I was thinking about how much my sense of taste has shifted over the past few years. In other words, the vegan foods I didn’t like before have suddenly become foods I like. I think it’s a combination of letting go of the need for foods to taste a certain (traditional) way and allowing my taste buds a break from the foods I ate, and craved, for my entire life.
Miyoko’s Butter And Mozzarella
Miyoko’s butter screenshot
I live in Canada, so I didn’t have access to Miyoko’s stuff easily. But, we have a place from BC called Vegan Supply that brings in all those hard-to-get items.
So, when we first went vegan, we ordered the Miyoko’s butter and mozzarella. I was expecting dairy butter and mozzarella taste and texture. No expectations.
When we got the butter, I didn’t hate it, but it wasn’t something that I liked. In fact, I think we put it back in the fridge and didn’t touch it again.
I realize this is because I was expecting the dairy taste and texture that I was used to.
Now, I love this stuff. We have started getting Miyoko’s butter in ALL of the stores around us, and it is my go-to butter for eating on bread and for cooking. I love it. It tastes rich and creamy, and when you throw it in a pot, it browns up and gives an extra element of awesomeness that only brown butter can give you.
It doesn’t taste totally like butter, but in my vegan mind, it kind of does. It’s really hard to remember the difference between this vegan butter and dairy butter at this point. But when I think about it, I like this taste better in my mind’s taste memory center.
Screenshot of Vegan Mozzarella Miyoko’s
And, the other day we went out to our nearest health food store that often brings in new vegan options. They had the Miyoko’s Mozz!
I know that we also tried that when we first went vegan and I was less than thrilled. It wasn’t like Mozzarella at all, which is what I wanted. It didn’t seem to have much of a taste at all to me. We put it on pizza and it was OK, but it wasn’t something I would order from Vegan Supply again.
Still, I bought it the other day because I wanted to see what I thought of it now. Not surprisingly to me, I love it. It’s the same softness of the Buffalo mozzarella we used to eat quite often. Maybe a little softer. And it’s full of flavor. In fact, it tastes a lot like Miyoko’s butter. It’s got a nice tang to it.
I put it on top of the lasagna that I had baked a few days ago and threw it into the oven. It came out nice. Not hard and gooey like dairy mozzarella, but not completely soft like the cheese I make at home or gummy like Daiya. It had a taste to it, unlike other vegan mozzarellas that I’ve tried.
I put it on nachos and threw them in the oven. Yummy! Again, it wasn’t too soft or too hard, and there was plenty of flavor.
Give Your Taste Buds Some Time
My point is that if you just went vegan and all the vegan cheese or alternatives you are finding aren’t pleasing to you, give yourself some time. Eat what you like. Eat what makes you happy. And come back to those things that you thought you might like but weren’t thrilled with later.
As time goes on, you let go of the notion of what things should taste like and you start to really appreciate the not-totally-the-same-as-I-was-hoping-for flavors. In fact, you may even find you like them more than the flavors you used to remember.
