Vegetarian cheese
Cheese made without animal rennet, set instead with acid, microbial rennet, fermentation chymosin or plants.
Also: vegetarian rennet cheese, green dot cheese
Traditional rennet comes from calves' stomachs, so many cheeses are not vegetarian. A vegetarian cheese is set without it: by acid, as in paneer, chhena and ricotta; by microbial rennet from moulds; by fermentation-produced chymosin; or by plant coagulants such as thistle. In India, where vegetarianism is widespread, packaged cheese carries the green dot that marks vegetarian food, and nearly all cheese made in India uses microbial coagulants. Several protected European cheeses, including Parmigiano Reggiano, Grana Padano and Gorgonzola, must use animal rennet and so are not vegetarian. Some makers also use lard on rinds or other animal products, so the whole making, not just the rennet, matters.