Product Test: Lupinesse Ice Cream

Product Test "Lupinesse" Ice Cream/Produkttest Lupinesse Eis

What? In English and German. :) Even though the ice cream is only available in Germany.

Was? Auf englisch und deutsch. :) Obwohl es das Eis nur in Deutschland gibt.

I have not had decent "milk" ice cream in a while. We used to have a small place by our uni campus that sold amazing oat milk based ice cream.... then they closed. :( So we went out to a supermarket that we rarely visit because we had read about Lupinesse ice cream - ice cream based on blue lupin!

Ich habe schon lange kein "Milch"-Eis mehr gegessen. Wir hatten mal einen kleinen Laden um die Ecke von der Uni, bei dem es total großartiges Hafermilcheis gegeben hat... und dann haben sie dicht gemacht. :( Also sind wir mal zu einem Supermarkt gefahren, in dem wir sonst eher selten sind (Real), weil wir von Lupinesse Eis gelesen hatten - Eis, das aus blauer Lupine hergestellt wird.

Adventures at the Asian Wholesale!

Finally, our food friends and us made plans to do something besides cooking for each other and eating food. We went on a little adventure trip to the neighboring city (Oberhausen, in case anyone cares) to pick up some products we had learned about in our Thai cooking class. Mushroom sauce, for example!

We got our obligatory must-buy list:

• 3l of coconut milk
• new green Thai curry paste
• sesame
• woks
• julienne slicer
• 1.9l Kikkoman soy sauce bottles
• fresh lemon grass
• fresh galgant
• and squishy tofu (yeah, that's my professional cooking term for the type of tofu that is softer than the stuff I get at the regular supermarket)

But we also took the gamble of trying some other stuff. We mostly stay in the safe zone, but here is what we bought!

Product Test: Daiya Cheese - Cheddar Style Shreds

I had heard so many great things about daiya cheese, how it melts and pulls strings like cow cheese does! So when I recently had the chance to get some for a much lower price than usually (227g/8oz. sell for around €7! - I got 2 for the price of one!), I went for it.

What better way to try vegan cheese than on a pizza?

This is what the bag looks like. 

This is what the bag looks like next to homemade pizza dough!
How to make pizza dough and sauce!

The shreds look a little greasy and
taste okay-ish when they're not molten yet.

Before and after baking

Ooooh, the cheesy goodness!

I have tried a number of different types of vegan cheeses and I like daiya quite a bit! It melts beautifully and it's true: It melts like cow milk cheese, it's a bit stringy when you pull out a slice or take a bite. BEAUTIFUL! <3

I really like it, but I am most certainly not willing to pay €7 for 228g. That's over €30 per kilo. I understand that vegan cheese is more expensive because the production is much lower than animal milk cheese, because it isn't subsidized, because many companies avoid cheap ingredients that are harmful to the environment (like palm oil).... I understand all that and I appreciate that awesome stuff like daiya is being made. But it's just not in my budget on a regular day. 

Final commentary!