I Finally Learned The Secret To Making Mind-Blowing Vegan Cheese (In Texas, The ‘Beef Capital’ Of The USA)
Almost a decade before Rebel Cheese opened their doors in Austin, Texas, I decided to stop eating animals. I didn’t know anyone who was vegetarian at the time and the word “vegan” had never made its way into my world before. In 5thgrade, while riding a subway with my mom on vacation, I looked down and saw a colorful leaflet on the seat next to me. I was a huge animal lover; I would spend my recess hunting for injured birds, bugs, and creatures and even formed a group called the Animal Savers that I got others to join. So when this colorful leaflet had faces of various animals decorating the front, I just couldn’t resist.
Learning What Happens To Animals Used For Food
The leaflet must have been one of some animal rights group and told of what happens to animals in the meat and dairy industry. Although I had grown up on my grandparents farm where they raced horses and slaughtered animals that we then ate for supper, I hadn’t made the connection that the animals who I would play with out in the field all day were the same ones whose bodies would end up in my stomach. My mom helped me read the pamphlet and right there and then I told her I would no longer eat animals anymore. Surprisingly, she just said “OK”.
Health Issues & Lots Of Dairy
I stuck to what I had declared… for the most part. All from 5thgrade until high school I went between being vegetarian and pescatarian; eating a diet comprised of a lot of cheese, bread, fruit and whatever veggies I could be convinced to eat. By the time I hit high school I was having severe stomach pain, diarrhea, and an upset stomach just about every day of my life. For someone who was social and athletic it was not a good mix. My stomach problems, which seemed to have no cure, eventually spiraled into depression and anxiety.
Ditching Dairy Changed My Life
Once I cut out the dairy during my senior year my life dramatically changed. The stomach pains and upset stomachs were mostly gone, but the depression and anxiety from living how I had before never went away. (Thanks, dairy industry!)
8 Years Strong On A Plant-Based Diet
I’ve been living vegan for about 8 years now, traveling the world and consuming a vegan diet, and must say that cheese was one of the hardest things for me to give up in the beginning. Like many others, I was a self-proclaimed “cheese lover”. I ate blocks of cheese, grilled-cheese sandwiches, and cheese sticks like it was my job. I couldn’t imagine a world without my beloved dairy cheese, but knew that I had to do it for the sake of my mental and physical well-being.
Vegan Cheese Has Dramatically Changed
When I switched to a 100% plant-based diet there were no fancy vegan cheeses like there are today that I knew of. There was only the plain, (dare I say gross?) tasteless, and weird-smelling lactose-free cheese. Over the years vegan chefs, cheese-makers, and food creators have paved the way for vegan dairy products, including cheese, and have produced some incredible outcomes.
Visiting Rebel Cheese Shop
I recently visited a high school friend in Texas, who knew me when I was just going vegan, and knew that I was close by to the famous Rebel Cheese shop. Rebel Cheese is a storefront with room to dine on their patio in Austin, Texas that makes their own plant-based cheeses and meats while selling a variety of vegan goodies and wines. After visiting the store, testing out some of the cheeses, having my taste-buds tantalized, and reflecting on my own cheese journey, I got in touch with one of the owners to learn a little bit about their cheese-making process. Find the best vegan food spots in Austin, Texas here.
(P.s. Did you know that Texas is the ‘Beef Capital’ of the USA? They have more cows than human people.)
Meet Kristen Maitland, Co-Founder Of Rebel Cheese
I spoke with Kirsten Maitland who is a co-owner and founder of the store who helped launch it back in October of 2019. When I asked her about how the original opening had gone, and how business has been since that day, Kristen said “From day one when we opened, we had a line down the street basically all day. There’s been a lot of repeats of that. I am constantly working on improving everything, especially the cheeses. I’m never going to stop testing, I am never going to stop tweaking, I’m never going to stop looking for ways to make it even better. That’s part of our business model, to constantly be innovating. That’s really important to us.”
She told me that she receives messages and email from folks who visit from out of state who had heard about them before visiting. It seems that many people, just like me, have heard the good word of Rebel Cheese and can’t wait to try their offerings.
Her Motivation For Making Vegan Cheese
When I asked what the main driving points for opening the shop were, such as planetary health, human health, or animal welfare and rights, she responded that it was all of those but animals were number one. That was the genesis of the kick starter for them because they wanted to do more for animals. She said, “We did a lot of volunteering at sanctuaries, rescues, and places like that, but we didn’t think it felt like much and wanted to do so much more. We were passionate about vegan food. We had been vegan for a while and felt like there was a gap in terms of gourmet vegan cheeses. We combined our values and passions and decided to go for it.”
Nonvegans Enjoying The Food
They have a lot of nonvegans come in each day and say that it really common. They can’t lock down the numbers exactly, but if they had to guess they think that more nonvegans than vegans frequent the shop. “68% of the population has some sort of lactose intolerance. Whether it is deadly or they just don’t feel good after consuming dairy, nearly everyone has some type of sensitivity to it,” Kristen says.
“We have a lot of people who come in and haven’t had brie or a blue in 20 years. We also have a lot of people who get together there for celebrations and they all have different diets. Normally the reaction from people is very positive.” She told me that she had a man come in who didn’t stop to look at any of the “plant-based” signs out front. She was working the front of the house and sold him some cheeses. As she mentioned something about the cheese being dairy-free, and he couldn’t believe it. He thought it was a regular cheese shop and had no idea that everything inside was free of animal products.
Their Most Popular Cheeses
I asked Kristen was sells the best and the response surprised me. Their most popular cheese is mozzarella, which is funny because they have various cheeses that they age for weeks and tend to every day. The aged cheeses come in next on the list of most popular, and their shabri was featured in the New York times. She explained to me that there is not much out there like their cheeses so they are always in demand.
The Future Of Vegan Cheese
When looking towards the future of vegan cheeses, I asked Kristen what she saw. “I see the vegan cheese industry going where the plant-based milk industry went. 10 years ago there was one option on the shelf, now there are 30 or 40 plant-based milks to choose from with new ones popping up every day. That is what people seem to going to first. Dairy milk sales have really gone down. I see that happening with cheese. If it taste just as good and you’re not compromising on anything, why wouldn’t you choose the alternative?”
Veganism Is Growing
With environmental, health, and animal welfare factors to consider, Grand View Research reports that “The global vegan cheese market size was valued at USD 1.01 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.8% from 2020 to 2027. Increasing acceptance of veganism among the consumers, especially among the millennials, has been fueling the market growth over the world. Growing awareness about animal cruelty and the negative impacts on the environment caused by the dairy industry has encouraged consumers to opt for plant-based products.”
There was one more thing that I had to ask Kristin, a leader paving the way in the vegan cheese industry, while I had the chance. I needed to know what the secret was to incredible vegan cheese. During my visit to the shop, I had so far been to 5 continents, 34 states, and 18 countries, all while eating plant-based food on a budget, without encountering vegan cheese as delicious as hers.
The Secret To Incredible Vegan Cheese
She was kind enough to let me in on the secret and said, “It is a lot of being patient, and testing a ton is really what it is all about. Being curious, patient, having some grit, and being ok with failure is important. There will be some fails but you have to learn from them. That is really how we got to where we are. We were relentless with our testing. We are still testing all of the time and looking for new ingredients and techniques.”
Advice For Vegan Cheese Makers
She left me with one final piece of advice for vegan cheese makers who aspire to bring their cheeses to a whole new level: “Be open to studying what the dairy industry has done for many years. That’s what we have done. We’ve replicated a lot of their techniques and applied them to plant-based mediums.”
If you are eager to try the cheeses, meats, and other 100% plant-based products from Rebel Cheese, check out their cheese club. They ship out different cheeses once a month each month across the USA for those who join.
