Author Topic: Making goat cheese along the Mekong, Laos (plus a question :))  (Read 3813 times)

shoelessone

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Hi all!

I just wanted to ask, first, a question: What EXACTLY is this type of goat cheese called, and can anybody give me a recipe for it or tell me which recipe from Ricki's cheese book will "do the job"?  I've heard it's called Chevre, but I've also hear it's called other things.  Some recipes call for culture + rennet, some just call for a culture.  Etc.  I want a goat cheese with this sort of texture (spreadable but still sort of crumbly) and that sort of taste.  Any help would be appreciated!

This is what I'd like to make:


This is where the video was taken from (an organic farm in Vang Viene, Laos - my girlfriend and I stayed for about a week during out 6 month SE Asia trip and volunteered on the farm):

(that's actually my girlfriend on the left)

And this is a link to the video, which is how they made the fresh goat cheese in Laos daily:
Making goat cheese on the Mekong



Cheese Head

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Re: Making goat cheese along the Mekong, Laos (plus a question :))
« Reply #1 on: May 10, 2009, 01:35:16 PM »
Hi ShoeLessOne

Nice pictures and video, beautiful mountains, thanks!

Chevre is just the French word for Goat, thus Goat's Cheese/Chevre are the same thing. And yes recipes for goat cheese are varied.

From the video, it looks likes the first additive (measured in several shots) is I think some sort of reconstituted/mother starter culture, no idea what. The second via the eye dropper has the same colour as rennet and the amount makes me think it's rennet. The picture towards the end of the video of the white bottle reads in French "Extrait de presure CARLIN". "Presure" is French equivalent of English word "rennet" and I googled the term and best I could come up with is this rennet et al manufacturing plant in France that is reported to have been started in 1906, the founders name was Carlin, and has been owned by several companies and now huge Danisco company. So I think it is rennet, there are several similar shaped and named bottles of rennet/presure on this French Cheese Making Supplier's website.

As to the making of Chevre, there are a few records in this forum and an example recipe here.

Looks like the fresh milk was never pasteurized (heated) before being made into cheese. Would be very interesting to see the rest of their cheese making method, or did they not want video taken?
« Last Edit: May 10, 2009, 01:48:17 PM by John (CH) »

shoelessone

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Re: Making goat cheese along the Mekong, Laos (plus a question :))
« Reply #2 on: May 10, 2009, 03:10:43 PM »
Thanks for taking the time to write such a nice response John!

I sadly didn't get a chance to take a video of the rest of the process - I know the video as is might be a bit lacking in content - for me it brings back good memories (although this was only taken 6 or 7 months ago :)).  When they actually poured the curd into molds I was not around.  I did get a chance to see the molds however, and they were your standard run of the mill cylinders with weeping holes.

I am able to find goat cheese recipes, but I'm not sure what cheese recipe to use.  The issue is I have a particular goat cheese in mind, and it's THE goat cheese you'd find at 90% of large grocery stores.  It's the goat cheese that your average person would thing of if you said "would you like goat cheese on your pizza?" - the soft spreadable sort.  I've made "goat cheese" before, for instance I've made a Parmesan out of goat milk.  But I'm looking for the type of goat cheese pictured above.  There MUST be a name for this type of goat cheese, or no?

Thanks again!

Zara

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Re: Store-type chevre
« Reply #3 on: June 03, 2009, 05:38:19 PM »
I make the soft-but-crumbly chevre frequently. It is not actually my favorite fresh type, as I like mine a little more stringy and gooey but the following recipe will yield the much more the traditional consistency and flavor which you are asking after - tastes like the long slim logs with the goat on the front that you buy...

This is very popular with friends who add it to salads, pitas, pizza, as a bread spread, sandwiches....on and on.

I use raw goat milk; I assume for past. goat milk you would want to add a bit of CaCl to it...Here's what I do:

1 gal. fresh goat milk
1/4 tsp MM100 meso culture
15 drops Malaka rennet (if you use 20 it will be slightly bitter)
2T un-iodized salt or to taste
opt. sterile herbs for flavor, or garlic or...to your liking

Warm milk to room temp (72F). Dissolve MM culture & rennet into small amount water, and then add this to the tepid milk. Stir gently top to bottom to make sure it is spread throughout. Cover and set aside for 18-24 hours at room temp (around 72-78F - don't do this if your house is 100F inside! - been there, done that. Very Bad!) After 18-24 hours, you will have a firm curd set.
Now gently slice the curd however you like, just to help it release the whey a bit, so it will scoop out neatly. Scoop out into muslin draining cloth (I use old pillowcases, cut and sterilized). Hang the draining bag from a cabinet handle or something with a pot underneath to capture the whey. Drain for roughly 24 hours at moderate room temp, or until it is the consistency you want. Take the bag down, and add the salt, work it in well. If you want to add herbs, now is the time. I generally work in salt, shape it into little balls, and then roll the balls in the herbs. Wrap tightly in plastic, or smoosh into tupperware or however you wish to store it. This should keep in a frig for about 2 weeks - I have a 2 week old batch I had for breakfast this morning...

I think it is the MM100 culture which lends this the authentic texture and taste. I also do this with buttermilk, but that yields a soft, gooey, stringy result (my personal fave!). MM100 can be bought at dairy connection, probably lots of other places.

Hope that's what you are looking for!