I have recently moved from long term Vegetarian, to Vegan. To some, this may seem like a reasonably expected transition, but to be honest, it wasn’t something I ever gave much thought to until I recently discovered the horrifying truths of the dairy industry. I could talk for hours about it, but that’s a whole other blog…..

By chance, I heard about VegFest, which was taking place at the Brighton Centre and I thought it looked like a good day out…… Understatement of the century!! There were so many amazing reasons to love VegFest, and here are but a few….

• Everything there was 100% vegan, so no worries about whether you should eat it, smell it, touch it, like it….. It was all guilt free – such a treat!
• Cooking demos, knowledgeable people, petitions to sign.
• A whole food hall of more lunch choices than any of us had had in a loooong time!
• Like-minded people – no fear of someone overhearing you saying something “too vegan” or looking at you like you were crazy for getting excited at the sheer volume of things it is possible to make from cashew nuts!! Which leads me very nicely on to……
• CHEASE!!!

No, I haven’t misspelled it, this is not gross, made-from-milk-stolen-from-baby-cows cheese I’m talking about, but CHEASE…… The new found #loveofmylife !!!! Chease is made by TyneChease and is an artisanal cultured, 100% plant based, organic, gluten free, nut based….. well, cheese! Now before you all start judging, even I would admit to having been pretty sceptical towards non-dairy cheese when I went vegan. The first one I tried made me want to cry as it was such a let down. What Tyne Chease have managed to do though, is create a product so rich and perfect in texture that I would honestly challenge anyone to tell its not the “real thing” (who would want the “real thing” anyway, once you know the truth – arrrrgh I digress…. for another blog, for another blog!!). This is proper, Christmas cheese platter, cheese and wine – CHEASE!! The picture above gives you a good idea of what Chease looks like – flavours include: Garlic and Herb, Ale and Mustard, Sundried Tomato, Cranberry Za’atar Roule, Soft Macadamia and (my personal fave) Apricot. So, if you hadnt already guessed, Tyne Chease rocks and you should most definitely get yourself some! Launching in May, products will be available online and at alternative stores. You can contact Tyne Chease in the usual 21st century ways…. @TYNECHEASE http://www.facebook.com/tynechease or info@tynechease.com

Tyne Chease kindly sent me the pics I have used in this blog 🙂