When the organizers of a vegan macaroni-and-cheese contest in Baltimore in February sent instructions to contestants, they suggested bringing enough samples to feed a crowd of 500 people. Instead, “we stopped counting at 1,000,” said Rissa Miller, who helps organize social events for a group called Baltimore Vegan Drinks. “Nobody expected that many people to show up.”
One of the Baltimore Vegan Mac ‘n’ Cheese Smackdown’s other organizers, Brenda Sanders from PEP Foods, was also floored by the droves who showed up to sample vegan cheesy goodness from 31 home cooks and professional chefs, yet she acknowledges the allure. “Who can resist mac ‘n’ cheese?” she says. “We picked it as the theme for the event because we knew it would attract a crowd.”
Indeed, macaroni and cheese is one of those dishes often cited by the newly vegan as one they particularly miss, especially when vegan offerings on restaurant menus tend toward hummus wraps and black bean burgers — not what most Americans would classify as comfort food.
When Miller became vegan 21 years ago, “the idea of eating a vegan version of mac and cheese didn’t even occur to me,” she says. “There was no Daiya vegan cheese yet, and cashew cream wasn’t even fashionable.”