Friday, October 14, 2011

Parmazano & Prawns


A couple of other products I ordered in my latest shipment from Pangea (and tonight at 10 p.m. central time, my giveaway for a $40 gift certificate ends):

Parmazano
(on my ravioli with sauce and green olives)

I ordered this because I hadn't tried it before, and I like to try everything (vegan). And also because Pangea's website declared it "the closest thing to real parmesan cheese we've ever tasted."

Ingredients: GMO-free soy flour 72%, non-hydrogenated vegetable oils 17%, rock salt, flavoring (vegan), vitamin E (antioxidant). Produced in a nut-free facility.

Vegan Parmesan Alternative PARMA! Vegan Parmesan AlternativeParma! Chipotle CayenneGarlicky Green PARMA!
They also carry Galaxy Nutritional Foods parmesan alternative (also made of soy) and Parma! (made of nutritional yeast, walnuts, and salt), both of which I like. What I haven't tried are the "chipotle cayenne" and "garlicky green" versions of Parma, which I think sound good.

I also decided to try Sophie's Kitchen Prawns (shrimp). I've always passed by the vegan shrimp in the store because it freaked me out for the same reason I can't handle eating Smart Dogs, etc. They look and feel too "real." I continued to be freaked out as I cooked them, and my kids were squealing with nervousness, too.

Ingredients (non gmo): Polysaccharide gel (konjac powder, beta-glucan, water for hydration), modified potato starch, organic agave nectar, sea salt, carrageenan, alginate (from seaweed), paprika, calcium hydroxide.

They're pre-cooked, ready to eat (and no poo!) when thawed, but I pan-fried them. I also had no idea how one would eat shrimp normally, so I googled it and came up with pasta as a quick solution.

The taste of this product was fine to me. Very plain like a noodle or tofu (but with perhaps a bit of an aftertaste that wasn't bad to me, but some might not like it...my husband and 1/3 of my kids liked it). I also made a quick "cocktail sauce out of Vegenaise, hot sauce, and ketchup. I never had any attachment to seafood, so there's no reason I'd run out and buy these tomorrow. But I'd definitely eat them again sometime, especially if I had a recipe that might include them.

10 comments:

  1. Jason and I picked up the vegan shrimp once. I was fine with it. Always hated shrimp when I actually did eat meat. He didn't like them at all though b/c I guess he does like shrimp. Now he refuses to entertain the idea of buying them again.

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  2. Whoa those shrimp look so real! I remember I ordered vegan shrimp from a restaurant and being freaked out by how real it looked and tasted along with the texture! I thought it was real even though I was in a vegan restaurant! Can't wait to see who wins tonight!

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  3. But which vegan parm is the winner, I ask!!!!
    They sell those shrimp at our health food store--I feel okay about passing them up now.

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  4. PS By "winner" I meant "best." Guess I got contests on the brain.

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  5. I'd like to know which parm you liked best as well. Before becoming vegan I never really ate shrimp, so I was curious but also a little freaked out by it too. Thanks for sharing, maybe I'll get over it and try these now!

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  6. Heather, how did you eat them? I've never eaten shrimp in real life. Probably no seafood except maybe my parents fed me fish sticks or something when I was a toddler.

    Jackie, yes, I almost couldn't try 'em, but I did.

    Sarah, sometimes I become so paranoid I'm convinced that what I'm eating in a veg restaurant is real meat. I always make my husband taste it first because he ate meat ten years ago or so.

    Stacy and Celeste, I don't know which one I like the best. I don't think I have a favorite between the Parmazano and Galaxy Foods - it's been awhile since I've had the second one. I def like both of those. I usually make my own from nut. yst and walnuts so I guess I prefer the health benefits of the Parma over a potential taste winner.

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  7. thanks for the giveaway win! trust me, it has been FAR from my lucky month. this is the luckiest thing that has happened to me other than the other giveaway win. the rest of it has been a big disaster. so this helps keep my spirits up, thanks a lot.

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  8. WOW, I can't get over how much those look like real shrimp...totally freaky!

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  9. I've tried Parma and thought it was good, but not like Parmesan. I haven't tried Parmezano. The shrimp, I saw at Seattle VegFest, but couldn't bring myself to try them. Seeing them pictured here, I still don't know if I'd try them — too realistic. Interesting, though. :)

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