My friend
Eileen offered me some of her vegan sister Denise’s Crock Cheeze. Thicker than
a dip, it reminded me of the soft cheese in brown ceramic crocks my friend
Biffy and I used to eat after school when I would visit her family’s
restaurant. The crocks were set out along the bar in the darkened room, and we
would sit on tall stools while slathering the cheese on crackers.
This vegan cheeze
was not orange colored, but it had the same texture and tang. What was in it? I
had to know! Denise kindly emailed me the recipe, which came out of Jo
Stepaniak’s 1997 vegan cookbook, Vegan Vittles. The cheeze turned out to be
tofu-based, not nut-based, as I thought it might have been.
I doubled
the recipe, as Denise recommended, and I added red pepper, since my paprika was
kind of old and brown looking. Note to self: Buy some fresh paprika. Next time
I might add some turmeric for its yellow color. I also think some roasted red
pepper would be a nice addition.
