Promise Kept...

After I became a vegetarian, my food options definitely dropped in number. And because I don't eat dairy products outside of the home, the options dropped even more. Pizza, unless homemade, was definitely not an option--until now.

Harrison came home from work one day and told me of this pizza place that was featured on We Are Austin Live, the television show he directs. The place is Promise Pizza, and they offer dairy-free pizzas, in addition to their already organic menu. We decided to check it out for dinner this eve and after driving around trying to find it, thanks to Google telling us to turn on a road that didn't exist, we came upon the place.



I don't have high expectations for dairy-free; I know what I am getting into and my taste buds have adjusted to incorporate a higher tolerance for food that doesn't necessarily taste as good as the carnivore-heavy diet I came from. That's okay--I made a decision and that's that.

The place is everything I expected and a little of what I didn't. For starters, all of their boxes, napkins, straws, cups, and utensils were biodegradable. Check plus for that. They only use Smart Cars for their delivery service. Check plus for that, too. And their fountain drinks use only cane sugar. Again, check plus.

Here's what threw me, though: When I asked the employee who was taking our order what they meant by "Extra Natural Cheese" he said, "Well, it's not from cows given hormones and it doesn't contain animal parts--but other than that, I'm not sure."


Hmmm...Okay, so the lack of hormones doesn't necessarily convince me of much and the fact that it doesn't contain animal rennet (an enzyme extracted from a calf's stomach used to coagulate the milk into curds and whey) like most cheeses is a good thing, but I wanted to know if he knew the origin of the cheese. He didn't. That's okay. I am used to opting out of cheese when going out to eat, for that same reason, but I found it funny that a place that seems to be the most environmentally-conscious pizza place there is, can't employ someone who can ease their customers' concerns about the source of their cheese. :) Not upset at all, it's just odd.


And if you are still thinking about the rennet--don't worry, the calf's real fate is to be made into veal, so the damage was already done. Extracting stomach rennet for cheese is only a by-product of veal production. :(


Anyhow, I went ahead and ordered the pizza made with the dairy-free cheese product called Daiya. It's not bad, but I am not going to buy it at a store. Its source is mainly tapioca root and the way they get it to look and melt like cheese is their secret. Amy's uses it in their products, as well as Tofurkey--I just learned that on their site.

Here's the ingredient list:

Purified water, tapioca and/or arrowroot flours, non-GMO expeller pressed canola and/or non-GMO expeller pressed safflower oil, coconut oil pea protein, salt, inactive yeast, vegetable glycerin, natural flavors (derived from plants), xanthan gum, sunflower lecithin, vegan enzymes (no animal rennet or animal enzymes), vegan bacterial cultures, citric acid (for flavor), annatto.

Maybe if I ever become a hardcore vegan--maybe I will buy it. It looks like a melted goat cheese and sort of has the consistency of glue--just a bit though. Not a bad flavor. Don't let that statement keep you from trying it--it's definitely worth a try and it might take a few times to get used to it. But, if you do try, be careful when it's steamy hot. I now have a blister on my gums because its gluey texture stuck to the roof of my mouth. :)