Peace Love & Vegetables ‘Dill Cashew Cheese’
Nut-based cream cheese with dill
Cashew cream cheese in a jar
Pros: Fabulous taste, widely available across Australia, Australian-made, much cheaper than other cashew cheeses
Cons: Dislike the packaging
This cashew cheese is one of the few contenders for best cashew cream cheese against Botanical Cuisine. From Peace, Love & Vegetables, it’s not as beautifully presented, and it comes in an understated salsa-dip shaped jar — but the cheese itself makes up for all of this and more.
The company is Byron Bay located, from husband-wife team Anya and Adam Yarrington, but I picked this up from Prahran Convenience Store, which is open 24 hours a day (thankfully). It’s great to have another Australian-made cheese on the market, and the company is all about being healthy for your gut and the environment, making sauerkrauts and other pickled-style vegetables in jars, such as kimchi. Unlike pickles, this is a product that must be kept refrigerated (including before opening).
I thought this would be more of a dip when I picked it up — perhaps due, again, to the shape of the jar. However, when I opened it I found a thick paste flecked with dill that acted perfectly as a thick spreadable cream cheese, in a very similar consistency to Tofutti’s Better Than Cream Cheese.
I actually prefer this to the Botanical Cuisine ‘Lemon and Dill’ style cashew cheese, as the truffle in theirs just overtook the whole flavour. This I can eat on piece-after-piece of toast and I can mix it into a sauce, or add it to garlic bread, knowing it won’t be “too” intense. I adore the garlic flavour in it, and the fact that the dill is chopped up into different lengths. It has that “homemade” feeling, without being inconsistent. When taken out of the jar, you can see how it has all been blended perfectly, and retains a very uniform colour.
There is something a little hippy about including “Love particles” as the main ingredient on the label, and the entire packaging is a bit much for me with hearts and little cartoon animals, but to be honest by the time you’ve tasted it you’ve stopped caring. It also means that it’s a nice option if you have dairy-free children as well, and doesn’t take itself as seriously as other brands.
I tried this on toast. Result = beautiful. It spreads really easily — thin and even across the bread, and while it doesn’t melt very easily, it softened and warmed on the toast really nicely.
I also had it on some blood orange. Inspired by an architectural launch I went to, where Botanical Cuisine’s cheese was served on apricots, I thought ‘why not’. Blood oranges look amazingly beautiful, and its sour citrus flavour paired so nicely with the creamy cheese that I really would serve this at a party as well. It actually was surprisingly great — so if you have any sweet suggestions, let me know.
Tonight, my wife was craving something “hearty”, while I wanted comfort food, and so I raided the fridge, freezer and cupboard and decided that a good old bangers and mash combo would be great. She had Linda McCartney sausages (fried up in a little bit of olive oil, salt and pepper).
Creamy mash ingredients
Small potatoes — six quartered
Salt
Pepper
Garlic shoot — one finely chopped
Nuttelex butter — two spoonfuls
Dill cashew cheese — two spoonfuls
Soy milk — 1 cup
Easy peasy how to
Boil up the potato with salt and pepper until they become soft enough to put a fork the whole way through without trying. Drain them when you have done so. I leave the skins on mine for the nutrients and because, well, it’s tasty. If you want to peel them first — go for it.
In an empty pan, add more salt and pepper, along with the butter, cream cheese, soy milk and garlic shoot. Heat the pan until everything is melted and mixed together.
Add the potato.
Mash away and serve (we topped ours with cracked pepper)!
The dill cheese gave this a beautiful added ‘something’, and we were careful to not include fresh garlic as we normally would so the flavours weren’t drowned out. It was really gorgeous.
In an interview with Kombu Wholefoods, the founders explained that they list this as the main ingredient on all their foods. “There are scientific tests that now show how our conscious or unconscious intention effects our environment. The force of love is the strongest in the universe. We have a lot of respect for bacteria and the process because our emotions and feelings get cultivated in the bacteria and grow into supporting an extremely beneficial ecosystem for our body when eaten.”
They also apparently do something with the earth’s electro-magnetic field and play happy music while the food is being made.
I’m calling nonsense. However, when they make cheese this good, I can hardly argue.
The price
I think this set me back about $10 to $12, which is equivalent to other cashew cheeses. It’s 300 grams in total, and comparing this to botanical cuisine — which is $9.95 upwards per 185 gram jar — this is significantly cheaper per gram. Clearly the more affordable option.
The ingredients
Cashews, dill, garlic, culture starter, salt
It’s all organic, non-GMO and is marketed as pro-biotic — which makes sense given the company’s fermenting background. I honestly lose the plot with excitement about labels that have very few ingredients, and this has me head-over-heels. I love that it’s simple, but tasty, and brings in some of my favourite flavours.
The nutritional value
It’s about 40-odd percent fat, which makes sense when considering how much fat is usually in cashew nuts. Essentially, there’s not much in this that you wouldn’t get in cashews, so my thoughts are that it’s good in sensible quantities… if you can manage to keep your hands off of it. They say that there’s 20 servings per jar, at about 15 grams per serving. If you’re anything like me then you’ll be eating many teaspoonfuls of it from the jar.
Here’s the stockist list provided on their Facebook page (warning, it’s lengthy, use the Ctrl F function to find your suburb):
South Australia — Ecologie Organics- 121 Commercial St. West, Mt Gambia SA 5290 — Go Vita Marion Shop 1143 Westfield 297 Diagonal Rd Oaklands Park, SA, 5046 — Natures Providore — 88-90 Duthy St. Malvern Adel. SA 5061 — Goodies and Grains — Shop 21-22 Central Market Plaza Adelaide, 5000 — House Of Health, Store 73 Adelaide Central Market 44 Gouger St. Adelaide, 5000 — Mega Health at the Bay, 2 Gordon Street. Glenelg Adelaide SA, 5045 — Organic Box, Home delivery — Organic Market and Cafe, 5 Druid St. Stirling SA — Queen Street Grocer — 20 Elizabeth St. Croydon Adelaide SA — The Organik Store — 37 Broardway St. Glenelg SA 5045 — Wild Thyme Organic Cafe and Market — 101-103 Melbourne Street North Adelaide, Adelaide SA, 5006 — Wilsons Organics, 131 Pirie Street. Adelaide SA 5000 Northern Territory — Afghan Traders — Shop 10/10 Smith Street, The Polana Centre Alice Springs NT Melbourne — Apples and Sage, 371 Whitehorse Rd, Balwyn, Melb. VIC, 3103 — Aunt Maggies Balaclava- 270 Carlisle St, Balaclava Melb. VIC 3183 — Aunt Maggies Fitzroy- 188-196 Gertrude St. Fitzroy Melb. VIC, 3065 — Aunt Maggies Malvern — 72 Glenferrie Rd Malvern Melb. VIC, 3144 — Blossom Wellbeing — 606 Neil St, Soldiers Hill Ballarat VIC 3350 — Clay Fine Food Health Store — 719 Rathdowne St Carlton North, Melb. VIC 3054 — Eastfield Natural Foods, 41 The Mall Croydon, South Melbourne — Evergrin Organics — 499 Riversdale Rd Camberwell Melb VIC 3124 — Encompass Health Clinic — 2 Mark St. Bayswater, Melb. VIC, 3153 — Great Earth — 795 Burke Rd. Camberwell Melb. VIC 3124
- Go Vita Doncaster (The Vitamin Shoppe) — Shop G 200, Westfield 619 Doncaster Road, Doncaster, Melb. VIC, 3108. — GreenSoul Organics, Shop 2, 46-50 Old Pacific Hwy. Beaconsfield Melb. VIC — Green Onions — 276 Waverley Road, Malvern Melb. VIC 3145 — Health Food Thyme, 12-14 Mc Adam Square Plymouth Road, Croydon Melb. VIC — HealthQuest Wellbeing Centre. 50 Maribyrnong Rd. Moonee Ponds Melb. VIC 3030 — Joes Organic Market- 64 Victoria Rd, Northcote Melb. VIC 3070 — Kagu Health Distributors — Stall 51 & 52 Coventry St South Melbourne Markets — Kew Organics- 4/79 Willsmerre Rd, Kew Melb. VIC 3101 — LaManna Direct Supermarket -10 English Street Essendon Fields Melb. VIC, 3041 — New Harvest Produce, 37 Armstrong Rd, Seaford, VIC 3198 — Naturally On High — 699 High Street Thornbury, Melb. VIC 3071
— Olga Bowers — Suit 3 Level 8 470 Collins St, Melb. VIC 3000 — Organically Grown — 190 Glenferrie Rd, Malvern Melb. VIC 3144 — Organic Wholefoods Fitzroy- 277 Smith St, Fitzroy Melb. VIC 3065 — Organic Wholefoods Brunswick — 483 Lygon St. Brunswick Melb. VIC 3056 — Persimmon Tree, The — 16 McAdam Square, Croydon Melb. VIC 3136 — Passion Foods — 219 Ferrars St South Melb. VIC 3205 — Prahran Health foods — 201 Commercial Rd, South Yarra, Melb. VIC 3141 -Prahran Convenience store- 196 commercial road — Plump Organic Grocer — 24 ballarat St. Yarraville Melb. VIC 3013 — Purity Body Mind Soul — 589 Hampton St, Hampton Melb. VIC, 3188 — Red Hill Nourish — 1/1016 Mornington-Flinders Rd, Red Hill VIC 3937 — Rendinas Butchery — 253A Belmore Rd Balwyn North, Melb VIC 3104 — Replenish — 20 Douglas St, Williamstown Melb. VIC 3016 — Ripe The Organic Grocer — 7/163 Commercial Rd, Prahran Melb. VIC 3181 — Sprout Hawthorn Organic Cafe — 123 Auburn Rd. Hawthorn, Melb. VIC, 3122 — Sunnybrook Health Store — 553A North Rd. Ormond Melb. VIC 3204 — Superfruit, 230 Waterdale Rd, Ivanhoe Melb. VIC, 3079 P: 03 9497 105 — Surfcoast Wholefoods — Shop 104, 41 Bristol Rd Torquay Melb. VIC. — Terra Madra — 103 High St, Northcote, Melb. Vic 3070 -The Second Blessing- 73 Anderson St, Yarraville Vic 3013 — The Staple Store — 19 Glen Eira Rd, Ripponlea Melb. VIC 3185 — Warburton Pantry — 3383b Warburton Hwy, Warburton Mel VIC 3799 — Wholefoods Food Store, 320 Bay St. Brighton Melb. VIC, 3186 — Yum Organics — 837 Glenhuntly Rd. Caulfield South, Melb. VIC 3162 VIC Regional — Bright Herbs and Organics — 1 Bernard St. Bright, VIC 3741 — Go Vita Warrnambool- 155 Fairy St, Warrnambool VIC 3280 — Missspelts Grains & Goodies, Shop 2, 7 Green St. Healesville, VIC, 3777 — Organic Mojo , 364b Pakington St. Geelong, VIC, 3220 -Olive Health Foods- 1/61 Ovens Street Wangaratta Vic 3677 — Plant & Food Medicine, 32 34 Reid St, Wangaratta, VIC 3677 — Wild Yam 499 Main St. Mordialloc Vic , 3195 Tel: 0413 552 581 — Hoffmans Holistic Produce -5 Crosbys Lane, Mansfield VIC 3722 Sydney — 7th Heaven Wholefoods, 122 Belmore Rd. Randwick Syd. NSW — Anna’s Health Shop — 105 Miller St North Sydney, SYD, NSW 2060 — Avalon Wholefoods Store — 25 Old Barrenjoey Rd, Avalon Syd. NSW, 2107 — Alfalfa House Community Food Cooperative — 113 Enmore Rd, Enmore, SYD, NSW 2042 — About Life Cammeray — 120 Miller Street Cammeray SYD, NSW 2062 — About Life Bondi Junction — 31-35 Oxford St. Bondi Junction, SYD NSW — About Life Rozelle — 605 Darling St. Rozelle SYD NSW — Doctor Earth Bondi Junction- 444 Oxford St Bondi Junction, SYD, NSW, 2022
— Doctor Earth Newtown. 287-289 King Street Newtown SYD NSW 2042 — Geymea Organics — 2-4 Gymea Bay Rd, Gymea NSW 2227 — Go Vita Newport — 2/355 Barrenjoey Rd, Newport Syd NSW 2106 — Go Vita Leichhardt 154 Norton St, Leichhardt, Syd NSW 2040 — Green Hills Organics — 4/328 Windsore st, Richmond NSW 2753 — Healing Ingredients — 14 Irvine Cr. Ryde, Syd. NSW 2112. — Healthlands — Marketplace Leichardt, Shop 19, Corner Marion & Flood St Leichardt Syd NSW 2040 — Health Emporium, The — 263 — 265 Bondi Road, Bondi Syd NSW, 2026
— Health Nuts — Shop tg 04 82-94 Darlinghurst Road, Kings Cross SYD NSW 2011, — Lettuce Deliver- (home Delivery) Homebush Syd. NSW, 2140 P: 02 9763 7337 — Mrs Watsons Organic Foods, 53 Cronulla Plaza, Cronulla, SYD NSW, 2230 — Mr Vitamins, 324 Victoria Ave, Chatswood Syd. NSW, 2067 P: 02 9415 2866 — Natural Food Market, The -184 Military Road Neutral Bay, SYD, NSW 2089 — Organic Buyers Group, Online Store — 1 Ferdale Ave, Carlinford NSW 2118. — Organic Food Network Pty Ltd -14/84 Old Pittwater Rd Brookvale 2100. -Summer Hills Organics- 162 Old Canterbury Rd. Summer Hill, SYDNEY NSW 2130 — Taste Organic, 25 Falcon St. Crows Nest, SYD NSW — Well Being Organic Health Food — Shop 8/ 63 Veterans Parade, Collaroy Plateau Syd NSW 2095 NSW Regional — Barefoot Wholefoods -Shop 26 The Orange Arcade Summer Street Orange, NSW 2800 — Bay Organics, 82 Toowoon Bay Rd Toowoon Bay NSW, 2261 — Flame Tree Community Food Co-op — 1/374 Lawrence Hargrave Dr Thirroul NSW 2515 — Go Vita Coffs Harbour — Shop 45, Park Beach Plaza, Coffs Harbour NSW 2450 — Hunter Organic Foods -88 Mitchell St, Merewether, NSW 2293 — Kombu Wholefoods –1 Church St, Bellingen NSW 2454 — Organic Belly — 4a/2 Murry St, Port Macquarie, NSW 2444 — Raw & Wild Market & Café, 250 Bong Bong Street, Bowral NSW, 2576
Newcastle & Regional — Organic Feast — 10-12 William St East Maitland, NSW 2323 — Goodness Me Organics — 617-621 Glebe Rd, Adamstown, NSW 2289 — Hunter Organic Foods- 88 Mitchell Street, Merewether NSW 2293 ACT — Dicksons Health Foods — 2/22-25 Dickson Place, Dickson ACT 2602 P: 02 6249 7356 — Mountain Creek Wholefoods — 14 Barker Street, Griffith 2603 P: 02 6295 1474 Byron Bay & Region — Baz & Shaz — 44 Beech Drive, Suffolk Park, NSW 2481 — Brunzwick Heads Health Foods — 2/20 Fingal St, Brunswick Heads, NSW 2481. — Byron Bay Supa IGA — Corner Bayshore Dr & Sunrise Boulevard Byron Bay NSW 2481. — Edens Landing Fruit & Vegies — 4/97 Stuart St, Mullumbimby NSW 2482 — Fresh Whole Foods — 43 Wollumbin St, Murwillumbah NSW 2484 — Fundies Lismore — 140 Keen St Lismore, NSW 2480 — Fundamental Food Store Byron Bay — 61 Johnson St, Byron Bay NSW 2481 — Glorious Organics — 1468 Kyogle Rd Uki, NSW 2484 — Go Vita Ballina- Shop 19 Ballina Fair Shopping Centre, Kerr St. Ballina 2478 — Green Garage — 63 Tennyson St, Byron Bay NSW 2481 — Herbal Wisdom — 64 Byron St Bangalow, NSW 2479 -IGA Mullumbimby — 62 Burringbar St Mullumbimby, NSW 2482 — Organic Distributors PTY LTD — 7 Brigantine St, Byron Bay NSW 2481 — Rainbow Wholefoods — 49 Terania St North Lismore, NSW 2480 — Santos Trading Byron Bay — 105 Jonson St, Byron Bay, NSW 2481 — Santos Trading Mullumbimby — 51 Burringbar St, Mullumbimby, NSW, 2482. — Spar Suffolk Park — 3/3 Clifford Street Suffolk Park, NSW, 2481 — Wholly Smoked — 6/130 Jonson St, Byron Bay, NSW 2481 Gold Coast — Bio-Med Café 5/34 Lawrence Drive Nerange, QLD 4211 — Flannerys Miami — 2184 Gold Coast Highway, Miami, QLD 4220 — Flannerys Paradise Piont — 1A 17 Grice Ave, Paradise Point QLD 4216 — Flannerys Benowa — Shop 12, Bronberg Plaza/Slayter Av, Benowa, — Flannerys Robina — Shop 7, Easy T Centre Cnr Scottsdale Dr & Chistinen Av, Robina, QLD — Go-Vita Australia Fair — Shop 166g Australia Fair Shopping Complex, Southport, QLD 4215 — Gut Healthy — Palm Beach Farmers Market, Every Saturday from 6am -12 -Olga’s Health Food Market — Shop 5 Benowa Gardens Shopping Centre, Crn Ashmore & Benowa Rds, Benowa Gold Coast QLD 4217 — Palm Beach Wray Organic -155 Nineteenth Ave Shopping Village Palm Beach, Qld 4221. — Springwood Wellness Centre — 35 Cinderella Drive Springwood QLD 4127 Brisbane — Flannerys Chermside — Corner Rode & Webster Rd, Chermside QLD 4032 — Flannerys Loganholme — Shop 5/7 Boyants Rd Loganholme, QLD 4219 — Flannerys Taringa — 191 Moggill Rd, Taringa QLD 4068 — Flannerys Wooloongabba — 52 Annerley Rd Wooloongabba, QLD 4102 — Flannerys Wynnum — 2021 Wynnum Rd, Wynnum BRIS QLD 4178 — Four Seasons Organic — 42 Main St, Samford QLD 4520. Via EcoFarms — Fundamental Food Store Corinda — 661 oxley Rd, Corinda QLD 4075 -Fundamental Food Store Paddington — 219 Given Terrace, Paddington BRIS QLD 4064 — Gems of Edens- 81 Barnehurst St, Tarragindi, 4121 -Homegrown Health — Via Eco Farms ,100 Ferbank Rd, Cabarlah QLD 4352 -Ironwood Cottage — 8 Hancock St. Sandgate BRIS QLD 4017 -Healing Hands 69 Blackstone Road Eastern Heights Ipswich QLD, 4305 — Green Grocer, the. -144 Boundary Street, West End, BRIS QLD 4101 — Gaps Australia — 12A Whitehall Avenue, Birkdale QLD 4154 -The Organic Apple — 3/394 David Low Way, Marcoola QLD 4564. — Pod Organics — 4 & 5/275 Stafford Rd Cnr Crawford Ave , Stafford QLD 4053. — Sun & Earth Organics — 845 Brunswick St, New Farm QLD 4005. — Terry White Chemist- Shop 16, 543 Lutwyche Road. Lutwyche City S.C. QLD 4030 -The Meat-ing Place — Shop 8 North West Plaza, 97 Flockton Rd McDowall — Sourced Grocer — 11 Florence St. Teneriffe, Brisbane QLD 4006 — VIVE Life Is Now — 36 Riding Rd, Hawthorn, BRIS QLD 4171 — Wise Food- 36 Riverlea Drive, Nerang QLD 4211 — Wray Cannon Hill — 936 Wynnum Rd, Cannon Hill, BRIS QLD 4170 — Wray Indooroopilly — 14 Lambert Rd, Indooroopilly, BRIS QLD 4068 — Wray Cleveland — 197 Bloomfield St, Cleveland QLD 4163 — Wray Head Office — 3/82 Griffith St, Coolangatta, QLD 4225 — Wray Mt Gravatt — Central Fair Shopping Centre 48 Creek RD, Mt Gravatt, BRIS QLD 4121 — Wray Newmarket — 110 Enoggera Rd Newmarket, QLD 4051 QLD Regional — Coolangatta Health Foods, Shop 54 Showcase on the Beach 72-80 Marine Parade. Coolangatta Qld — Essence of Organics, Shop 2/153 Walsh Street, Mareeba. QLD 4880 — Three Apple Organics — Shop 16 The Max Plaza, Crn Heber & Balo St Moree QLD 2400 — The Pines Natural Food Market, Shop 25, The Pines Shopping Centre, McGrath Drive, Elanora Gold Coast, 4221 -Sprout out and Live- 9 Keith Shaw Drive, Kingaroy, QLD 4610 — Wray Toowoomba — 98 Russell St Toowoomba City, QLD 4350 — Wray Ipswich — 70 Warwick Rd, Ipswich QLD 4305 — Healthy Harvest — Shop 37 Porters Promenade, Mission Beach QLD 4852 — Go Vita Cairns City — 48 Aplin St Cairns QLD P: 07 4031 0018 — Neils Organics- 239-241 Mcleod St, Cairns North. QLD 4870 Sunshine Coast — Belmondos Foods- 59 Rene Street, Noosaville, QLD 4566 -Go Natural Foods- VIA ECO FARMS 6A Bideford St, Torquay Hervey Bay, QLD 4655 — Flannerys Maroochydore- Central One 45 Plaza Pde. Mooroochydore, QLD 4558 — Get Fresh At Cotton Tree — 3/1 King ST. Maroochydore, QLD 4558 — Health Beat, VIA ECO FARMS, Shop 24 Ann St. Nambour, 4560 — Kunara -330 Mons Rd Forest Glen, Sunshine Coast, QLD 4556 — Maple St Co-op — 37 Maple St, Maleny, QLD 4552. (Via United) — Organika — Shop 2/ 205 Weyba Rd, Noosaville, Sunshine Coast QLD 4566 — Poppis Pantry, 64 High St. Boonah QLD, 4310
