It impresses me that a whole new generation of kids are being raised with a preference to the imitation rather to genuine taste. Many Dutch kids tend to prefer a canned tomato soup than a homemade one and instead of fresh fruit juice they prefer lemonade (limonade: concentrated syrup diluted in water in the proportion 1-7). Chicken nuggets do not enter my home because I do not know what they are made of. And yes - I have heard of kids who prefer chicken nuggets to real pieces of chicken. Deli meats ? Nah ! Gimme real meat please.
But I am going to talk about fake cheese in this post. It looks like cheese, it tastes like cheese, it can be cut like cheese, it melts like cheese - but it IS NOT CHEESE. The last years I've noticed that they seem to be everywhere. I have eaten it in Brazil too. In the NL Dutch magazines, sites and TV programmes are talking more and more about it.
Fake cheese - It is called in Dutch analoog kaas or imitatiekaas or nepkaas and it is basically made of vegetable oil (palm oil). It doesn't have to be per se more fattening than real cheese. The problem is that many fast food chains call their fake cheese real "cheese", or it is mixed with real cheese. Or worse: the fake cheese is a mixture of vegetable oil with egg white and/or wheat flour & potato starch. Surely sulfites and chlorine (how unhealthy). In Holland on many labels a fake cheese can be called "feta" or "Edam" or "Gouda" - when in fact it is not. Shame !! I expected the Dutch consumers being more demanding/critical on that, cause they have wonderful cheeses. Most frozen pizzas in Holland are topped with fake cheese, and lots of frozen products (lazagnas, fish with a "cheese" crust, stuffed chicken filet or cordon bleu, cheese souffles, etc.) have fake cheese. Cheese burgers and pizzas in Dutch restaurants also tend to be made with fake cheese as well. Why ? It is much much cheaper and melts down easier. It is legal to use fake cheese and it doesn't have to be reported on the labels. I think cow farmers should be infuriated about that !!
Remy knows what real cheese tastes like.
