— Alana Sulit

So, uh, when we consider making a change to a recipe for whatever reason, uh, the first thing to consider is the function of the original ingredients. Okay? And, you know, very often, uh, ingredients will have multiple functions, not just one, um, uh, which can make substitutions, um, a little trickier, but, um, you know, ingredients might provide, you know, thickening, uh, or body or structure in some way. Um, they might provide a particular mouthfeel. Uh, they could provide color, flavor, taste, or, or aroma, uh, to the finished products or other characteristics to the food. And so we wanna think about the function that that ingredient plays, and then we want to think about what ingredients can fulfill, right? That, uh, requirement or those characteristics. And, um, you know, again, sometimes it's gonna be more than one ingredient that plays the role of that original single ingredient in the case of cashews and vegan recipes. It depends on the function, okay? But, um, you know, um, I'll just start by saying that, uh, the reason why cashews are often used for, say, uh, um, cream plant-based cream, um, uh, preparations, just, just as an example, uh, is because cashews have a, a relatively neutral flavor, excuse me. Uh, and nice fattiness. And so you start to mimic, excuse me, uh, some of the, the characteristics, you know, of the original, uh, cream or, or sour cream, or whatever it is that, um, uh, the nuts might be, uh, replacing. So, uh, the, I would also ask, you know, why do you want to replace the cashews? That's an important bit to understand when we talk about, uh, substitutions, you know, is it, um, just the flavor or is it, uh, something health related, religion related, or something else? Um, but, you know, without any of that context, think about other nuts and seeds, um, that, um, might do the job. Okay? So, sunflower seeds, you know, whether in their whole form or, uh, pureed, um, can mimic some of the qualities of cashews, depending on how you handle the cashews, uh, as well as any other nuts, okay? Whether it's a macadamian nut or a walnut or something else. Uh, do keep in mind that as you switch ingredients in the case, uh, in this case using other nuts and seeds, that the, there's a flavor that accompanies the texture of that new ingredient. And so, whatever you're making is going to shift in flavor is well. And so ask yourself, is that gonna be okay? Is that the, uh, a result that I can live with? Okay? Now, the other bigger picture point to understand when we make any change to a recipe, whether it's an ingredient change, uh, or a cooking method or technique change, uh, is that you should expect a different result, right? Because you're changing the recipe in some fashion, and it's just not gonna be the same as the original, okay? So that's, that's reasonable to expect, okay? But otherwise, uh, be the curious cook and, uh, give a try, uh, you know, uh, uh, with some of these, uh, other ingredients that might be okay for you, you know, uh, regarding what whatever reason has prompted the substitution.