The Art of Plant-Based Cheesemaking: How to Craft Real, Cultured, Non-Dairy Cheese (Homegrown City Life, 2)

Make your own real, non-dairy cheese at home—traditional methods for making plant-based cheese

As plant-based, dairy-free diets continue to expand in popularity for health and ethical reasons, cheese often becomes the “last hurdle.”

Much of what passes for non-dairy “cheese” lacks the quality and depth of authentic, cultured cheese. Yet for aspiring DIY plant-based cheesemakers, much of the knowledge of this new craft is scattered in isolated kitchens, and there’s no real reliable guidance to what works, what doesn’t, and why, when making real, cultured plant-based cheese. This book aims to change all that and bring this new craft into the kitchens of the world.

Written by a pioneering plant-based cheesemaker who draws deep from the well of experience, The Art of Plant-based Cheesemaking is a clear, highly practical guide that extends traditional cheesemaking methods into the realm of plant-based media as a substitute for dairy.

Coverage includes:

• Understanding culturing and fermentation
• Essential ingredients and equipment for crafting plant-based cheese
• Plant and nut-based media and how to make them
• How to create and train plant-based cultures
• Delicious recipes for quick cheeses
• Advanced recipes for cultured and aged cheeses
• Resources for sourcing equipment and cultures.

Packed with step-by-step recipes, straightforward processes, and encouraging experimentation, this book makes plant-based cheesemaking accessible for beginners and serious foodies alike.

Simply everything you need to make delicious non-dairy cheese right at home.

Karen McAthy is Executive Chef of Zend Conscious Lounge and Chef and Founder of Blue Heron Creamery in Vancouver, BC, which creates and supplies authentic cultured plant-based cheeses to restaurants, retail outlets, and private customers.