3-ingredient substitute to grated cheese
3 ingredients + 4 steps = a smooth homemade substitute to grated cheese you can prepare in no time. However, get ready to be scared by the properties of its main ingredient: Brazil nut.
Serves: yourself (nobody forces you to share)
Preparation: 5 minutes
There’s a large selection of vegan cheeses (a term which had dodged becoming illegal in Europe, by the way) around us. Of course, it’s easier to shop for them in some countries and cities than others. From the first time I tried (and disliked) a basic, coconut-heavy vegan alternative to cheese, to the wow effect when I tasted some delicious products, less than 5 years passed. I continued to be a regular customer of such products, and I have my favorite brands — curious about my recommendations, ask in comment:
These products can be criticized either for their nutritional values (and there seems to exist a heated debate regarding coconut fat) or the fact that they’re highly processed food. My personal critic is that these alternatives are… damn expensive! They cost as much as premium cheeses, and I can’t afford buying them every other week. Beside reducing my consumption (while still enjoying those manufactured products), I’ve often resorted to use simple nutritional yeast. The present recipe for a grated cheese alternative requires nutritional yeast indeed, however the main ingredient is this mighty Brazil nut.
About Brazil nut
Brazil nuts, also called Amazonian nuts or Amazonian chestnuts, are the fruits of the Brazil nut tree. They’re served as appetizers, or ingredients for desserts like the Brazil nut cake. Once finely grated, Brazil nuts land on your tongue like smooth fatty clouds. They provide the fat taste of a famous Italian grated cheese.
Brazil nuts have interesting nutritional qualities, providing a fair amount of dietary fibers, vitamins, and minerals one needs daily. It is a surprising source of selenium, where 28 g of Brazil nuts (more or less what this recipe invites you to use) provides 774% of the daily recommended value for this element — 10 times the US Recommended Dietary Allowance. Also, Brazil nut trees have a large system of roots which results in capturing radium, which their fruits feature at levels 1,000 times higher than other food. Yes, Brazil nuts may be the most radioactive food you’ll ever eat.
If you are scared, remember Brazil nuts are legal products, approved for food consumption, sold with neither restrictions nor warning labels. And remember that neither Wikipedia nor myself are providing medical advice. If you’re not scared, you can proceed with the rest of the article, and enjoy a delicious alternative to grated cheese.
Ingredients
30 g Brazil nuts1, dried, shelled, unblanched
1 heaped soup spoon of malted beer nutritional yeast ~ 5 g (the more malted, the stronger the taste)
2 heaped soup spoons of garlic coarse powder ~ 10 g
Preparation
This recipe doesn’t require much from you — by reading the text until now, you’ve likely spent more time than its preparation will require from you. There’s no Cooking section further below, everything is done with these 4 steps:
Grate the Brazil nuts with a small-hole grater
Add the malted nutritional yeast
Add the garlic coarse powder
Mix together
There’s no step 5!
Once prepared, use immediately or store in the fridge for a maximum of 3 days. Given how simple it is to prepare from dried ingredients, you can prepare a small quantity while your pasta or rice cooks. I have no idea if this freezes well. My understanding is that it can, provided the air enclosed when sealing the container is dry; otherwise humidity will crystallize.
Enjoy!
If you’ve tried the recipe, and would like to comment - whether you loved it, or hated it - please do so. I’m welcoming ideas, even if these are non-vegan recipes I’ll have the challenge to “veganize”.
Here’s a tip before you go
Don’t settle for the recipe as is. Pimp it with additional dried ingredients, depending on the kind of dish you’ll use this with. For example, when I’m going to sprinkle it on Italian-style pasta, I add dried basil or oregano. When I’m going to use it with Mexican-style fried rice, I add dried paprika, or chili pepper flakes. The earlier you add these ingredients, and the longer you refrigerate the mix, the more diffused the flavor.
Be cautious: although Wikipedia article doesn’t mention it, I’ve found references online to Brazil nut being an allergen
How funny! I am making a wheel of vegan parmesan today, in order to make Cacio e Pepe. I love the idea of using Brazil nuts. Can't wait to try this for the next one!