’s 0, you’re good!

        • Kallioapina@lemm.ee
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          1 month ago

          Katsopa tarkemmin. Esimerkiksi Arkijuusto on ollut laktoositonta viimeiset 5 vuotta, vähintään. Eikä todellakaan ole ainoa. T: Juusto rakastava, laktoosia paskova.

          For english speakers: we have had lactose free cheesw for a while, and it is delicious.

          • hydroptic@sopuli.xyz
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            1 month ago

            Ah, näinpä tietenkin. Ei tosiaan ole tullut kiinnitettyä huomiota kun minuun laktoosi uppoaa ilman että paska lentää (no, siitä syystä ainakaan)

    • ryathal@sh.itjust.works
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      1 month ago

      The US supports a lot of food allergies and alternatives, but I’ve never seen lactose free cheese at a pizza place. People either get no cheese or take a pill to make eating cheese less of a problem.

      • ShepherdPie@midwest.social
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        1 month ago

        I thought many cheeses don’t even contain (or a very small percentage) of lactose. I’m lactose intolerant and only have issues with milk and ice cream but never cheese.

  • OBJECTION!
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    1 month ago

    Why judge someone for not consuming dairy in the first place? Like, what, you only date baby cows?

          • StaySquared@lemmy.world
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            1 month ago

            Good grief, tell me about it. Ever watch those videos of people getting interviewed… “How many stars on the U.S.A. flag?” “How many states are in the U.S.”, “If you travel 60 miles at 60 miles per hour, how long would it take to get there?”

            The answers are cringe worthy. Almost as if we really do need artificial selection of who can and cannot breed.