TheVeganAtheist wrote:Im not sure I understand the purpose of vegan casein? Are you suggesting we could develop it so that vegan "cheese" could be made stretchy? If so, I believe stretch vegan cheese already exists: Diaya
The article mentions Daiya, but it's not quite there yet- it doesn't really stretch like cheese. Only occasionally will you get a piece that stretches a couple centimeters, it's night and day. It does kind of sort of melt a little, but not like cheese does.
I don't know any omnivores who have thought Daiya was cheese (most I've seen try it didn't like it)- the mouth feel is starchy and oily, not springy. I've had better luck with home-made nut cheeses, but of course, those don't stretch either (even with added tapioca starch, it's no better than Daiya).
If we had a form of synthetic casein, either created by chemical means directly, or by microorganisms, an indistinguishable cheese substitute could be created. Being genuinely indistinguishable would ease one of the barriers people seem to face to adopting a vegan diet.
cufflink wrote:Do you make ricotta-like vegan cheese at home? If so, could you share your favorite recipe?
You just need to blend up a bunch of nuts (a mix of nuts is usually good), and add in a touch of vinegar, lemon juice, salt to taste, and whatever spices you like (I add a bit of garlic), a bit of sweetness helps too.
Raw almonds and cashews are popular choices, because they have mild flavors.
I recommend cutting it with some sunflower seeds, because sunflower seeds tend to be a lot cheaper, and at less than 50% sunflower seeds the taste they have (which is stronger than almond of cashew) isn't overbearing.
If you can get your hands on some hulled hemp seeds, those are great (and have a better fatty acid profile)- though they have a little earthy flavor.
Adding a few sesame seeds into the mix can round out the taste with a little bit of sharpness from those.
Also add a touch of sweetness. Cheese is mostly fatty (from the nuts), salty, sour, and sweet, with a bit of pungent depending on the variety (which can come from vinegar or fermentation- fermentation does a better job at that IMO).
You don't have to ferment it, but if you do, you can get a more sour cheese without adding any vinegar or lemon juice (just the salt), and you can get a more robust flavor. Fermenting takes a day or two, left in a warm area- if you add a starter (like a bit of your yogurt), it will go a lot faster.
When you bake it, like in a lasagna, it will usually set up nicely. Sometimes I'll add a little starch to help it set more during baking. It's a crumbly squishy cheese, like ricotta. I'd say most people can't tell the difference with all of the other rich flavors in the lasagna,
cufflink wrote:brimstoneSalad wrote:And yes, casein is bad for you, and a vegan source of casein would be bad for you too . . .
Why?
Mechanically, casein causes constipation, and slows passage through bowels because it kind of gums up in you the same way it gums up the cheese to make it springy and stretchy (apparently).
A lot of people are also intolerant or even allergic to varying degrees; our systems aren't exactly built to handle casein after infancy, because it's a substance that only occurs in milk. It's tough on the system- for some more than others.
There are also some studies with rats, although the results are subject to interpretation to some degree:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casein#The ... _on_cancer
Casein
seems uniquely suited to promote cancer, at least with high levels of consumption.
