Svensk Cheezopedia!

Ode To Cheese,
Which Makes Us Smile,
When Camera's go Clack.
Ode To Cheese,
Which make us taste,
The greatest of flavors, the wackiest of whack.
Ode To Cheese,
Blue, Gorgonzola,
American and Cheddar.
Ode To Cheese,
Beja and Feta,
In all types of weather.
Ode To Cheese,
For those on a diet,
or trying to get fatter.
Ode To Cheese,
with crackers and wine,
with grapes can flatter.
Ode To Cheese,
when you're sad and happy,
Cheese just fits.
Ode To Cheese,
Mountains and Mountains,
or bits and bits.
Ode to the Cheese,
To appreciate, eat,
and take pictures! :-)

Vegeterian cheese in Sweden/ vegetarisk ost i Sverige

No ..no.. this blog is still dedicated to recipes not the poems but yeah I came to know something about cheese in Sweden so thought of sharing as it can be useful for few like us- The Vegetarians in Sweden.

Actually we noticed it when we checked the ingredients of cheese which we bought from supermarket ICA (which we are doing from the very first day when we stepped in Stockholm). Apart from other major ingredients there was written "löpe" which means Rennet.

Some trivia on rennet-

Rennet is a complex of enzymes produced in any mammalian stomach to digest the mother's milk, and is often used in the production of cheese. Rennet contains many enzymes, including a proteolytic enzyme (protease) that coagulates the milk, causing it to separate into solids (curds) and liquid (whey). The active enzyme in rennet is called chymosin or rennin (EC 3.4.23.4) but there are also other important enzymes in it, e.g., pepsin and lipase. But there are non-animal sources for rennet that are suitable for vegetarian consumption.

Sweden still makes cheese using animal rennet and also routinely includes gelatin in yoghurt when in whole world, for years, ordinary supermarket cheese is all made with non-animal rennet (and that with only 30% 'registered' vegetarians out of the vast population).

So after doing all this research I found that not only we have to throw this packet away and avoid so-called 'vegetarian' dishes on outlets which contain cheese but also need to find out an alternative if we want to have it at home.

I found that cheese coming from UK mostly contains vegetable rennet or there are very few vegetarian cheese brands in Sweden which you can find in ICA and Hemköp.

- Ekeby cheese made with vegetable rennet.

- A prepacked cheddar cheese from UK in several types: farmhouse/vintage/mild etc from hemköp. (Not sure of it as I haven't tried it.)

- ICA's own brand light cheese is veggie.(Tried n Tasted)

-Vastan 10% ecologisk is also vegetarian cheese.(Tried n Tasted)

-Hushållsost Ekologisk is another brand.

- Milbona's Gouda Cheese from Lidl

-  ValleySpire's  mature Cheddar cheese from Lidl.

Try this too-
http://www.naturensskafferi.se/category/produkter/ekologisk-dessertost/

Look for vegetabilisk koagulant or vegetabiliskt ystenzym or something related to vegetarian löpe or enzymes in ingredients. Only 'Löpe' can be ambiguous as we don't know whether it is from animal extract or vegetarian one!

I have also discovered that the green key hole symbol doesn't necessarily mean vegetarian. It is applied to all products (including both ICAs own and national brands) meeting relevant health criteria.


Update:With the course of time, I have found many vegetarian varities now in LIDL like ValleySpire's Mature cheddar cheese, milbona's Gouda hårdost. These are made of microbial rennet not animal one.

Hope my findings will be of some help to my vegetarian friends especially in Sweden n Norway and for others, its always good to have some free ka gyaan ... say cheese!! :-)