Correspondence from Swiss Jane…

(Jane, along with her shy retiring sister Niki co-founded the ScouseVeg social group and this website. She now lives in Switzerland.)

It was sometime last year that I discovered the mouth-watering No-moo melty Vegusto product here in Switzerland. The products are manufactured in Switzerland by the family-run Vegi-Service AG, and they have a wide range of meat and dairy alternatives. With over 50 products available you certainly are spoilt for choice. Anyway, after placing my first order with them, I waited in anticipation to see how the No-moo melty cheese alternative worked on my home-made pizza. I was certainly not disappointed. The creamy taste of this product nearly tempted me to eat the cheese even before I grated it to go on top of the pizza. There was also a very big thumbs-up from my husband, Marcel who loved the creamy taste.

As you can imagine, I was very excited when I received one of the regular Vegusto newsletters, which included an invitation to their Vegane Cordon-bleu party on 20th May 2012. So on that Sunday, Marcel and I set off to the headquarters of Vegusto located in the Eastern part of Switzerland in a place called Neukirch (Egnach). With the sun shining we approached with anticipation the entrance to the Vegusto HQ. We were immediately greeted by some lovely aromas, the well-stocked Vegusto shop and a very friendly member of staff called Hans. Outside, the tables and chairs were all laid out, and when everyone was seated, the food was brought out. Not only were we served with generous portions of Vegusto-Cordon-bleus but also a varied salad buffet. For those of you who are not familiar with this dish, Cordon bleu is basically an escalope made traditionally with veal, but (recently also chicken or pork) and stuffed with ham and cheese, then breaded and fried. But this animal free vegan version is made with the smoked veggie slices and of course the melty vegan cheese. Everyone seemed to be tucking in to this tasty cruelty-free treat, and with the sun shining down on us and people chatting to each other, it was a lovely atmosphere.

Later on after enjoying the lovely sunshine and having a look around Vegusto HQ, which also included an indoor area for children to draw and play, we entered a room and cast our eyes over the stunning dessert buffet. Once it was declared ‘open’ Marcel and I joined the queue and couldn’t believe the sight that lay before us, not only was there a large mouth-watering strawberry cake but also cup-cakes, a creamy pineapple cake and much more. All made without animal ingredients. Who says vegans can’t enjoy a variety of delicious cakes! We certainly felt spoilt. What a lovely end to the day. Eventually we said our goodbyes and thanked the wonderful Vegusto team for a fantastic day. Taking with us a carry-out that included two Cordon bleus.

The great news is that now all Vegusto products are available in the UK. You can also find some of the products in health food stores. All the products are dairy-free and except for one product (the mild-sami sausage which contains tofu pieces which isn’t available in the UK) soy-free. And the great news is that none of the products contain palm oil.

So if you haven’t yet tried these fantastic products check out their website: www.vegusto.co.uk