Leiden with cumin

[Danbo]

I just had to make a cheese with cumin. It's pretty common here in Denmark as well as the rest of Scandinavia and in Holland. It's a taste that you love or hate...

I found the recipe for Leiden (I added Cumin) in the book "200 Easy Homemade Cheese Recipes".

The make went without trouble and according to the recipe.

Still need 8 hours more in the press...

:-) Danbo

[Schnecken Slayer]

This is one of my (many) favourite cheeses. 
I think it was about the fourth or fifth cheese I made as I hadn't seen it anywhere here in Oz... A week later, there it was in the cheese section at Woolies.

Congratulations on another fine looking cheese. ac4u!

[Al Lewis]

Danbo, did you roast the cumin seeds firt to bring out the oils?

[Danbo]

Al: No, they were just boiled...

[Mermaid]

Wow this looks delicious! Great distribution of the seeds. AC4u

[Danbo]

Schnecken: Thank you very much. That's typical... Here in Denmark it's very common and you can get it in most supermarkets and of course in cheese shops. :-)

Mermaid: It was very easy to blend in actually. Thanks for the cheese. :-)

[felku]

Good looking cheese. AC4u

[shaneb]

Looks awesome Danbo. I can't say I've tried a cumin flavoured cheese. A cheese from me too.

Shane

[Mermaid]

What is leiden cheese by the way? I've never heard of it. Easy to make? I want to try!

[Stinky]

AC4U. I've been wondering about adding cumin. How strong is the flavor?

[Danbo]

Thanks for the cheeses! :-)

Leiden (or Leyden) is a cheese originating from Holland. It's like a gouda in shape and texture and very often cumin seeds are added to the curds. The cumin taste is strong and people either hate it or love it. It's very common here in Scandinavia and of course in Holland. It goes very well with ice cold beer(s) and a dark homemade (Danish type) rye bread made on sour dough and malt.

It's a very easy cheese to make (hope it turns out well) and you don't have to stir for hours... The curds are washed in warm water twice at different temperatures. The only thing that is important to remember is to have enough boiled water ready cooled to the right temperatures. The recipe in "200 easy Homemade Cheeses" is easy to follow but there are no PH-markers and the recipe just calls for a mesophile culture. I used Choozit Kazu as it should be very good in Scandinavian cheeses. If I hadn't had Kazu, I would probably have used Choozit MA4000.

Here is a picture of the final cheese ready to go into the brine...

:-) Danbo

[Pjfraser82]

Top looking cheese.

AC4U once I work out how to do it.

Might try this one myself next time, looks like something that will really make the cave look complete.

[qdog1955]

Danbo,
How did you choose how much cumin to use----I like cumin, but to much can be overpowering----that's what happened the only time I tried it?
Another cheese for you.
Qdog

[Danbo]

Thanks both. :-)

Qdog:
It's a matter of taste... I like a cumin cheese to have a very strong (almost overpowering) taste of cumin seeds. I used 45 ml of cumin seeds for a 24 liter batch.

:-) Danbo

[Al Lewis]

Very nice looking cheese!!  As usual!!!!