Legend has it that thousands of years ago, in the deserts of Arabia, a nomad carrying milk in a sack made from sheep intestine produced the accidental first batch of cheese curds. Her movements agitated the amalgam of milk and intestinal enzymes and, under the hot sun, produced what we call cheese. Rennet (or Rennin), an enzyme that is a product of calf stomachs and sheep intestines is a key ingredient in typical cheeses – not only making most cheese undesirable for vegans, but also for vegetarians – many of whom imagine that cheese is somehow produced without harming animals. Some veal with your cheese?
They are pioneering a new cheese in New York, and there is no reason that any food lover shouldn’t take them seriously.
Enter Veronica and Pablo of Dr. Cow, a small company that got its start making granola. They use raw, organic tree nuts like cashews and macadamias as the base of their cheese products. They apply different cultures and molds, and age it like any udder cheese. The final products are irresistible, delicious, and obsession-worthy artisan cheeses that are not only amazingly savory and versatile, but they are 100% raw, vegan, and full of probiotics, enzymes, protein, healthy fats, and omega fatty acids. While conventional cow’s milk-based cheeses are laden with cholesterol, chemicals, hormones and a host of other objectionable attributes – not to mention the ethical and environmental concerns of animal agriculture and dairy-collection, Dr. Cow’s cheeses are an anomaly; Healthy and deviantly indulgent.
In Chicago, Dr. Cow can be purchased at Karyn’s Fresh Corner, 1901 N Halsted St.
