'Tis the season to brie VEGAN? We test plant-based Christmas cheese

For millions of Brits, no Christmas Day feast would be complete without a festive board of delicious cheeses.

But as it gets harder to ignore the carbon footprint of animal products like meat and dairy, many are trying to give eco-friendly alternatives a go.

There are numerous food start-ups with plant-based products that attempt to mimic the real thing.

One example is London-based firm Honestly Tasty, which wants to prove to 'vegans and non-vegans alike' that 'mouth-watering plant-based cheese is possible'.

Three of its products are named in honour of the animal equivalents – Shamembert, Pretenslydale and Good-A – but are they any good? MailOnline finds out. +9 View gallery

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Honestly Tasty is a London-based food company that wants to 'redefine cheese for vegans and non-vegans alike' +9 View gallery

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MailOnline tried three cheeses from the company - Shamembert (top left), Pretenslydale (top right) and Smoked Good-A (bottom) Advertisement

Honestly Tasty's 'cheeses' are made out of a variety of vegan ingredients including water, salt, coconut oil, potato starch and lecithin (fats found in plant tissue).

They range in price from £4.29 to £8, but customers can also buy festive hampers containing multiple cheeses starting from £45.

MailOnline started with the Pretenslydale, which is loosely modelled on Wallace and Gromit's favourite – the light and crumbly Wensleydale that hails from North Yorkshire.

Although it looks a bit like a bar of soap you get from the Body Shop, Pretenslydale is stuffed with cranberries which gives it a pale pink colour and a pleasant fruity scent.

Rather than crumbling like Wensleydale, its consistency is more similar to a pate – although this did make it easier to spread it on a cracker.

Taste wise, it reminded me of those pink Mini Milk ice lollies I used to have as a kid, but with an added sour tang that likely comes from the added 'citrus fibre'.

The overall effect was not unpleasant, but I can't imagine Wallace travelling to the moon to get his hands on some. +9 View gallery

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Although it looks a bit like a bar of soap you get from the Body Shop, Pretenslydale is stuffed with cranberries which gives it a pale pink colour and a pleasant fruity scent +9 View gallery

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Honestly Tasty's 'cheeses' are made out of a variety of vegan ingredients including water, salt, coconut oil, potato starch and lecithin (fats found in plant tissue) Advertisement

Next up, a small wheel of Shamembert, Honestly Tasty's version of the creamy French cheese Camembert – and certainly a staple of my Christmas cheese board every year.

Shamembert has a really impressive 'rind' around it, complete with lines of wrinkles, which to the touch even felt remarkably like Camembert – like a damp sock.

Based on this, I think many discerning cheese connoisseurs would be unable to tell it apart from the real thing – until, that is, they were to cut into it.

Rather than the nice gooey yellow inside that Camembert is known and loved for, to me Shamembert's innards looked a bit sad and grey – almost like paste.

Biting into it, all I could taste was a big burst of salt, which may be in part due to the presence of carrageenan – a natural additive from red seaweed – in the ingredients.

Perhaps I'd fare better with Smoked Good-A, the company's tribute to Gouda, the creamy hard cheese from the Netherlands. +9 View gallery

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Shamembert certainly looked great - right down to the lines of wrinkles in the cheese 'rind' +9 View gallery

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I think many discerning cheese connoisseurs would be unable to tell it apart from the real thing - until, that is, they were to cut into it +9 View gallery

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Rather than the nice gooey yellow inside that Camembert is known and loved for, Shamembert's innards were slightly grey-tinted

Smoked gouda has to be one of the tastiest food experiences known to man, so it would take something special to match it.

Giving the ghostly-white block a big sniff, the smokey aroma was unmistakable so I had high hopes as it went into my mouth.

Good-A was easily the best of the three, largely because the smoke flavour carried through, and its consistency matched that of a genuine hard cheese.

Surely for any vegan, I think this would grate well onto a Boxing Day cheese toastie with any leftover fake turkey.

But, will Honestly Tasty's products take up space on my festive cheese board this year? The honest answer is probably not. +9 View gallery

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Pictured: Smoked Good-A. Giving the ghostly-white block a big sniff, the smokey aroma was unmistakable

I'm well aware that livestock – namely cows, sheep and goats that need to be milked for cheese production – release huge amounts of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, contributing to global warming.

I know that cheese and meat have the highest carbon footprints, along with other animal products such as eggs and yoghurt.

But I'm also a die hard cheese lover – and if any time of the year is time to indulge, it's Christmas.

Herein lies the problem – until we get to the point where the low-emission imitators like this are as good as the real thing, we're fuelling a climate crisis.

To offset my emissions, I'd rather substitute any other part of the Christmas feast for a vegan option, whether it be the turkey or even the pigs in blankets.

Just please don't take my Camembert away from me.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-12838313/Tis-season-brie-VEGAN-MailOnline-tests-plant-based-Christmas-cheeses-stack-against-dairy-counterparts.html?ito=email_share_article-image-share

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