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 Last week a delightful shipment landed on my doorstep. It contained four attractively designed packages of the latest non-dairy cheese to hit North America, Sheese. Produced in Scotland, this stuff has been all the rage among the vegan community. As someone who’s writing and baking revolves around all things dairy-free, I was insanely eager to trial this new cheese contender.
They offer nine different varieties of the “hard cheese” alone. Since I can spend an hour trying to decide “chocolate or vanilla,” I thought it would be best to leave fate up to the Sheese folks. Not to mention, I love surprises! I opened the box to discover four different flavors, Cheddar with Chives, Strong Cheddar, Blue Style, and…Cheshire? Okay, those of you in the UK may be intimately familiar with Cheshire, but as I sit in my desert home far from any cheese tasting rooms, all I can think of is the cat in Alice and Wonderland. Thank goodness for the Internet! I hopped online and whom should I discover with a Cheshire Cheese google, but the British Cheese Board. Abundant with dairy-rich recipes, I went out on a limb and selected the Cheshire Scones to veganize. Of course, my version contains a few alterations from the Cheese Board original, but the results were actually quite good. The sharp tang of the Cheshire added a level of complexity to these slightly moist, yet decidedly scone-like, treats. I must admit it was delightful to change up my sugary teatime ritual with these savory scones.  Now that it had proven its skill within recipes, a couple of purist tests were in order. I trialed a wedge of Cheshire style Sheese solo and with some crackers to get the real cheese experience. The Cheshire had a very mild cheesy smell that certainly didn’t overpower. A bit softer and more pliable than your standard hard cheese, it easily melted in my mouth. When eaten plain, the texture was fair, though a bit pasty. The flavor was very tangy, with that buttermilk like flare of vinegar or lemon. Though I still wasn’t big on the texture, it was less noticeable when paired with crackers (third wedge from the left), and the flavor contrast was enjoyable. 
This Sheese shredded rather well for my scones, and also exhibited excellent crumbling abilities. For a final taste test, I crumbled some of the Cheshire over a salad of greens, bell peppers, garbanzos, and sliced olives. I was never a big cheese person, but I did love the ability to enjoy a salad sans dressing. For some reason cheese always added just the right amount of oomph to let the salad stand-alone. I was thrilled to discover the same talent from the Cheshire style Sheese. When combined with Sheese and the olives, the salad tasted delicious and complete. Since this particular version tends to crumble a bit when sliced, I would definitely recommend it most for shredding, baking (within a recipe), and crumbling applications. It isn’t really a melt-on-top type of cheese, and though some may like it for snacking, it didn’t work for me on its own. I have a bit of the Cheshire remaining, and plan to give a small batch of the Apple and Cheshire Crumble a whirl, veganized of course! How to Purchase: - Manufactured by Bute Island Foods of Scotland, Sheese is available in natural food retailers throughout the U.K. However, if you can't find it, then you can order it from Goodness Direct.
- In North America, Black Duck Imports is diligently working to get Sheese in stores. See their website for a store locator. It can also be ordered online from Vegan Essentials.
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