I Am Never Eating Daiya Again.

Since Daiya‘s first buzz in March ’09 to my first taste of it in August (read here), the vegan wonder has turned the vegan cheese world upside down. Now it is the winner of VegNews’s Product of the Year, although Vegan Gourmet (Follow Your Heart) won the reader’s choice. I have watched area eateries thrive through Daiya’s inclusion on the menu. It is quite an amazing product, yes. To be honest, the vegan cheese options available before its break-out left something to be desired although it is unfortunate that Chicago Soydairy, who I love as a company and an innovator of vegan products, and their very good cheese Teese, has been overshadowed by timing. Daiya is the hot topic.

So why am I saying I’ll never eat it again? Well, just because I have been eating way too much of it lately. Despite my thinking it is an advancement and a wonderful product it is still a packaged, processed product–not a whole food. Soooo, with massive consumption (see below), one tends to feel a bit, um, yucky afterwards. After this weekend’s Daiya bender, I am ready for a break, ready for a detox. This is not to say that each bite I ingested wasn’t damn delicious, I just need to take it easy.

How does one get to this point? Take the proximity of the Electrician’s home to 3 Brothers and a frigid Saturday night and you get a Sicilian pie piled with Daiya. There was something so comforting about driving home from a pizza place, a warm cardboard box warming the length of your quadriceps, the wafting smell of marinara and warm crust filling the car. It had been a long time since I had experienced such anticipatory excitement. I must add that inside 3 Brothers was bustling! The entire dining room was full, with parties waiting by the counter for pick up and seating. I looked around and saw a ton of stretched ear lobes, code on Long Island for vegan hardcore, and older men discussing the NY Times article that helped spread the word about the vegan goings-on in Rockville Centre’s 3 Brothers.

Back at the house, I stared long and hard at the Sicilian pie we had ordered. I hadn’t had a Sicilian slice since I was a little girl, when it was my preference. There must have been a ton of Daiya on the thick crusts. We dug in and ate way too fast.Wow, I was so stuffed yet I could not stop myself from seconds.

My Daiya-fest 2010 did not stop there, however. Before meeting up with my fellow foodies for the Vegan Bake Sale for Haiti (see post below), we hit Pala on the Lower Eat Side. Yes, Pala, with its new all-vegan menu and many Daiya-infused dishes. Though I ordered the sensibly portioned gnocchi, which only had a sprinkling of the white wonder, I had followed that up with a couple of slices of Tall Guy’s mushroom and veggie sausage pizza! Upping my Daiya intake significantly. I was entranced and couldn’t help myself. Maybe I was making up for the 12 years of veganism I survived without simple comforts like pizza on demand.

The gnocchi was a sensible choice indeed. Topped with a variety of fresh herbs, the marinara-drenched tender dumplings were absolutely delicious.

And while I am recapping this great meal, let’s look at our appetizer, veggie sausage skewers (Field Roast, me thinks). A good start to the Daiya-fest that would follow and the cupcake fest that would follow that. Detox here I come.

Food bloggers are funny.