My Life ‘Biolife or Bio Cheese [also, Violife]’
Hard, melting Greek fasting cheese
A hard, meltable cheese with a flavour similar to edam
Pros: Meltable, soon to be across Australia (along with more options), easy to grate/slice and cook with, subtle flavour
Cons: Can be expensive and price significantly varies, waxy texture is off-putting for some, a struggle to find elsewhere at present
I’ve stumbled across concerns about Greek fasting cheese from vegans a lot — especially as many were told by retailers that certain cheese was vegan, only later to find out it was not cruelty free (and included many things, such as casein). However, this is one Greek fasting cheese that is most certainly vegan and has had so many people excited despite the company being very quiet about their Australian debut. And the excitement has been for good reason, as it turns out.
A lot of people online were calling this ‘Bio Life’ and a whole bunch of other things, and it was really tricky to actually find any decent information (it also seems the company have been inundated with all our requests, as they didn’t respond in the time it took me to buy it, eat it and then ponder and write about it). In fact, it seems there’s still some confusion around the name. I call it Bio Cheese as that’s what’s on my packet.
My Life Bio Cheese brand is manufactured in Greece by Violife, and My Co Pty Ltd is the wholesaler of the cheese, with Oliana distributing it in some way — their name is on the packet, although no mention on the website yet. They will be providing a retail range, according to an answer Melbourne vegan club’s Vanessa received from My Co CEO Terry Paule, which noted that 200 gram slices and original, cheddar and mozzarella style will be available. A new website/social media launch will happen then as well — so we’ll likely be hearing much more about them. They will also be going through the vegan third-party certification process. My Co’s head office is apparently in South Yarra, so it makes sense that there has been a Victorian launch first. Online info notes that My Co was established to “focus primarily on opportunities in the global food sector” — and we’re glad that it was! Apparently there’s a Hong Kong office as well.
So, while it was hard to find general information to begin with (which was leaving many suspicious about whether it truly was vegan and where it had come from) — the ‘Violife’ name cracked it. It’s their original flavour, I believe, and all the details you need to know about it are here. It seems the products were initially in a ‘Viofast’ range, but possibly because the vegan interest seems to have outweighed the fasting interest they were rebranded.
And, as it turns out, our overseas vegan counterparts are going crazy for it — with France, Germany, Poland, Holland, Switzerland, Spain, Slovakia and more on their list. Don’t feel too left out, Australians, it seems Viotros actually filed for the Violife trademark in Australia in 2010 — so we’ve been on their radar for some time (they put in for an Australian trademark last year for Viocheese, and then one for Biocheese in February). It’s called different things overseas, for instance in Spain it’s likely Wilmersburger cheese. I assume the names are different to suit the languages and trademark requirements.
For those outside of Melbourne, I’ve put in a request to find out what the plans are — though I’ve been told Sydneysiders can expect it as early as later this week. Current online discussions says that following this launch in Melbourne (which has been very successful in some stores and apparently not so much in others) it will be rolled out to Sydney and potentially other states and territories. For Melburnians, full stockist list is at the bottom of this post.
But now let’s get back on with what we care about — the eating and the cooking! The cheese comes in a block of as-yet undetermined size. Mine was around 450 grams, while others have purchased 2.5 kilograms of the cheese, as needed (I’ve seen the huge 2.5 kilogram blocks at Habib’s Wholefoods on Flinders Street). It’s being sold in delis, particularly in Greek areas, which is incredible to me (what delis do you know that sell vegan cheese?!) and you buy it based on the weight.
Mine came shrink-wrapped in plastic and refrigerated, and as soon as I got it home, I snipped it open for a try. It cuts like Notzarella does — it’s almost like hard tofu, and quite close to dairy cheese, with a waxy texture. On first bite, I tasted nothing, but as I kept chewing a subtle edam flavour that I really enjoyed emerged. This type of reaction has me thinking that it’s best served as a melting cheese– I prefer a strong bite for a sandwich or for crackers, particularly if you’re pairing with other flavours that might out-do this cheese’s subtlety.
It’s a flexible cheese, so can be folded over about 150 degrees before tearing, which makes it great for displaying on platters or folding into a baguette. It is also the perfect cheese, in my mind, to introduce to vegan parties — I think it would be perfect in cubes with pineapple on toothpicks, in that very housewarming-style house gathering way. It’s really easy to cut, grate and use — it doesn’t crumble because of the texture, so you can cut it into any shape you like with minimal fuss.
You’ll see from this post I really went to town cooking with this cheese to see how it works and what I can do with it. My first attempt — requested by a member of the Sydney Vegan Club, was to have it on toasties. I tried grating it in two different ways, as well as just having it sliced. Under the grill, it went a little dry and didn’t melt well — I did have it on full heat, which seems not to work in the way it does for other vegan cheeses.
When sliced and just put into the sandwich press it melted beautifully, although took a while to do so. I gobbled these down very quickly they were so good. The melted texture is slightly thick and claggy, in a good way, and it seems to almost get stuck to the roof of your mouth. It retains its cheese texture, and doesn’t separate or change texture when it re-hardens — which means that if you’re looking to make cheese pastry or scrolls then this is your best option of the vegan cheeses I’ve tried.
It is a subtle cheese, so you’ll want to use it on subtle flavours. Things like mac and cheese, in a béchamel sauce or similar would work a treat. On one of my sandwiches I used mustard with it, and while the texture remained the flavour was completely drowned out. It went beautifully with bruschetta. My recipe for this as follows.
Best bruschetta
Cherry tomato (one punnet, chopped)
Red onion (half, finely diced)
Garlic (half a clove, finely diced)
Fresh basil
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice
Optional: Black sesame, drop of sesame oil, rosemary (a little bit, fresh, chopped up)
Chop and mix all the ingredients together. Serve either in a sandwich, on crusty bread with Bio Life cheese melted on, or almost as a pickle with cheese and crackers.
With some leftover bread (I’m using gluten free rice and chia bread from Dovedale) I then decided to make croutons to go with my wife’s homemade minestrone soup — which is basically one of the best things in the world. I got two pieces of bread (one was the crust, we’re using up leftovers here), and chopped them into sizable pieces. I then drizzled on olive oil, salt, half a clove of garlic finely chopped, pepper and rosemary and then made sure I mixed them all into it so they were completely coated. Put them in the oven until almost crunchy, add on some grated cheese, and throw them back in the oven — voila!
Again, the cheese dried out on these a little, but when put into the soup it went perfectly as it ensured that it stuck to the bread while submerged in soup. I also put the cheese on top of the soup… just, because. Either way, fabulous, and potentially the best cheese for this as it is waxy and can tolerate being submerged.
And then, the final test — I had it on lasagna! Those who know me are aware that lasagna, pizza, and anything with a tomato/cream sauce/carbohydrate combination are my favourite dishes (other than perhaps curry). Making this was simple, but suffice to say it was delicious. My wife wasn’t convinced about the cheese to begin with — initially saying that it was waxy and strange — but she loved it melted on the lasagna. I did use quite a bit — slicing it very thinly to cover the lasagna, and then last minute grating some on top. To stop the drying out (which appears to only happen in the dry heat of the oven, and not when the cheese is, say, inside bread or in a sauce), I poured some hot water from the kettle over the top of the lasagna and this helped it melt and go thick and gorgeous. As I’d made it over the weekend and was just putting it in the oven this actually worked well because the béchamel had set and so didn’t become ruined by the water. I’d imagine if you’re using the cheese on pizza, then you could drizzle with olive oil for a similar effect to stop the drying out issue — just remember this isn’t a stringy cheese that you’d normally find on omni pizza.
I basically adapted this recipe here that I have previously posted for the lasagna. The only thing I did differently for the red sauce (which was for texture more than anything) was to add a tin of lentils after the blending process.
For the pasta used, I chose Aldi’s Has No crinkly mini-lasagna sheets for the majority, and then used Orgran’s flat pasta sheets for the top to show off the cheese a bit (tip: pour a bit of boiling water over this all before you put the béchamel on top, as this helps soften the pasta).
For the white sauce I kept it far simpler than the last one — mainly due to concerns around drowning out my Bio Cheese flavour. So I just had a flour/nuttelex/pinch of nutritional yeast/soy milk combination until it went thick, leaving out the onions, garlic and other cheese. I then added the Bio Cheese to the top — firstly the slices.
This went into the oven for a day, which is fine as it’s freezing in Melbourne (!) though I wouldn’t recommend doing it in the summer, and then when it came round to the final bake I covered it with grated cheese, mixed dried herbs and the hot water and jacked the heat up. However you make it, it’ll likely be great with this cheese.
The cheese seems to keep very well in the fridge. I kept it in a sandwich bag after I’d cut open the plastic, and I didn’t have any issues. It’s also best until March 2015, so there’s plenty of time to eat it if you’re not as big a cheese eater as I am.
It would be fabulous in a fondue (do people eat these anymore?!) or even just on a cheese platter. I don’t know the shape they all came in, but mine had this slightly ‘free form’ feel about it that looked gorgeous when it came out of the packet. While some have written that they’re not enamoured with the after taste, I can’t say I’ve noticed this at all.
Overall it is the easiest melting cheese I’ve so far dealt with in terms of usability (just a tad easier, and much tastier, than Notzarella). However, it isn’t as strong a flavour as Vegusto’s range — and if you’re into that slightly more pungent cheese flavour then this isn’t the replacement for you necessarily. I consider it a cheese I can use every day, whereas Vegusto is more of a special treat for me.
The price
It ranges significantly. While Prahran Convenience store sold me my 450-odd gram block for $25.99 per kilo, it is usually bought anywhere from $25 to even $37.99 that I’ve seen. Per gram, it works out as fairly standard to other pricier vegan cheeses at the lower price. At the higher price, it’s one of the more costly on the market. Choose wisely.
At around $12 for my block, it’s definitely comparable with Vegusto. Plus the ability to buy smaller amounts is great for those who aren’t ready to shell out more than $10 for a block.
The ingredients
Water, coconut oil (non-hydrogenated), modified starch, starch, sea salt, vegan flavours, acidity regulator, citric acid, preservative sorbic acid, colour: B-ceratine
The nutritional value
It is coconut oil based, so worth using in moderation (if you can). There really isn’t anything in it that’s fabulous for you, so I’d highly recommend avoiding eating it in huge quantities.
The Vegans of Melbourne Facebook group have posted this excessively helpful list of stockists:
BLACK SHEEP LICENSED GROCERS 407 NEPEAN HWY CHELSEA (03) 9773 9033
BLU COW DELI 809 BALLARAT RD DEER PARK (03) 9363 1428
BROADWAY ONE WAY STORE 265 BROADWAY RESERVOIR (03) 9469 2533
BUSHY PARK BAKALOUMAS 218 OLD DANDENONG RD HEATHERTON (03) 9551 1267
CARNEGIE DELI 104 KOORNANG RD CARNEGIE (03) 9563 1618
COLONIAL FRESH FRUIT MARKET WESTFIELD DONCASTER DONCASTER (03) 9848 4152
COLONIAL FRESH FRUIT MARKET FOREST HILL CHASE FOREST HILL (03) 9878 5955
COLONIAL FRESH FRUIT MARKET MALVERN CENTRAL MALVERN (03) 9509 3488
COLONIAL FRESH FRUIT MARKET CHADSTONE SHOPPING CENTRE CHADSTONE (03) 9569 8392
DELI PIEDIMONTES SUPERMARKET 37-49 BEST ST NORTH FITZROY (03) 9481 1600
DELICIOUS SMALLGOODS 512 CENTRE RD BENTLEIGH (03) 9576 5755
DELISH @ HAMILTON 17 HAMILTON PLACE MT WAVERLEY (03) 9807 6911
EUREKA FOODS 12 LYNCH ST HAWTHORN (03) 9818 5734
EURO DELI — CAFÉ CLAYTON 334A CLAYTON RD CLAYTON (03) 9543 7600
FIVE STAR DELI KEILOR DOWNS SHOPPING PLAZA KEILOR DOWNS (03) 9364 5114
FOODWORKS DROMANA 183 POINT NEPEAN RD DROMANA (03) 5987 2366
FRESH CO DELI NORTHCOTE PLAZA NORTHCOTE (03) 9481 7009
HABIB WHOLEFOODS 260 FLINDERS ST MELBOURNE (03) 9639 5515
HARRYS OUTLET 1292 CENTRE RD CLAYTON (03) 9544 1707
IGA ALTONA 111 PIER ST ALTONA (03) 9017 7855
IGA ANGELSEA 87 GREAT OCEAN RD ANGELSEA (03) 5263 1573
IGA BRUNSWICK 614 SYDNEY RD BRUNSWICK (03) 9384 1155
IGA COBURG 14 NICHOLSON ST COBURG (03) 9384 1635
IGA HOPPERS CROSSING WARRINGA CRES HOPPERS CROSSING (03) 9749 3877
IGA KNOXFIELD 1579 FERNTREE GULLY RD KNOXFIELD (03) 9763 6430
IGA MIDDLE PARK 19 ARMSTRONG ST MIDDLE PARK (03) 9696 2532
IGA OAKLEIGH 39 ATHERTON RD OAKLEIGH (03) 9569 5182
IGA ST ALBANS 18 EAST ESPLANADE ST ALBANS (03) 9364 3388
IGA THOMASTOWN 122 MAIN ST THOMASTOWN (03) 9465 9244
IL CENTRO DELI SHOP 5, 284 CENTRE RD BENTLEIGH (03) 9557 9447
KINGDOM FRUITS & DELI WERRIBEE PLAZA WERRIBEE
LA IONICA 5 LIPTON DR THOMASTOWN (03) 9460 8833
MARKET EUROPA 275 HIGH ST THOMASTOWN (03) 9464 0159
MELBOURNE DELI 277 MIDDLEBOROUGH RD BOX HILL (03) 9898 2351
MILLEARA CONTINENTAL FOODS MILLEARA SHOPPING CENTRE KEILOR EAST (03) 9325 4622
MY FINE FOODS WESTFIELD PLENTY VALLEY SOUTH MORANG (03) 9404 1111
MY GROCERY SUPER STORE 85 HOPKINS ST FOOTSCRAY
NORTH STREET SUPERMARKET 42 NORTH ST GLENROY (03) 9359 1978
PAULS SUPA IGA RINGWOOD EAST 82 RAILWAY AVE RINGWOOD EAST (03) 9870 8893
PLAZA DELI NORTHCOTE PLAZA NORTHCOTE (03) 9486 6855
RICCARDI POULTRY SHOP 154 TORQUAY RD GROVEDALE GEELONG (03) 9471 1255
SELECT DELI MARKET 74 NORTHGATE DR THOMASTOWN (03) 9465 6170
STEVES DELI SOUTH MELBOURNE MARKET SOUTH MELBOURNE (03) 9699 3407
T&J FOODSERVICE P/L FCTY 6, 4 METROLINK CCT CAMPBELLFIELD (03) 9402 0152
UNITED FOOD WHOLESALERS 167 ELEY RD BLACKBURN SOUTH (03) 9464 3122
VEGIE BAR 380 BRUNSWICK ST FITZROY (03) 9417 6935
WERRIBEE FRESH MARKET 57 SYNNOT ST WERRIBEE (03) 8742 6525
YES ITS FRESH DELI HIGHPOINT SHOPPING CENTRE MARIBYRNONG (03) 9317 0006
