New Zealand - dairy substitutes?
Posted by theodamus on Oct 04, 2008 · Member since Oct 2008 · 2960 posts
Hi everyone,
I've been a vegetarian my entire life but recently found out I've become lactose intolerant, so looks like I'm heading towards a more vegan diet. Reading through all the recipes they sound great but my problem often seems to be that all the listed substitutes for things like eggs, cheese, milk etc are brands I've never heard of, so can only assume they're available in the US and elsewhere but haven't made it to NZ yet. Does anyone know/have any suggestions for good substitutes that might be available down here?
Love the website, any help appreciated!
Theo
Check out Living Harvest's hemp milk. It rules. I drink SO much it'd scare you... haha. 8-)
Welcome to VegWeb, theo! I'm a New Zealander too. I've been vegan for just over a year. Sorry to hear your body is forcing you into dietary changes - that's not always nice. I do hope you enjoy some of the new things you'll try, as there are some very yummy dairy-free foodz. ;)b Yeah, there are way less subs available here... but it depends on how much a persons feels s/he needs them, and which kinds... for example, I get by fine without fake cheese (I prefer nutritional yeast for a 'cheesy' flavour).
> Rice milk is great, and I love soy milk, especially vanilla for baking and in coffee - Vitasoy's the best! So Good tastes like wallpaper paste. Blech. Don't buy it just because it's cheaper. ;)
> There are a couple of soy-based ice creams - So Good, or my preference, Lite Licks Dairy Free.
> If you want a nice yoghurt, Kingland brand from Australia is organic and very nice, though they don't have a plain variety as far as I know; they're all fruity. I have not yet found a good plain soy yoghurt - the two I tried, Tonzu and Bean Me Up, were pretty foul in my opinion, in both texture and flavour... too strong and beany, and not nice and smooth. :-\
> Kingland also have a soy butter, which is okay but a little sweet, if memory serves. I've been meaning to try it again. (Butter is the one dairy thing that I truly miss. :() Their cream cheeze is pretty good!
> Some stores (often organics shops) carry fake cheese, if you want to try it, but I would recommend getting over the memory of real cheese for a while. There's a British one called Cheezly which is nice, but very expensive. You can get a Scottish brand called Sheese from the SAFE website.
> I don't believe we have a substitute for cream, which can be a pain sometimes. Of course, in some dishes you can use coconut cream, but it's just so different, the flavour is so unique. I've been experimenting with 'cashew cream' - raw cashews pureed with some soy/rice milk - in sauces. Pretty good results so far.
If you want to replace eggs too, there are several vegan options depending on what kind of dish you're making - sweet or savoury, eggs as a binder or eggs as a main ingredient... let us know if you want more info. :)
All the best!
Regards, Heli. :flower:
Hi, I'm in Oz (I'm assuming we have similar products) Vitasoy is the best soy milk, you can get vegan cheese including Toffuti (cream cheese) here. Oh and So Good soy ice cream (especially the strawberry) is unbelievably awesome.. I have encountered three yogurt brands also.
I'm in the states but I always get almond breeze or silk as far as "milks" go and the best butter is smart balance or earth balance. havent found a good fake cheese yet.
Thanks you guys!
Heliamphora, that's heaps of awesome info I'll have to have a look for some of those things (I've never seen most of them in a supermarket, do you get things like the Kingland stuff and nutritional yeast from a health food store?)
It is a bit of a shock to suddenly have to make changes but I guess being a vegetarian I have a bit of a headstart on at least the mindset part of it. And I've been drinking soy milk for years so at least I like the taste of that too :P Will keep it in mind about the Vitasoy, my parents always bought So Good so I just followed suit, I'm looking forward to a pleasant taste surprise when I buy my next carton!
missmeow, I'll have to try to So Good ice cream and this Tofutti stuff sounds great though nobody has mentioned it being available here :(
angeln syrup, hemp milk sounds awesome! I'll keep an eye out...
Ohm_i, Cheese is the main thing I miss :( Gutted that there aren't any good fake ones.
Thanks heaps again!
Heliamphora, that's heaps of awesome info I'll have to have a look for some of those things (I've never seen most of them in a supermarket, do you get things like the Kingland stuff and nutritional yeast from a health food store?)
It is a bit of a shock to suddenly have to make changes but I guess being a vegetarian I have a bit of a headstart on at least the mindset part of it. And I've been drinking soy milk for years so at least I like the taste of that too :P Will keep it in mind about the Vitasoy, my parents always bought So Good so I just followed suit, I'm looking forward to a pleasant taste surprise when I buy my next carton!
Several supermarkets in Christchurch have the Kingland yoghurts, if nothing else. Other common supermarket brands of chilled soy products would be Bean Supreme and/or Bean Me Up. The supermarket where I work (a New World) is totally clued in with the veg*n foodz, so they have all of these things ;D as well as nutritional yeast, organic groceries and produce, lots of veg sausages, and even Kingland soy cheese (which I haven't tried). You have New World supermarkets up north too, right? I'd try one of them first before going to organics stores, just to see if you can get a better price.
Hehee, ah, if you know you like So Good, more joy to you - each to her own - but do try the Vitasoy vanilla too, it's heavenly. ;)b Methinks dairy alternatives are getting a bit more common due to the number of people who find they're LI these days, like yourself. If you have a favourite store and they don't have these kinds of products, they might start stocking them if you ask, especially if you 'play the allergy card'. Often more effective than asking because one chooses not to eat animal products, eh... ::)
I live in smelly-horrible-hate-it Auckland...the only supermarket for miles around is the extortionate and not vege/vegan friendly foodtown - they don't even stock sanitarium vege sausages or nutmeat! I don't have my car up here so getting to a New World may be too expensive and time consuming :( Maybe I'll just have to stock up on a huge swag of vegan goodies each time I go visit my parents haha. Or I could definitely try that "poor little me with the allergy" card if I'm not too shy though knowing Auckland they'll probably stare at me blankly and go "...so?"
I have bought up some rice milk and vitasoy to try along with another variety of soy milk I've never seen before called Get Natural - figure I should try them all!