Nutty Artisan Foods is a small vegan cheese maker that aims to create tasty plant-based alternatives to dairy cheese with few ingredients. This vegan cheese from their line of products is labelled in Spanish as “Ajo silvestre”, which we translate as “Wild garlic”. Based on the location of Nutty Artisan Foods in Cádiz, Spain, and the ripening of the cheese by air curing, we categorised it as Spanish semi-cured. It is similar in style to the fermented cashew-based vegan cheeses of Quevana, another Spanish producer in that category, such as Truffled. At the same time, this vegan cheese does not directly resemble a particular dairy cheese and with its few ingredients and base of fermented nuts it is also similar to the Italian Fermentino cheeses, such as Fermè Herbs & Flowers.

After removing the paper wrapper, the cheese itself is vacuum sealed in plastic, therefore it is a bit wet from its own oils when unpacking. It has a moderate smell of a garlic. We assume the shredded green leaves in the cheese must be wild garlic, while the ingredient list also mentions granulated garlic in the paste (both as one 1% of the weight). Also in taste the garlic is clearly distinguishable, next to a nice balance of acidity and nutty taste from the fermented cashews.

Conclusion

Overall, we thought the wild garlic flavour is an interesting variation for a vegan cheese platter if your looking for something a bit different. Note, it does not melt, as typical for a vegan cheese based on a paste of fermented nuts.

According to the producer’s website, Nutty vegan cheeses are available in many European countries and also the United States.¹