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What is the appeal of a vegan pizza? Is it even pizza without cheese?
by markdown 6y ago
What is the appeal of a vegan pizza? Is it even pizza without cheese?
- Pfhreak 6y agoThere are vegan products that mimic the flavors and textures of cheese. And yes, there are also pizzas without cheese.
- sofixa 6y agoAs someone who has eaten vegan pizza, no, it's not, it's an abomination. Just make a veggie/vegan lasagna instead...
- tashoecraft 6y agoI've found so far, vegan cheese either melts and doesn't taste good or doesn't melt and tastes good. And by good I mean in comparison to mass produced cheese. It'll be awhile before there's a good, vegan alternative to homemade mozzarella. However, there doesn't need to be. The vast majority of cheesy/non-vegan food that's eaten is low quality ingredients.
- edkennedy 6y agoThen again, that's what everyone said about "proper meat replacements" as well a few years ago.
- ianai 6y agoIt’s a taste thing which varies person to person. Andy’s vegan margarita pizza is my favorite and the cheese scratches all the boxes for me. I’ve had fine vegan mozzarellas various places though. Might be time to try again or just encourage people to try for themselves as tastes aren’t universal.
- wasdfff 6y agoThe vegan cheeses I’ve sampled tend to fall into this uncanny valley of cheese flavor. Like yeah, its sorta like cheap bag cheese, cheese with more sweaty feet undertaste that I couldn’t not picture once I made the mental connection. Usually doesn’t melt, I've taken a torch to some trying to get it to melt and just end up searing it. Vegan burgers sometimes suffer from this when they lean away from the bean/tex mex route and try and tackle a hamburger. It ends up tasting like the grease is masking all the flavor, and it isn’t pleasant rendered fatty grease like in a burger but vegetable oil and a surprising amount of it. I don’t know if its the way its prepared or what, but imo its a tough prospect trying to ask $15 for a burger that tastes like oil soaked starch, hidden behind the aioli on the bun hoping you don’t notice. Impossible burgers fall into this grease pit area for my pallet, I’ve tried them pretty much anywhere I see them at least once and no matter how they try and hide the patty with the other components it still stands out like a sore thumb to me. I’ll wait another 5 years and try again. Hopefully more food science development can iron out these kinks.
- sukilot 6y agoThat's only for the cheap fake cheese, not a good cashew cheese. What's nice about cashew cheese is that it won't make you sick as quickly as a dairy cheese pizza will, which despite it's good taste charged a hefty tax afterward.
- dkersten 6y agoHonestly depends on the pizza. You can have good vegan pizza and bad normal pizza. You can have "cheese replacement" and you can have pizza that just doesn't use cheese. There's a wide spectrum and some of it is, IMHO, pretty nice (maybe some cheese would make it better still though) and some is not. (I'm not vegan, I just like to try vegan/vegetarian foods)
- octodog 6y agoIf anything that's a reflection on the vegan pizza available to you. Where I live (Melbourne, Australia) there are plenty of really excellent vegan pizza places.
- sukilot 6y agoAs someone who has eaten McDonald's hamburger, no, it's not, it's an abomination. Just make a veggie/vegan burger instead... In other woods, it's a matter of quality of ingredients and preparation.
- ReptileMan 6y agoMarinara is vegan and is amazing pizza when done right.
- astura 6y agoWhat about pizza and lasagna are even remotely comparable? I really like pizza and really hate lasagna. Hate, hate, hate it. Seriously, I don't know what it is about the lasagna form but the best tasting ingredients on earth end up tasting like garbage when assembled into a lasagna. I don't get it... Pizza, on the other hand, manages to be mostly enjoyable in its many different forms, including cheese-less (had that once at a fancy restaurant). They are basically opposite foods from each other as far as I'm concerned.
- crishoj 6y agoCheese isn’t necessarily dairy-based
- samatman 6y agoVegan 'cheeses', however delicious, are cheese only by analogy with real cheese, which is necessarily dairy-based.
- hobby-coder-guy 6y agoYes it is
- KitDuncan 6y agoI make cashew "mozzarella" for my vegan pizza. Everybody I know absolutely loves it.
- yesenadam 6y agoRecipe please?
- LegitShady 6y agoyou can google cashew mozzarella. They're all basically cashew, tapioca starch (makes it stretchy), flavorings (miso/nutritional yeast/etc), garlic, and a liquid (water/non-dairy yogurt/etc). The ingredients are blended, then cooked until it thickens.
- yesenadam 6y ago> you can google cashew mozzarella. I'm sure I can, but the GGP's recipe sounded particularly good! Ok thanks.
- dariusj18 6y agocashew is the best method of faux cheese. It has the creaminess and a good melt, but doesn't brown right.
- whimsicalism 6y agoThere is no best method of faux cheese - it depends on your usecase. That said, I do agree that cashew is extremely versatile.
- hnsfu 6y agoOut of interest, are you aware of how cashews are farmed and harvested? And the health implications involved in doing so?
- chongli 6y agoIf you’re vegan because you’re against cruelty, you might want to reconsider eating cashews. They’re processed in facilities that are often horrifically cruel to the workers [1]. [1] https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/nov/02/cashew-nut-workers-pay-conditions-profits https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/nov/02/c...
- ha4fsd3fas 6y agoThe appeal is the same as a Vegan burger. If you mimic cheese well enough then why would it not be a pizza?
- Broken_Hippo 6y agoTo be fair, I don't expect vegan burgers to mimic meat any more than I expect chicken to taste of beef. I just need it to taste good and have good texture, staying together when in the pan or on the grill and do well in the bun. I also can't quite remember what most meat tastes like, honestly.
- DonaldFisk 6y agoI assume it uses vegan cheese: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegan_cheese https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegan_cheese
- splouk 6y agoYou've clearly never eaten pizza in Italy :P
- nanomonkey 6y agoThere are a few groups that are making "real" vegan cheese, ie modifying e-coli or yeast to produce the same milk proteins, and then going through the cheese making process. One such is Real Vegan Cheese [https://realvegancheese.org/ https://realvegancheese.org/].
- the8472 6y ago> are making "real" vegan cheese But are they actually making it? The site looks quite aspirational.
- nanomonkey 6y agoI've tried two of the cheeses. I don't think that one particular group is selling anything yet.
- creaghpatr 6y agoGodspeed to the marketing team that has to go to market with "modified e-coli".
- BitwiseFool 6y agoThe E in E Coli stands for "Escherichia". Which sounds like a kind of Queso. Maybe they can make it work.
- dmurray 6y agoNot after M.C.Escher, sadly.
- dstick 6y agoE Coli Flower You’re welcome!
- elihu 6y agoIf they can use a similar trick to make wheat gluten, then you'd have E Coli Flour.
- ianai 6y agoOne go to is just make sure everything else is plant based or vegan (depending) and just order without cheese. Pizza without cheese sounds odd as a pretext, but does work in practice. It’s also a lot lighter.
- gpm 6y agoPesto and tomatoes on (circular) bread can be quite delicious... It's not the same food as "pizza" in my humble estimation, but it's still very good.
- ejolto 6y agoPesto isn't vegan, it's got parmesan cheese in it.
- gpm 6y agoTrue, I've had some pesto like substance on vegan pizzas served by very vegan friends, so I guess they have a good substitute for it.
- eskaytwo 6y agoParmesan is easy to substitute for nutritional yeast. It’s the mozzarella substitutes that are trickier to make realistic/tasty.
- Lorkki 6y agoThere are many ways to make pesto, and to make it plant based as well. My current favourite when preparing it myself is to grind smoked roasted almonds and nutritional yeast flakes.
- ada1981 6y agoI’ve been vegan for about 15 years.. I love Daiya cheese for pizzas and it melts well too. There are also a number of specialty cheeses that are great. I think if you live in a decent sized city you can find great vegan pizza / supplies.
- dkersten 6y agoMost Italian pizza has rather little cheese. I remember watching something once where the chef of a fancy pizzeria said that the most important thing in pizza is the bread: it should taste great without any topping. Then the sauce and finally everything else. I've had a great vegan pizza once and between bread, sauce and toppings, it tasted like great Italian-style pizza. Sure, a sprinkle of cheese would have made it better still, but the point is it tasted great and it tasted like pizza. Sure, it doesn't make for a great American-style pizza, which is all about overloading on cheese (and having rather meh tasting bread typically...), but that's not all there is to pizza around the world.
- kibwen 6y agoAnd some pizza doesn't have any cheese at all, such as pizza marinara (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizza_marinara https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizza_marinara), which is rare in the US but was pretty common growing up in the Italian portions of Western Pennsylvania.
- hated 6y agoCheese free pizza is a regression. It reminds of native Hawaiians becoming addicted to SPAM after living on it throughout World War 2. Nowadays many Hawaiians take pride in their cultural heritage of SPAM recipes (and heart disease?) Search for images of "hawaiian spam recipe"
- alchemism 6y agoTomato Pies baked by Italians in Philadelphia are quite good, also.
- astura 6y agoSupposedly a "plain" pizza in New Haven has only a bit of pecorino romano on it - gotta specifically ask for "mozz" if you want it.
- acdha 6y agoIt’s called apizza there, and a plain pie is surprisingly good: the places which do it (we liked Modern & Sallie’s) have really flavorful sauces which carry the day.
- dandare 6y agoThe appeal of vegan pizza is that no animals were industrially farmed to make it. If you think your cheese is suffering free you are lying to yourself.
- coryfklein 6y ago> you are lying to yourself. Gee well that's a rather bold statement. I find this attitude of "if you're not vegan you're a liar" so insufferable. I can think of at least a few explanations for the parent comment. "If you think your cheese is suffering free..." 1. You may be underinformed 2. You've purchased free range dairy products 3. You know something I don't
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- MiguelHudnandez 6y agoFor your third suggestion, I'll take a shot: For animals to lactate, they must become pregnant. Dairy cows are repeatedly impregnated, they give birth, and they are separated from their calves. Female calves become dairy cows themselves, male calves are either made into veal or killed promptly. A small fraction may become studs for more dairy calves. The entire ordeal is very much not natural and not pleasant. And we do it at a scale that is awe-inducing. If you are a compassionate type that sees cows in a similar light to dogs, I'd bet you can understand why someone would feel very strongly that it's not an option. If you would like to learn more there are a few documentaries that explore the big 3 benefits of veganism--Health, ecology, and animal welfare. I won't link them here as they are easy to find for any that are interested.
- Rapzid 6y agoI can't speak for vegan pizza, but turkey bacon is legit. No pigs were killed either.
- beerandt 6y agoIt can be good, but that doesn't make it bacon.
- wortelefant 6y agoI tried some great vegan cheese substitutes but these days I just heat soy cream/soy milk with nutritional yeast,a bit of miso and a bit of tapioca starch and pour it over the pizza. For the mouth feel of "something cheesy on top" this is more than enough
- oddeyed 6y agoThere's actually a big scene of vegan cheese alternative making, it's just pretty localised right now. For example there are many companies in London making excellent vegan alternatives (e.g. I AM NUT OKAY, Honestly Tasty, Kinda Co, Mouse's Favourite), many of which offer something with pizza-melty mozzarella-like effect. Local pizza delivery places offer the vegan options too. There's even some with blue mould for that real funky cheesy flavour! It's expensive right now but the product is there.
- jacobwilliamroy 6y agoThere is no appeal. Not for me anyway. I actually like fruits and vegetables, so I don't need to mutilate them into some sick facsimile of meat and dairy in order to enjoy them.
- tjbiddle 6y agoI love all sorts of pizza: Meaty, cheesy, vegan, and everything in-between. I've had some truly phenomenal vegan pizzas that I would regularly take over a "traditional" pizza. I've also had some horrible ones. But you can say that about anything :-)
- setgree 6y agoPauline Gee’s slice shop in Greenpoint has some vegan options that would fool most people in a blind taste test, I think. The bread and the sauce are doing most of the work.
- randoramax 6y agoYes, there are a gazillion ways of making pizza without cheese. And I'm not vegan :)
- chrysoprace 6y agoI don't know why your comment was downvoted so heavily. I'm sure a baked bread dish topped with a red sauce and cheese-imitations taste nice, but they simply aren't pizza. Now if you remove the cheese-imitation you have marinara pizza.
- grumple 6y agoThe appeal is that it tastes like pizza but without the animal involved.
- ineedasername 6y agoWell, there's inherent appeal for any vegan that wants to enjoy pizza.
- Qwertious 6y agoI used to think that, then I found a place that does a great vegan pizza. It is delicious, especially the "cheese".
- cassteri 6y agoYou can get vegan cheese that melts even.