Washed rind cheese experiment

As I mentioned in my previous post, I was given a cheese on my visit to Lonely Goat to see how it went when I looked after it at home.  As best I can determine, Rae from Lonely Goat had washed some of her medium style cheeses (about 1.2kg rounds) once or twice with a solution containing B.linens, and had then vacuum sealed the cheeses.  The cheeses had been made in mid august 2013, so by the time I was given mine in December I estimate it would have spent 3 months sealed up and refrigerated at 4°C, with no further rind development.  So I was interested to see whether I could re-establish the rind flora at home and what sort of rind would develop.

 

First I had to find myself a spare fridge I could operate as a small ripening cave.  Thanks to Trade Me, I found a cheap fridge and also a temperature controller (the type used for controlling cool rooms) so that I could select a specific ripening temperature and have reasonable control rather relying on the fridge thermostat.  Finding and purchasing these, and then giving the fridge a really good clean took me a while, so by the time I was ready to get the cheese out of its sealed bag and into my new ‘cave’ it was already 7 months old.

So in the middle of March 2014, I removed the cheese from its bag, wiped it down, and put it on a rack in my fridge/cave.  I started by washing the rind every few days with a weak brine solution (about 3% salt in a cup of boiling water, then cooled).  i didn't have any B.linens culture to add to the brine, so had to hope there was still something left on the cheese surface (and in the "environment") to get a decent rind culture to develop.

The cheese on day 0 after the first wash.  At this point it was already 7 months old but looks quite young, almost like it was recently made.

Initially I started with a temperature of 10°C.  A day after the first wash, the rind was just tacky, I thought it was too dry.  So I put an ice cream container of water in the fridge next to the cheese to help add moisture and keep the humidity up.

Three days later, with another wash in between, I thought the rind was still a bit dry, so I increased the temperature to 12°C to try and reduce the amount of moisture condensing through refrigeration, and I also placed a plastic cake container over the cheese to help create a high moisture environment.

Ten days after starting, there was an obvious pink/creamy coloured culture forming on the rind.  It was what I had been hoping for - slightly tacky to the touch, but not wet.

The fridge cave environment.

After 10 days, a culture is developing on the rind.

A week later, I removed the cake container as I didn't want the cheese getting too moist, but I gave it a few more brine washes.

After a month in the fridge/cave, I stopped washing with brine, and instead just used a damp cloth to clean up the rind and just keep it moist.  At this stage, the rind had large areas of lighter colour which were dry, and I assumed these to be some sort of combined growth of bacteria and mould.  For the remaining few weeks, I didn't quite give the cheese the care I should have, what with travelling for Easter etc.  A weekly wipe was all it got. 

After 3 weeks.

When we cut the cheese open to taste, it was nearly 9 months old, and had spent approximately 7 weeks in my fridge cave. The rind was dry with flaky, powdery areas which we assumed to be minerals drawn to the rind due to the pH rising on the surface as the rind flora grew.  These powdery patches could easily be scraped off with a knife to improve the appearance of the cheese.

Cheese was cut 7 weeks after we first removed it from the vacuum bag and put it in the fridge.  

The cheese was reasonably crumbly inside, so I suspect it had lost a reasonable amount of moisture, but also the texture suggested to me that the cheese was probably reasonably low in pH originally.  However the texture was pleasant, with a moist mouthfeel.  Unfortunately I don’t know what the cheese tasted like when I received it, so I can’t really compare it to that.  But I can describe what it was like when we had finished ripening it.  The flavour was slightly goaty but not in an unpleasant billy goat way, and with a little contribution from lipase activity. There was a slight bitterness.  The rind tasted slightly earthy but not “smelly”.  

It was a tasty cheese, but it didn't quite all balance together as a cheese to eat on its own – however it has been an experiment so that is to be expected.  It was very nice on a cracker with some of our home made crabapple jelly, and was also great in a frittata and salad.  

Lonely Goat, Wanganui, NZ

Back in December I visited Rae and Brian Doughty at Lonely Goat, near Wanganui.

 

Rae and Brian make small batches of goats milk cheese from their 40 milking does, predominantly Saanen, with a few British Alpine and Anglo Nubians thrown in the mix.  Before setting up their little factory, they had milked goats to supply a large New Zealand goat milk company, and became interested in cheese making.  Originally self taught from books, after attending the New Zealand Cheese School they won two silver medals in 2010 at the NZ Champions of Cheese Awards.  The attention to detail shows is shown by the cleanliness and tidiness of their cheese making room.  Rae makes a variety of cheeses including feta, halloumi, small amounts of camembert, and a fresh cream cheese style, while Brian looks after the rest of the farm.  This is a retirement project, so batches are small and hand made, and generally only available in the local region.  Rae and Brian have a stall at the Wanganui Farmers Market, and the cheese is available at a few delicatessens in the surrounding region.  I will feature a couple of Lonely Goat Fetas in an upcoming post. 

Rae and Brian in their cheese room overlooking the garden and farm.  Courtesy of Lonely Goat.

 Rae also likes to experiment with recipes, flavours and coatings. While I was visiting, Rae showed me some cheeses that she had been encouraged to make by Calum Hodgson, a cheesemonger from Auckland.  Calum had urged Rae to try a washed rind version of her gouda style cheese, and Rae had washed a few with a solution of B.linens but then decided not to continue washing them and had vacuum sealed them.  It turns out Rae doesn’t like washed rind cheeses all that much.  But she gave me one to take home and see what I could do with it.  This sounded like a good challenge, and a good excuse to get myself set up with a spare fridge for ripening cheeses which I was always saying I “would do sometime”.  In my next post, I will talk in more detail about my little experiment with ripening the cheese that Rae gave me.

#43 - Vigneron by Woodside Cheesewrights

In February we were on holiday on the Fleurieu Peninsula south of Adelaide.  In 42 degree heat (that's over 105 deg F for those in the USA) we took a look around the Willunga Farmers Market in the McLaren Vale (most famous for its wines).  We found a little stand selling cheeses (yes, from a refrigerator!) and were attracted by a small goat milk cheese wrapped in vine leaves.  This reminded me of the French Banon, which is also made from goats milk, but is wrapped in chestnut leaves.  I had researched a little about Banon during my studies, but have not tried it myself - so we thought we woudl try the Vigneron.

Vigneron is made by Woodside Cheesewrights, a small producer in the Adelaide Hills region.  During production it is washed in white wine, presumably before it is wrapped in the vine leaves.  There was also some white mould under the vine leaves.  As I mentioned, it looks fantastic and is beautifully presented.  I couldn't wait to try it out!

We first cut the cheese in half.  It had a pleasant goaty aroma (not like a billy goat), with a slightly earthy note form the leaves.  There was quite uneven ripening through the cheese - the bottom side was turning quite liquid, and the top half was still an acidic, unripened curd.  Although in a goats milk cheese like this the unripened acidic curd still has a nice smooth texture (where in a cow's milk cheese I would expect it to be chalky and unpleasant).  Still, the overall difference between the two parts of the cheese felt like we were eating a nicely ripened goat camembert and a fresh lactic curd cheese both in one mouthful.  

Flavour wise, the ripened part was sweet, with some mushroomy notes from the rind.  There was a distinct flavour imparted from the vine leaves, with a slight bitterness at the end.  I quite liked the overall flavour of the cheese, but my wife and father-in-law both found something in the aftertaste that they did not like - so I was able to finish the whole thing myself (not all in one go - but in two sessions). 

Overall, an interesting cheese.  Perhaps it will not suit everybody, but worth a try at least once.  To give credit to Woodside Cheesewrights, the specific cheese we tried was probably not the best example of Vigneron available, given the number of awards this cheese has won. 

New Zealand is blessed with farmhouse goats milk cheesemakers

Last week on my long drive home from the New Zealand Champions of Cheese Awards in Auckland, I visited two farmhouse cheesemakers.  I met them both at the cheese awards gala dinner, where I was lucky enough to sit at a table with not one but two champion cheesemakers.

First I dropped in at Crescent Dairy Goats in Kumeu just north of Auckland, where I tasted through the range of cheeses produced by Jan Walter from her small herd of goats.  Jan's Flat White had won Champion Original Cheese just days earlier.  In fact, she has won medals every year since  first entering in 2000.

The little farm shop and a local customer at Crescent Dairy Goats

And as I drove further south, I dropped into Jean and John van Kuyk who run Aroha Organic Goat Cheese near Te Aroha in the Waikato region.  This year Jean won Champion Cheesemaker for the highest scoring cheese in the competition (100/100 !) for her Raw Milk Rich Plain cheese.  This medium-hard cheese is New Zealand's first approved raw milk cheese, and the care, attention and procedures required to achieve that status shows through in the cheese.  When I dropped in on Jean and John they were entertaining some Dutch friends but rather than turn me away they invited me (and another couple of keen cheesemakers travelling home from the awards) to join them for tea and cake and a lively discussion in the afternoon sun.  When afternoon milking time approached, we walked down the farm to fetch the small herd of goats.  The "girls" were very friendly and made sure they got a good neck rub.

So my conclusion is that New Zealand is blessed with farmhouse cheesemakers who really care for their goats, think about what farming processes they are using, and are passionate cheesemakers.  In addition to the two above, I have previously visited Kaikoura Artisan Cheese (Canterbury) and Lonely Goat (Wanganui) - and these are no different.  I'm sure there must be more out there too.  This is fantastic, but it doesn't make it any easier for someone like myself who is trying to set up a cheese shop - somehow I have to choose between some of these cheeses!

Following the goats to the milking shed at Aroha Organic Goat Cheese

Looking forward to NZ Champions of Cheese Awards

Well it's that time of the year again.  Sandi and I are just about to head up to Auckland to attend the NZ Champion of Cheese Awards.  I'm looking forward to discovering some new cheeses and cheese makers as well as catching up with our existing network.  I'm particularly looking forward to seeing the Cuisine magazine Artisan Awards winners at the Cheesefest on Wednesday.  

#42 - Whitestone Probiotic Camembert

Probiotic cheese is an interesting concept.  First there are people who debate whether the beneficial probiotic cultures actually survive in cheese.  Actually, Fonterra developed and launched a healthy cheese that contained a probiotic culture quite a few years ago (it was called Mainland Inner Balance) and research showed that the probiotic culture was still present in high enough numbers to be labelled as such.  The product did not last on the market, I think it was also lower in fat and did not have great flavour.

I wander what is wrong with eating yoghurt or Yakult or similar to get your probiotic fix?  I'm not sure what value it adds to cheese if the culture doesn't have any extra ripening benefits e.g. flavour.   Anyway, enough of my observations, as Whitestone Cheese has had their probiotic camembert on the market for a few years now and it seems to be doing OK.  So when I saw some on special in the supermarket the other day, I thought I better try some.

The product looks great in its packaging.  It is nice to see a New Zealand company that has invested in decent packaging to keep its cheeses in a good environment, as well as presenting them attractively to the consumer.  The packaging is not wrapped tightly around the cheese like other supermarket camemberts, and I think the white mould rind looks better for it.  The packaging will also keep more moisture in, which also differentiates the product from the often hockey puck hard camembert found in NZ supermarkets.

The rind looks good with some darker areas of rind showing, not like the perfect white like many kiwis seem to expect.  I could even still see some depressions in the rind from where the cheese had been maturing on wire racks.

Looks pretty good compared to other supermarket camemberts in NZ!

The texture was moist, soft and smooth but not runny - what a perfect stabilised Camembert should be.  The flavour was creamy, but fairly plain.  There was nothing wrong with it, there just wasn't much to be excited about either.  On the whole, a pretty good supermarket camembert I thought.  And then...

The next day.

When I went back to the fridge the next day to have some more.... I found a very brown and unappealing cheese.  I can only attribute this to some sort of reaction with oxygen, as the brown was also under the rind as well as on the cut surfaces of the cheese.  I am guessing the package was filled with a 'modified atmosphere' and there has been some sort of browning reaction involving sugars from fermentation in the cheese which has been exposed' once the package was opened.  Whatever the case, I hope this was an unusual occurrence, and not one that consumers regularly see when they purchase this cheese!  

#41 - Chevre "Te Ma" from Kaikoura Artisan Cheese

Since arriving back in New Zealand almost a year ago, I have been on the lookout for some good chevre/fresh goats milk cheese.  We loved all the different fresh goat milk lactic cheeses that we worked with at Neal's Yard Dairy, and chevres that we tried in France.  It seems that there are a few around in New Zealand, but they are easier to get hold of if you live nearby.  Unfortunately for us in Palmerston North there is nothing local (until I get our shop up and running), so I've had to keep searching.

Kaikoura Artisan Cheese Company have recently launched a Chevre Fermier called "Te Ma".  When I previously wrote about Daniel & Sarah at Kaikoura, they were still developing their herd of Saanen dairy goats ready for milking.  Well a few months ago they started making Te Ma, and I was lucky enough to get a sample.

By the way, apologies for not using the correct Maori punctuation - Blogger does not have this option.  Anyway, in Maori "ma" means "be white, clean" etc and this is certainly apt for this cheese.

It had a clean aroma, with a slightly cultured, acidic note much like you expect from cream cheese.  The texture was soft and moist.  There was a little crumble from the acid in the curd, but this was more than balanced out by the moistness which gave a creamy texture.  When tasted, it is first acidic and sour and then some slight floral aromas develop as the cheese is swallowed.  The flavour was very fresh - no "goatiness" as many people expect from goats milk cheese.  This freshness is a sign the goats milk has been handled with care and has not been abused - which is not surprising as Daniel & Sarah's goats graze very close to their little cheese factory.

Personally, I would prefer to allow this cheese to dry out a little more before I eat it, to get a more fudgy texture (which is easy enough to do yourself anyway).  Although many people in New Zealand are unfamiliar with fresh goats cheese, I think it could become popular due to its versatility.  Some of the ways we like to eat it include: in many types of salad, on home made pizzas, with honey or fresh fruit, or on top of pasta or vege bakes in winter.

Te Ma before I devour it.

Daniel and Sarah with their (happy) Saanen goats.