best vegan cheeses in Toronto area?

[bellywizard]

Hi,
I'm entertaining for Thanksgiving and will serve some cheese appetizers. To accommodate 2 vegan guests, I'd like to include one vegan cheese (soy or rice based, I guess).

I've seen a lot of different soy/rice cheeses in stores (Annex area). What do you recommend? Are there any that stand out?

Thanks!

[happycamper]

What kind of cheese are you going to be substituting?
If you only need cream cheese, tofutti's original is very good. Be careful if you are going to be cooking it in high heat though; it tends to curdle in a very unpleasant way and emits too much water.
If you are going to substitute for cheddar or the like, your best bet is to make your own from nuts and yeast. there are some really nice recipes from vegan society websites.

Substituting vegan cheese in non-vegan recipes is always troublesome. You will have a much higher success rate if you started off with a vegan recipe.

[bellywizard]

This isn't for any recipes - it's to place on a cheese platter.
So no decent vegan cheeses, then? Alright! Thanks for the advice!

[thora]

Oooh, no - definitely not on a cheese platter. Really, they're horrendous. Try a veg pate or something instead. Thanks for making an effort to accommodate "us" veggies, though!

[BamiaWruz]

I agree, all the options I've tried weren't too good. I like the soy based "meats" like tofurky, they're not bad for an alternative food but I don't know about cheese.

[Bobby Wham]

No, none, any "vegan" or soy cheese is unpalateable, better off serving flavoured tofu or something.

[childofthestorm]

He's right. I would go to Jerusalem and get some hummus and baba ghanoush...or explore other veggie dip-type options.