{"id":27248,"date":"2016-06-09T10:18:53","date_gmt":"2016-06-09T14:18:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/?p=27248"},"modified":"2016-06-09T10:18:53","modified_gmt":"2016-06-09T14:18:53","slug":"vtopian-vegan-cheese-portland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/vtopian-vegan-cheese-portland\/","title":{"rendered":"Fake Cheese Gets Real Delicious"},"content":{"rendered":"

The average consumer (me) defines cheese as \u201cdelicious.\u201d Merriam-Webster\u2019s primary definition is somewhat more stringent—according to the dictionary, cheese is \u201ca food consisting of the coagulated, compressed, and usually ripened curd of milk separated from the whey.\u201d The FDA, in turn, states<\/a> that said milk must be \u201cthe lacteal secretion, practically free from colostrum, obtained by the complete milking of one or more healthy cows\u201d (or sheep or goats), putting the kibosh on the technical validity of soy, almond, rice, and coconut milk. So, craving cheese, what\u2019s a vegan to do?<\/p>\n

The easy answer: find an alternative. Vegan cheese production<\/a> is, in principle, similar to traditional cheesemaking—proteins from non-dairy milks or butters are consolidated by lactic bacteria. The problem is that alternative milks don\u2019t tend to produce the same kinds of complex and diverse flavors<\/a> that dairy milk does. In recent years, though, as alternative diets have gained popularity, the call for more compelling vegan cheeses has grown louder, and artisan producers<\/a> have begun to spring up.<\/p>\n

Still, it\u2019s difficult to find a vegan cheese that really satisfies. Enter Vtopian Artisan Cheeses<\/a>, the second all-vegan cheese shop in the United States. Imber Lingard, an Australian vegan dismayed by the lack of non-dairy cheeses on her home continent, met Mark Jordan, an American lawyer, on Myspace (of all places) in 2008, and the pair married not long after. They started producing vegan cheese in Eugene, Ore., in 2013 and relocated to Portland two years later. There, the couple opened Vtopian\u2019s storefront and restaurant, joining an already-booming cheese scene—Portland not only hosts an annual cheese festival<\/a> but is also home to about two dozen cheesemakers<\/a> and even a sushi bar–style all-cheese restaurant<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lingard and Jordan separate themselves<\/a> from the often disappointing vegan-cheese pack by closely mimicking the process of traditional dairy cheesemaking with their alternative milk products—right down to the aging, which many vegan cheesemakers forgo, believing it impossible. The two have found that a cocktail of probiotics, sauerkraut, and vegan yogurt is what gets the job done, and experimentation, more than anything else, has been the key to Vtopian\u2019s successful development of thirty different varieties<\/a> of vegan cheese\u2014including spicy white cheddar, caramelized onion camembert, and raspberry brie.<\/p>\n

More than just a production operation and a storefront, Vtopian also serves brunch, lunch and dinner—to vegans, lactose-intolerant folks, and omnivores alike, proving that Lingard and Jordan have really unlocked the secret to making vegan cheese that passes. Featuring their own cheeses and those of other vegan cheesemakers, the small (but expanding) menu offers vegan versions of standbys like cheesy garlic bread, caprese panini, and Caesar salad, as well as more unusual fare like a grilled mac and cheese sandwich.<\/p>\n

Those with restricted diets and\/or open minds should give Vtopian Artisan Cheeses a try on the next visit to the Pacific Northwest. The FDA might not call it cheese, but you probably will.<\/p>\n

Feature Photo Credit: Chive and Dill Wedge<\/a> courtesy Vtopia Artisan Cheeses<\/a><\/em><\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vtopian Artisan Cheeses in Portland, Ore., proves that non-dairy cheese can play in the big leagues<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":27486,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"coauthors":[875],"class_list":["post-27248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cheese-bites"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFake Cheese Gets Real Delicious - culture: the word on cheese<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/vtopian-vegan-cheese-portland\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fake Cheese Gets Real Delicious\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Vtopian Artisan Cheeses in Portland, Ore., proves that non-dairy cheese can play in the big leagues\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/vtopian-vegan-cheese-portland\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"culture: the word on cheese\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-06-09T14:18:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/VtopiaCheese_ftr.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"368\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Caroline Fenn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Caroline Fenn\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/vtopian-vegan-cheese-portland\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/vtopian-vegan-cheese-portland\/\",\"name\":\"Fake Cheese Gets Real Delicious - culture: the word on cheese\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/vtopian-vegan-cheese-portland\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/vtopian-vegan-cheese-portland\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/VtopiaCheese_ftr.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-06-09T14:18:53+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/#\/schema\/person\/f8ecacd2cf283113e54909c1d11e1e80\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/vtopian-vegan-cheese-portland\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/vtopian-vegan-cheese-portland\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/vtopian-vegan-cheese-portland\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/VtopiaCheese_ftr.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/VtopiaCheese_ftr.jpg\",\"width\":750,\"height\":368},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/vtopian-vegan-cheese-portland\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Cheese Bites\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/category\/cheese-bites\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Fake Cheese Gets Real Delicious\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/\",\"name\":\"culture: the word on cheese\",\"description\":\"Culture, America's magazine for cheese lovers, delivers stories about cheeses, cheesemakers, travel to gorgeous cheese regions, and practical tips on buying, presenting, and cooking with cheese.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/#\/schema\/person\/f8ecacd2cf283113e54909c1d11e1e80\",\"name\":\"Caroline Fenn\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/94e156c8afbd38a29f492953c8a6b0cc\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/CarolineFenn_profpic-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/CarolineFenn_profpic-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Caroline Fenn\"},\"description\":\"While Caroline Fenn\u2019s primary pursuit is an M.A. in publishing from Emerson College, she thinks almost as frequently about whether burrata or Brie would be her desert island cheese. She comes to Boston via Connecticut and Rhode Island and also loves writing, coffee shops, and Fountains of Wayne.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/author\/caroline-fenn\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Fake Cheese Gets Real Delicious - culture: the word on cheese","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/vtopian-vegan-cheese-portland\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Fake Cheese Gets Real Delicious","og_description":"Vtopian Artisan Cheeses in Portland, Ore., proves that non-dairy cheese can play in the big leagues","og_url":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/vtopian-vegan-cheese-portland\/","og_site_name":"culture: the word on cheese","article_published_time":"2016-06-09T14:18:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":750,"height":368,"url":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/VtopiaCheese_ftr.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Caroline Fenn","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Caroline Fenn","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/vtopian-vegan-cheese-portland\/","url":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/vtopian-vegan-cheese-portland\/","name":"Fake Cheese Gets Real Delicious - culture: the word on cheese","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/vtopian-vegan-cheese-portland\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/vtopian-vegan-cheese-portland\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/VtopiaCheese_ftr.jpg","datePublished":"2016-06-09T14:18:53+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/#\/schema\/person\/f8ecacd2cf283113e54909c1d11e1e80"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/vtopian-vegan-cheese-portland\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/vtopian-vegan-cheese-portland\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/vtopian-vegan-cheese-portland\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/VtopiaCheese_ftr.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/VtopiaCheese_ftr.jpg","width":750,"height":368},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/vtopian-vegan-cheese-portland\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Cheese Bites","item":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/category\/cheese-bites\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Fake Cheese Gets Real Delicious"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/#website","url":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/","name":"culture: the word on cheese","description":"Culture, America's magazine for cheese lovers, delivers stories about cheeses, cheesemakers, travel to gorgeous cheese regions, and practical tips on buying, presenting, and cooking with cheese.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/#\/schema\/person\/f8ecacd2cf283113e54909c1d11e1e80","name":"Caroline Fenn","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/94e156c8afbd38a29f492953c8a6b0cc","url":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/CarolineFenn_profpic-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/CarolineFenn_profpic-96x96.jpg","caption":"Caroline Fenn"},"description":"While Caroline Fenn\u2019s primary pursuit is an M.A. in publishing from Emerson College, she thinks almost as frequently about whether burrata or Brie would be her desert island cheese. She comes to Boston via Connecticut and Rhode Island and also loves writing, coffee shops, and Fountains of Wayne.","url":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/author\/caroline-fenn\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/78"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27248\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27248"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=27248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}