In defense of Daiya
Vegan Nachos?
There’s a vegan cheeze for that
I’m kind of sick of people talking trash on the venerable brand of vegan cheeses, Daiya. It’s pronounced “Day-uh” by the way.
First of all, they have a ton of products that serve very different niches. So it doesn’t make much sense to denigrate a whole brand after you tried one of their products and found it wasn’t what you were looking for. I mean, I hate the Porsche SUV, but I love Porsche sports cars. Don’t be dumb. The Canadian company has a lot going on, and much of what they do is awesome. What most of the jerks who talk smack are referring to are the shreds that really put Daiya on the map.
I don’t want to get into the whole history of the company, but they were an early offering in the world of vegan cheese. It was affordable and surprisingly similar to the stuff it was emulating. When the company launched in 2008, I had been vegan for about 2 years. It was probably 2011 when I saw their logo for the first time. Like many vegans, I welcomed their melty shreds with open arms. I’ve since used Daiya to make pizzas, tacos, and probably anything else you could imagine. Daiya was pretty much the only show in town for a while.
Here was a product aiming at the lowest common denominator and the most common excuse people give for not going vegan. We’ve all heard it: “I could never give up cheese.” Those people aren’t talking about aged cheese they procure at the local cheese monger who has been keeping curds for generations. They’re talking about the slices and shreds of goo they associate with their favorite comfort foods: mac & cheese, pizzas, tacos, grilled cheese sandwiches, stuff their moms made them growing up. Where flavor is concerned, most cheese consumed in America sets the bar pretty low. But Daiya went and made it gluten, soy, nut, egg, and dairy-free. . . and VEGAN.
I remember the first time I saw it; I scoured the bag for that ubiquitous evil word: casein. I could hardly believe Daiya had done what they’d done. I knew I’d found something special.
You’re not supposed to put your hand in the bag, pull some out, stick it in the hole in your face, and compare it to some ideas you have about cheese. You’re supposed to put it on stuff. And every time someone tells me they don’t like Daiya, I make vegan nachos and they go crazy for it. I still cook with Daiya all the time, and my food is the bomb.
Nowadays there are a ton of artisan plant-based cheeses you can spend a fortune on, and those are often quite wonderful. But if you grew up in America, you likely had a ready-to-go cheese in the fridge you could throw on anything from a quesadilla to quiche. And thanks to Daiya, you can still do that except in a healthier way that doesn’t kill anybody. That’s cool enough to make me want to defend them.
Meantime, they have an extensive product list now. They have cheese blocks (I love the jalapeno Havarti). They have yogurts and dressings. I even tried pumpkin “cheezecake” at a vegan festival recently I thought was delightful.
Anyway, if you’re vegan, stop talking shit on Daiya. Use Daiya shreds as a gateway drug for newcomers to compassionate eating. If you’re not vegan, give a couple of their products a try; you’re bound to find one of your new go-to’s.
