Author Topic: Cabra al Vino Experiment  (Read 1314 times)

Offline venhausa

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Cabra al Vino Experiment
« on: October 05, 2015, 05:43:55 PM »
Sneak peak at a special Christmas cheese I'm experimenting with!

It's a play on a Cabra al Vino. This one is being soaked in white wine to show off the colors of the herbs and sweeten up the final result.

Offline Andrew Marshallsay

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Re: Cabra al Vino Experiment
« Reply #1 on: October 06, 2015, 07:18:48 AM »
Certainly a very pretty looking cheese and an unusual treatment. A cheese from me in recognition of your spirit of adventure and your artistic ability.
I'd be interested to know some more details of the make. What style of cheese is it? What herbs did you use and how did you prepare them? I will also be interested to hear how it turns out.
- Andrew

Offline venhausa

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Re: Cabra al Vino Experiment
« Reply #2 on: October 07, 2015, 06:53:41 PM »
Thanks!  :D

I used Mary Carlin's recipe for Cabra al Vino, but halved the recipe and molded in a 4.5 inch mold.

As far as pressing weight goes, I calculated the necessary PSI for that size mold based on her suggestion, and it just didn't seem to translate to enough weight--- approx 2.5lbs. Anyway, I did an initial press at 5lbs, and and then I placed the herbs. To make them stick on the sides I moistened them with water. I continued with the suggested weight of 8lbs to avoid the bumpy texture of the curd relaxing like you see in the book. I have a bit of PR takeover in my cave right now, so I want to avoid unnecessary innoculation. Also, I flipped and redressed about every 4 hours instead of every 8 hours.

The herbs I chose were fresh red shiso(perilla) buds and mint leaves. In the picture the color is still there and beautiful, but after soaking in the wine, both herbs have turned a brownish version of themselves.  The fact that they turned brown completely defeated the purpose of using white wine to show off their colors, so I'm pretty disappointed. I wonder if it would be better to dry the herbs first?

I'm going to age in my cave for the minimum suggested 6 weeks. I'm pretty eager for this one. Hopefully the white wine isn't too sweet... but who doesn't love sweet things for Christmas?  ;)

Offline Andrew Marshallsay

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Re: Cabra al Vino Experiment
« Reply #3 on: October 08, 2015, 09:31:15 AM »
Perhaps drying the herbs is something you can try next time. Blanching them might also be a good idea to prevent infection.
Do they stay in the wine until Christmas?
Good luck anyway. I will be interested to hear how they turn out.
- Andrew