You can now buy kosher pareve cheese at Essex Market

This is a big deal: Rebel Cheese, the vegan cheesemonger at Essex Market, now makes kosher pareve cheese. The Austin-based company announced in September that its plant-based cheeses had been certified by Kosher Supervision of America (KSA), and YeahThatsKosher reported the change this week. In New York, you can shop for the cheeses at Rebel’s stall at Essex and Delancey Streets.

The Manhattan shop’s online menu lists a 5.6-ounce cashew-based Brie that Rebel ages for at least two weeks. If you’re planning a Friday night dinner with meat, a certified pareve wheel gives you the option of putting out a cheese board before the meal. Add sliced pears and crackers and you’ve got an appetizer that takes about as long to put together as it does to slice the fruit.

If you remember buying vegan cheese from Riverdel at Essex Market, you’re thinking of the same stall. Riverdel’s founder passed the shop on to Rebel Cheese, which still sells dairy-free options there. The certification is the new development and it applies to cheeses made under supervision. Rebel says it sold some older batches at a discount when it announced the change. Those cheeses were made from the same recipes but were produced before certification and don’t carry the KSA symbol.

Getting certified involved some changes in the kitchen. Co-founder Kirsten Maitland said the company had to review its ingredients and replace some that didn’t meet the requirements. Rebel paused production for two days to prepare the equipment. The oven ran at 550 degrees for an hour, and the company bought new racks for the room where it ages the cheeses. Voila, kosher vegan cheese for the masses.

At the market, check the wrapper for the KSA mark before buying. The stall has an online ordering menu, but if you’re going specifically for the Brie, it’s worth calling to see if there’s a marked wheel in stock. Rebel also takes catering orders through its New York shop. If you want to order an assembled board, ask the shop directly about kosher supervision for the order. Enjoy!