Daiya dairy and soy free cheese – hooray!

{Our first cheese pizza. What a great feeling! }

If you’re a hardcore vegan or someone with an allergy to milk (or soy), there is an amazing new cheese called Daiya on the market.  You see, most vegan cheeses contain casein (a milk protein) and are off limits to someone with a milk allergy.  Honestly, I’m not even sure how they can be marketed as vegan since they contain milk protein.  I’m sure it’s some sort of loophole.  Annoying.

Daiya cheese is made with  water, tapioca and/or arrowroot flours, canola and/or safflower oil, coconut oil, pea protein, salt, vegan natural flavours, inactive yeast, vegetable glycerin, xanthan gum, and citric acid.  It stretches, it melts, it tastes good.

Last week I was finally able to make a pizza with cheese that we all could eat.  The little guy loved it, we got our cheese fix and the thought of more cheese-related recipes swirled about in my head.

Here’s the fun part – finding Daiya cheese in Ottawa. The listed retailers on the Daiya website is pretty.. well.. not accurate. After visiting two of the NiCastro shops listed, I gave up and headed straight to the Natural Food Pantry. The Natural Food Pantry at Billings Bridge and Westgate Westboro (updated December 2, 2010) definitely have it, although you may want to call ahead just to make sure it’s in stock first.  Also, the Rainbow Foods website says they carry it, but I can’t confirm that one.

Tip: the official Canadian launch of this product hasn’t happened yet so most retailers receive 5lb bags of cheese and then repackage it into small containers.  For cheese lovers, you can buy the 5lb bag for just shy of $60.  I’ve heard it freezes well and it can be refrigerated for about 4 months.  We bought the 5lb bag.  : ) Updated: Decmeber 2, 2010 – Last time that I bought Daiya Cheese at the Natural Food Pantry I was able to buy the smaller packages.