Except this contains no whey, vegetable oils, maltodextrin, and calcium caseinate, MSG, autolyzed yeast extract and enzyme modified cheeses like your regular yukky artificial cheese powder contains.
The “cheese” flavour (actually, I have no idea why I put it in inverted commas, because it really does taste cheesey) comes from a natural form of yeast called NUTRITIONAL YEAST. It is an inactive form of yeast (unlike bakers yeast) that is cultured; if you want more details about how this is done, the wikipedia article on it is good. It is very rich in B Vitamins, and according to wikipedia, it is a complete protein too, which was happy news that I did not know about. So it is affordable, nutritious, and a perfect natural condiment, with no wierd stuff.
And yes, it tastes like cheese. At least, it does to me, and many other people. My cheese-fanatical daughter (whose first word was “cheese”) first tasted it on popcorn and rolled her eyes with a “mmmmmmmm, that is SOOOO good!” She also likes to shake it on her risotto. So there, while it may not be to everyones taste, I always think a cheese-loving child is the test of fire, and in my house at least, it passed.
It is sold in the UK in most health food stores by the company Engevita, and when you open the tub, it is small powdery flakes of a yellowish hue, about the same colour as polenta. When I use it as a sprinkle, I grind it in my spice grinder to a fine powder, 1/3 cup of Nut.Yeast to 1/4teaspoon seasalt (optional). And here it is on popcorn. Which you can probably barely see. But i shall put it in, to break up the text 
Of course, it doesn’t stick that well unless you used something like an oil spray, but we don’t mind, we just throw lots on and there is always some left at the bottom of the dish to dip into. There are lots more ways to use this in your kitchen creations, so more will be be featured in the future.
Meanwhile, be happy in the knowledge of nature’s abundance, there are wonderful flavours and textures out there to be enjoyed which will also nurture you, and add to your energy, not sap it. It’s never-ending! It’s so exciting! I love it! Enough exclamation marks. That was accidental. It must be all this abundance…..
Posted by sarah on May 24, 2011 at 12:46 pm
3 exclamation points in a row for a Brit is quite the feat:) Actually, it’s AWESOME:)
I’ve made homemade popcorn with natural Parmesan for years, but I’d never heard of or imagined it with nutritional yeast. I’ll have to try and see about getting nutritional yeast here in Denmark. The one nutritional yeast recipe I know is with tempeh .. it’s delicious!