Monday, December 31, 2007

last post of the year- Faux Feta Cheese Pasta

Growing up, a weekly meal my dad and I would make was feta cheese pasta. It was a very simple, yet delicious meal of thin spaghetti, feta cheese (sometimes we got the special French variety from our local Middle Eastern grocery store), green onions and garlic cooked in olive oil with salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper. That's it. It was a dish I thought I would never get to have again as a vegan since feta has such a distinct flavor and texture that is hard to match. When I saw Leigh from Raspberry Swirl (Leigh is also co-owner of Cosmo's Vegan Shoppe in Atlanta) had made a pizza with some faux feta cheeze (and had some at at Cosmo's for sale) I got very excited. We ended up going down there soon after and buying a package of the lemon oregano variety with very high expectations. While the faux feta smelled exactly like feta and had a nice crumble to it, the taste and mouth feel of it was not feta like . . . to me anyway. Jared thought it tasted pretty right on, but you have to understand how much feta cheese pasta I ate as a kid (and grown up), so I knew what I was missing. It didn't have that melty but still intact texture I was craving, in fact is was a bit on the grainy side to me. Oh well. It wasn't a complete flop. The green onions, garlic and olive oil with the salt, black pepper and cayenne was exactly as I remember with the pasta. I think a lot of people would really like this faux cheese product, unless they are ex-cheese snobs like I am and have a very delicate palate for that sort of thing. Any way, I hope everyone has a fun but safe New Year's Eve and wonderful start to the New Year!
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14 comments:

bazu said...

Happy new year!

That pasta looks simply divine.

Pink Theory said...

Happy New Year!

Sounds like a yummy dish. though I never ate much feta pre-vegan days, I want some of that.

Leigh said...

It seems like no matter how hard the fake cheeses try, they all come up a tad short in some way or another. I do like that feta better than some other fake cheeses, though. The pasta does look delish!

aTxVegn said...

Faux feta sounds interesting. The pasta looks fantastic!

Happy New Year!

Kate said...

Yum! Happy New Year!

Anonymous said...

Happy new year!

I will have to keep my eyes open for that faux feta...I did eat quite a bit of feta growing up, and I am curious to see if it can live up to my memories!

Courtney

Melisser; the Urban Housewife said...

Happy New Year!
I found the faux feta to be just alright as well. I had the Mediterranean Herb version & while I might purchase it on sale from time to time, it won't be a staple around here!

Jacqueline Meldrum said...

It still looks good! Hope you find a better fake feta next time.
Happy New Year!

Vegan_Noodle said...

Happy New Year Lori!! I remember feta vaguely. I only started eating it as an adult, so it probably would be a fine sub for me. Hope you eventually find one that's closer!

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

sorry that the "feta" didn't live up to its expectations, but no worries; your pasta dish STILL sounds/look fabulous.

happy belated new year!!

Judy said...

I love cheese more than any other food, and it is the main reason I don't think I could ever go vegan. Feta is one of my favourites, and this pasta sounds really nice. I might try it tonight actually!

Carolann said...

Feta cheese is hard to fake unfortunately. Hopefully soon we'll be able to create something close to it. The pasta looks amazingly delicious! Happy New Year!

MeloMeals said...

Most of the fake cheese out there is disappointing. I make a great tofu feta that is awesome in spanikopita and other dishes that don't rely on the texture, but I haven't been able to perfect the texture that is so necessary in feta or any of the fake hard or block cheese. It is something I want so much to figure out.

urban vegan said...

Sounds delish and intriguing. I'm usually a purist when it comes to pasta--ie, I only like pure Italian versions--but I would definitely like this.