The ‘Truffled aged wheel made from cashews’ is one of the vegan cheeses of Quevana, ‘the vegan cheesery’ from La Lastrilla in the outskirts of Segovia in Spain. As it is vacuum packaged in its own oils, the shelf life is relatively long. In case of the product we bought, there was even a bit more than a year to go to the “best before” date. Also, it should be noted the price is very competitive for a cashew-based cheese as we bought it for €4.99 for 160 grams.

When unpacking further, we notice it comes out slightly oily from the packaging. To us it does not look the same as a semi-cured dairy cheese on the outside, as there is less of a rind visible from the curing (natural drying) process, which may have happened due to the natural cashew nut oils in the packaging. At the same time, when cutting the cheese, we can see the change in colour from a darker rind towards a lighter inside that most likely originated in the 6-8 weeks curing. While that is a relatively short period for a semi-cured dairy cheese, it is a relatively long aging time in the range of vegan cheeses we have reviewed so far. We could say this cheese is produced with some patience therefore, letting the natural processes of fermentation and aging do their work.

In some ways, this vegan cheese-making is similar to the fermentino-style of vegan cheese from Italy. It is based on only a few ingredients, with a base of nuts, water, salt and ferments, followed by natural drying. Also, for both types processing is low, and the base of protein-rich nuts provides a healthy alternative for dairy cheese.

The taste is a pleasant savoury mix of truffle aroma, nutty and hints of earthy vegetable and sweet-sour from the fermented cashew. This nice truffle taste is the main draw for us and why we do add it to our cheese platter.