Great vegan nut cheeses you can get in the UK

Here are some words that I seem to leave as comments on US-based blogs all too often: 'I wish we had nut cheeses like that in the UK'.

Well, my tiny wish seems to have been granted (thank you, vegan guardians of the universe for making this happen).

First up, I recently got to try out some wares from Nutcrafter Creamery - a Scottish nut cheese maker that does both hard and soft cheese. Nice name, right? As they're based in Glasgow, and I'm very much not, I had to get them posted down to me. They arrived in these dinky little metal containers with the legend 'from tree to thee' written on them.

I ordered two types of cheese because, you know, one cheese is never enough. The first, the piquant with smoked chipotle, was covered in thyme leaves. So covered, that is, that I couldn't really taste the cheese within. I found myself thinking more about picking the tiny little leaves out of my teeth that contemplating the cashew goodness within. The main taste then, that the piquant left me with, was a little bit of disappointment about how good it could have been.

The second cheese, the Volcanic extra aged with black ash, however, pulled a total 180. It was everything I wanted from a nut cheese - sharp, tangy, flavoursome, rich. 

It works in lots of different ways - mainly I use it for sandwich fillings and to top crackers, or just a slice or two on its own. It's also nice crumbled on top of pasta or baked dishes. It's not a cheap cheese, but because it's got so much flavour packed into every crumb, a little goes a long way in cooking.

One thing I haven't done yet is make up a ploughman's lunch with it, as I've done before with Tyne Chease, but I bet it would be perfect for that.

Nutcrafter has a good few other cheesy products I'd like to try in good time: the Rebellious with garlic, the Scrumptions with sundried tomatoes, the extra aged Ancient, as well as nut-based equivalents of mozzarella, parmesan and cheese spread. I'm pretty excited to be work my way through them, as soon as I can see how many cases I can get the postie to carry.

While ordering in the Nutcrafter means a wait of a week or so, if you live in London, you can now go and pick up your own jars of cashew cheese off the shelves. Admittedly, you have to go into a branch of Planet Organic to do so, but if you can withstand the inevitable 'argh, I hate this place, the prices are high, and it's a bit on the woo side, but at the same time I love it because they have loads of interesting vegan stuff' mental argument you'll have with yourself, it's worth it, because now they stock Gozo vegan cheese spread.

There are four flavours: smoked paprika, french herb, chive, and basil pesto.

So far, I've been troughing my merry way through all but the pesto, and I'm totally in love with them all. They're not cheap either,: £4.25 a throw, they're not going to replace your tub of hummus in a hurry. That said, the way I think of it is that they cost about the same as the pint in London, and they last a lot, lot, longer (and they won't give you a hangover either.) And, for what it's worth, Planet Organic have a 20 percent deal on at the moment, so you can get your hands on a jar for £3.20.

These are my favourite vegan cheese in the world at the moment. As well as using them on my toast and crackers, I've also made pizza with my own cheese sauce and little nuggets of Gozo cheese as toppings, and it was heavenly. Mr Flicking the Vs requested that we eat it every night, which is high praise indeed.

My favourite is the smoked paprika, though the French herb is a close second - if you were a fan of Boursin and its ilk in your pregan days, then go get yourself some of this.

I'm so pleased that now there are three good vegan nut cheeses available in the UK and one that I can go pick up when I'm out in London. Now when I'm feeling flush I like get to get a load of cheese and crackers, and a nice glass of wine. With some good vegan cheese on your plate, the world looks a little better.

Are there any other UK vegan nut cheeses? Let me know - I'd love to try them out.