Author Topic: Cheese discovery  (Read 5141 times)

ksk2175

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Cheese discovery
« on: January 16, 2017, 10:10:05 PM »
Ok maybe you guys can help .... I ran across this amazing cheese this weekend at my local Whole Foods.  It is made by Cabot but is is branded as Catamount Hills Cheese for Whole Foods.  It is described as a hard Italian-type cheese with notes of Swiss and Parmesan flavors.  It is a type of cheddar cheese.  It is amazing and tastes exactly like the packaging states.... Swiss and Parmesan mixed and even has those little crunchies in there similar of a grana type.  Easy to slice and flexible like swiss but that sharp parmesan flavor comes over the top and makes this one awesome cheese. 

The question is how do I approach trying to make a cheese like this?  Is this a mixed curd situation where I can make up a swiss curd and parmesan curd then mix before molding? 

Thoughts?



AnnDee

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Re: Cheese discovery
« Reply #1 on: January 16, 2017, 10:21:17 PM »
Maybe this is a little like Dubliner, cheddar with yummy sweetness in it.
I am experimenting and trying to come up with similar cheese with mix meso thermo plus helveticus.

Offline awakephd

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Re: Cheese discovery
« Reply #2 on: January 16, 2017, 11:50:56 PM »
Hmm ... wonder if you would get something similar using a swiss recipe but with lipase added? I'm a bit confused by the comment that it is a type of cheddar cheese - in my mind, that is a totally different flavor profile than swiss & parma.
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Offline Gregore

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Re: Cheese discovery
« Reply #3 on: January 17, 2017, 06:39:13 AM »
What I suspect this is .... a cheese gone slightly wrong and rebranded.


Not say it is not a good cheese but that the original producer did not have the market for it . So sold it cheaper than they would have if it had been what they where trying to make.

Us hobbiests would see it as a happy accident if it happened to us.

AnnDee

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Re: Cheese discovery
« Reply #4 on: January 17, 2017, 07:52:40 AM »
What I suspect this is .... a cheese gone slightly wrong and rebranded.


Not say it is not a good cheese but that the original producer did not have the market for it . So sold it cheaper than they would have if it had been what they where trying to make.

Us hobbiests would see it as a happy accident if it happened to us.

And would probably share the recipe enthusiastically ;D

Offline awakephd

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Re: Cheese discovery
« Reply #5 on: January 17, 2017, 02:34:21 PM »
What I suspect this is .... a cheese gone slightly wrong and rebranded.


Not say it is not a good cheese but that the original producer did not have the market for it . So sold it cheaper than they would have if it had been what they where trying to make.

Us hobbiests would see it as a happy accident if it happened to us.

Wait - are you saying that sometimes we don't get the cheese we were aiming for??

I can't recall that ever happening to me.

Sometimes senility is a blessing ... :)
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WovenMeadows

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Re: Cheese discovery
« Reply #6 on: January 18, 2017, 03:33:58 PM »
I've had Cabot's "Alpine Cheddar" recently, which could be the same cheese (just not rebranded). I had been thinking it was basically a cheddar process, but with a (heavy handed IMO) dose of L. Helveticus for that nutty, alpine flavor. Maybe they could dose with Proprionic as well but then not encourage eye formation, for Emmentaler-Swiss type flavor.

I get the impression we're seeing and will be seeing more and more "designer" culture cocktails going on

Offline Boofer

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Re: Cheese discovery
« Reply #7 on: January 19, 2017, 02:37:07 AM »
It is a type of cheddar cheese.

It is described as a hard Italian-type cheese with notes of Swiss and Parmesan flavors..
Ummm, not a cheddar.... ::)

Maybe try a Beaufort.

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Offline awakephd

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Re: Cheese discovery
« Reply #8 on: January 19, 2017, 03:07:42 PM »
Out of curiosity, has anyone ever tried cheddaring an alpine make? E.g., follow the recipe for a basic Asiago or Montasio or some such up to the point where the curds are drained. Then cheddar the curds until pH = 5.3 or so, then mill and salt, then press. (As opposed to the typical alpine procedure of draining curds and pressing them until the cheese reaches pH 5.3 or so, and then brining or dry salting the cheese.) I've wondered what sort of difference this would make to the final results. Could something like this be what they mean by a "cheddar" that is a "hard Italian-type with notes of Swiss and Parmesan"??

If no one else here has tried this, then maybe for my next cheesemaking opportunity (which will not be until the end of the month, alas), I might give this a try, just to see what happens, and for the greater good ... :)
-- Andy

AnnDee

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Re: Cheese discovery
« Reply #9 on: January 20, 2017, 07:18:17 AM »
Around 2 months ago I salt my alpine curd due to rapid PH decline. Out of panic, I cut up  and milled my partly pressed cheese put salt in and repress. It is still aging. I neglected it because I pretty much have lost hope on it. Maybe I will check how it is doing and report here after 1-2 more months.