Author Topic: Coconut oil/leaf adorned Tomme  (Read 11415 times)

Offline Tiarella

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Coconut oil/leaf adorned Tomme
« on: June 06, 2013, 11:52:52 PM »
Made a Tomme and am experimenting with coconut oil used to adhere the leaves.  I believe this is the easiest leaf-adorned cheese I've done yet.  No molds have appeared and it's been weeks already.  I'm psyched. Now I just have to see how the coconut oil seal works with holding in moisture and preserving the cheese.  I have several plain tommes with coconut oil coating also.

Offline Boofer

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Re: Coconut oil/leaf adorned Tomme
« Reply #1 on: June 07, 2013, 07:20:17 PM »
Watching with interest.

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shotski

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Re: Coconut oil/leaf adorned Tomme
« Reply #2 on: June 08, 2013, 12:58:02 AM »
Watching with interest.

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What he said
« Last Edit: June 08, 2013, 01:21:43 AM by shotski »

Offline Tiarella

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Re: Coconut oil/leaf adorned Tomme
« Reply #3 on: June 08, 2013, 01:19:43 AM »
I've got an idea for  chive tomme with vertical chive blades inlaid around the whole edge.  Can hardly wait to do that one.  I've got two other tomes in the fridge sealed with coconut oil but no adornment and I'm not watching the humidity in the fridge.  I want to see how how protective the coconut oil can be.  I've so far learned that you need a pretty good layer to keep moisture in.

Offline Schnecken Slayer

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Re: Coconut oil/leaf adorned Tomme
« Reply #4 on: June 08, 2013, 01:52:17 AM »
Another nicely decorated chese! Well done.
A quick question, being denser, does the coconut oil sticks the leaves to the cheese better.
-Bill
One day I will add something here...

Offline Tiarella

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Re: Coconut oil/leaf adorned Tomme
« Reply #5 on: June 08, 2013, 10:54:51 AM »
Another nicely decorated chese! Well done.
A quick question, being denser, does the coconut oil sticks the leaves to the cheese better.

Yes, it works wonderfully because you can slather it on while warm and liquid but it cools and becomes solid.  Doing leaf adornment with honey worked well but it's a lot of careful washing of molds, being gentle working around the leaves so as not to wash them off.  I doubt I'll get the same "parchment" look with the coconut oil but the time saved may be worth giving that up and who knows, maybe this technique will yield different but very cool finished look.  I've done it on a tomme this time so it'll get aged longer than the Caerphilly adorned cheeses I did before.

meyerandray

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Re: Coconut oil/leaf adorned Tomme
« Reply #6 on: June 08, 2013, 12:06:43 PM »
Very nice looking tomme! I wonder if the coconut oil would also be able to preserve the look/color of some edible flowers? I know from your blog you're a flower eater, have you ever tried to use them to adorn a cheese?

shotski

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Re: Coconut oil/leaf adorned Tomme
« Reply #7 on: June 08, 2013, 12:30:36 PM »
Have you done a coconut oil rind in the past and does the oil impart any flavour to the cheese?

Offline Tiarella

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Re: Coconut oil/leaf adorned Tomme
« Reply #8 on: June 08, 2013, 03:27:27 PM »
I haven't found a flavor from the coconut oil on rinds but most of those rinds were natural rinds for a while first.  it seems to work well.

And, Celine, I like the flower idea.  I hadn't thought of that since discovering coconut oil.

meyerandray

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Re: Coconut oil/leaf adorned Tomme
« Reply #9 on: June 08, 2013, 07:01:23 PM »
I put some fig leaves on a gouda i have aging today. It is about 3 weeks old, and has a clean rind, even though I haven't done anything to keep it that way. Today I noticed two little mold spots and decided to try the coconut oil kathrin convinced me to buy, I had seen this post and thought, why not try some leaves too. I cut the smallest leaves I could find on the fig trees, but they are too big for the sides. I boiled them in salted water first, mostly to get rid of that white gluey stuff (hope you non-scientists can understand that terminology  ;) ) . I did a layer of coconut oil, then the leaves, then another bit of oil to coat the leaves. I wasn't gentle enough and ripped one. It is a good first try, but not photo-worthy.
Will the leaves contribute flavor to the cheese?

JeffHamm

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Re: Coconut oil/leaf adorned Tomme
« Reply #10 on: June 08, 2013, 07:10:40 PM »
The coconut oil looks very interesting.  I've not seen it here.  How solid is it in the cave? Is it sort of like wax hard, or is it a bit soft (as in, if it sat on a grill shelf for a week, will it sink into the grill / another way to put it is will the grill cut into it over time?

- Jeff

Offline Schnecken Slayer

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Re: Coconut oil/leaf adorned Tomme
« Reply #11 on: June 08, 2013, 07:29:05 PM »
I was a bit concerned about using fig leaves due to the white latex being an irritant.
However, I have found several pages that mention the use of fig leaves (ficus carica) and fig leaf extract as an anti-diabetic.

I would not use it personally as I am allergic to Kiwi Fruit (which also implies an allergy to latex products).
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Offline Tiarella

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Re: Coconut oil/leaf adorned Tomme
« Reply #12 on: June 09, 2013, 10:36:59 AM »
Celine, I don't know how much, if any, flavor might result from the fig leaves.  The coconut oil might shield the cheese or be a conveyer of flavors.  We'll rely upon you to report back.   :D.  Even using honey and leaves it was hard for me to notice much flavor that I could know was surely leaf flavor.  My coconut leaf one is a tomme so I will be aging it out.  Fig leaves are used by quite a few people.  Wonder of you could try freezing and thawing them to have them limp but sturdier.  What does Gianaclis Caldwell suggest in her book.  She's got that great fig leaf wrapped cheese whose working title was "Adam's Package" and It still makes me chuckle.

Jeff, the coconut oil is quite hard at aging temps.  I have a mat between it and the grill so I can't tell you if grill marks would appear in it but there are no mat marks in my coconut oiled cheeses.  The thing I like is that when I take one out of the cave to check on it, I can rub it and my hand warmth will soften the coconut oil so that I can smooth it over any patches I think are too thin.  If you don't pay attention to cave humidity, as I confess is the case with me, one needs to make sure you have a thick enough coating of the coconut oil to slow/prevent moisture loss.  I suggest coating the cheese, putting it in the wine fridge/cave and then recoating a day later, and then checking a day after that to make sure coverage is good.  But this quite a miraculous option for keeping rinds mold free.  I did have a wee bit of mold appear on the cocoa and paprika coated cheeses but adding a bit more oil and then just smearing it a couple of times when tiny patches of mold appeared totally did the trick.  There was NO more mold after that and they aged for quite a while, being exposed to lots of other molds.

Schnecken, wonder if fig leaves soaked in brandy would be safe.  or maybe just use grape leaves instead?

« Last Edit: June 09, 2013, 01:48:14 PM by Tiarella »

meyerandray

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Re: Coconut oil/leaf adorned Tomme
« Reply #13 on: June 09, 2013, 12:34:03 PM »
I have grape leaves, well vines that obviously have leaves, but I didn't want to use them because we treat them with verderame (an organic copper-spray) and I was hesitant to eat that.  I know that it is natural, and wouldn't put it on my plants if it weren't, but still hesitate before aging my cheese in a copper-dosed leaf. 
I Gianaclis doesn't go too much into using leaves, she does reference her goat cheese "Adam's package" (I love that name too  :) ) but says that leaves can be dry, but are more frequently macerated in alcohol for a couple of weeks first.  I had seen your freezing suggestion, and would use that with a different kind of leaf, but wanted to get rid of the gluey substance in the stem of the fig leaf, so I thought I would boil it.  I probably could have boiled a few less minutes. 
I'll let you know if a few months how this one turns out, and thanks for the suggestions and inspiration!!
Celine

Offline Schnecken Slayer

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Re: Coconut oil/leaf adorned Tomme
« Reply #14 on: June 09, 2013, 07:51:24 PM »

Schnecken, wonder if fig leaves soaked in brandy would be safe.  or maybe just use grape leaves instead?

I tend to err on the side of caution and didn't realise that the fig leaves were at all edible. As they say "You learn something new everyday"
I do have a grape vine, although it's now winter here, and use them for dolmades usually  O0
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