Author Topic: Rocamadour / Cabecou Cheese Making Recipe  (Read 21746 times)

pinkcell

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Rocamadour / Cabecou Cheese Making Recipe
« on: November 18, 2010, 01:46:33 AM »
Webmaster edit: Split this request for two recipes in to two, second request for Cancoillotte here.

Of course for asking that kind of question you already know I'm French!

I miss some French cheeses that is why I'm starting to learn how to make them. I have to experiment first on classic and rather easy cheeses before starting more tricky ones. I'm desperate to find a recipe for my favorite one: Rocamadour also called Cabecou (ripened goat cheese, stinky with mild flavor and so so creamy inside).

http://www.fromages.com/cheese_library_detail.php?id_fromage=151

Would you have any detailed recipe for them?

If you know a good book about french cheese recipes I'm interested too. Thank you so much for your help.

Ludi
« Last Edit: November 18, 2010, 02:42:46 AM by Webmaster »

Cheese Head

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Re: Rocamadour / Cabecou Cheese Making Recipe
« Reply #1 on: November 18, 2010, 02:47:04 AM »
Bonjour Ludi, Bienvenue!

Sorry but I do not have that recipe, but this is a good book which has some additional info on Cabecou & Cabecou de Rocamadour (AOC).

Cheese Head

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Re: Rocamadour / Cabecou Cheese Making Recipe
« Reply #2 on: November 19, 2010, 01:38:11 AM »
I thought I'd seen these petit fromages elsewhere, so I just cropped those pictures, zoom in snaps below . . .

Cheese Head

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Re: Rocamadour / Cabecou Cheese Making Recipe
« Reply #3 on: November 19, 2010, 02:01:28 AM »
OK, the book linked above says:
Quote
CABECOU/ROCAMADOUR (AOC)
Made with raw goat's milk, from the plains, this tiny, but highly pleasing cheese matures well, acquiring body and presence. Each year some 490 tonnes are produced in the triangle between Rocamadour, Gramat, and Carlucet. In the langue d'Oc, the old language of the south, a cabécou is a small goats cheese. The fresh, spring cheeses, smelling of grass and milk, are worth trying. The AOC "Rocamadour" reserved for goat's milk cheeses, was granted on 16 January, 1996.

CABECOU DE GRAMAT
This fermier cheese has an affinage of a minimum of ten days. Uncooked, unpressed, 1.6-2 in diameter, 0.4-0.6 in high, 1.1-1.4 ounces weight, 45% milkfat, produced spring-autumn. Rind of natural mold.

CABECOU
A fermier Cabécou from the region of Quercy.

CABECOU DE ROCAMADOUR (AOC)
These small fermier and artisanal cheeses are small and mature rapidly. They have a thin rind, and a tender, creamy pate with a subtle scent reminiscent of milk and mold. The aftertaste is equally light, of sugar and hazelnuts. Affinage takes anything up to four weeks.
Same dimensions etc as above.

PICADOU
This cheese is produced by wrapping a ripe Cabécou in walnut or plane leaves. It is then sprayed with marc of plums and preserved in an air-tight container. The crushed pepper adds spice to an already piquant cheese.

pinkcell

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Re: Rocamadour / Cabecou Cheese Making Recipe
« Reply #4 on: November 19, 2010, 02:54:10 AM »
Thanks John! because of the pictures I will dream all night of these cheeses! When I look at the prices I'm so jealous too it's about 3 doll each what a deal!

that is very nice of you to have copy the book for me

iratherfly

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Re: Rocamadour / Cabecou Cheese Making Recipe
« Reply #5 on: November 20, 2010, 08:13:35 AM »
Hi pinkcell, this is a touchy subject!
If you have followed my posts you might have seen me talking about these cheeses as being some of my very favorites! I mention them often.  I am also a fan of tiny cheese and make my own version of them and have the molds for them. I think you are the first person that actually ask for them here. Even some great cheese shops say to me "Oh, you mean Chabichou!" and I have to insist, "no, no Cabécou, entirely different cheese". My favorite version is the Cabécou du Périgord, a clean, crisp disc of one-bite rich creamy nutty goodness. I also like the Cabécou du Poitou though it's a totally different style. When I was in Paris a few months ago I noticed that most fromagiers have Rocamadour but don't recognize the Cabécou or just tell you that it's the same thing. The last photo I posted in this thread is a picnic on a bench at the market in Paris... see the Rocamadour?

http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,4019.msg30600.html#msg30600

Where do you live? (No country or state in your profile) maybe I know some cheese merchant that has them in your area.
Are you looking to make them or to buy them? What types of cheese do you usually make?

pinkcell

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Re: Rocamadour / Cabecou Cheese Making Recipe
« Reply #6 on: November 20, 2010, 02:49:54 PM »
Hello Iratherfly

Your pictures are a true torture. I'm French, from Nice (south east) but I live in Uncasville, CT (between New Haven and Hartford). I recently discovered the cabecou in Figeac in Lot where my in-laws live. I'm not sure which variety it was but it's probably the Perigord one. They are looking for the recipe for me but I found a good community of cheese addicts in this forum and thought someone would already know

I could buy them but sometimes prices are ridiculous. There is a cheese shop in Old saybrrok called Fromage but it's so pricey.

I'm trying to make them as I found a goat farm 25 min away. The farmer is even willing to do  a special mix for me: the morning milk with the evening of the day before milk. Awesome!

For making them I'm not sure of their sizes so I don't know what mold I'd need.

I've just started making cheese with my "fromagere" aka cheese maker. It's great for doing fromage blanc, faisselle et demi-sec. I'm in the middle of making some chevre.

http://www.amazon.fr/Lagrange-449001-Fromag%C3%A8re-Faisselle-Programmable/dp/B002RLPUSW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=kitchen&qid=1290264250&sr=8-1

Sorry I don't know how to create a link.

I bought it from amazon.fr and bought a transfo here so I can use it. It works very well. I bought 2 cheese book in French and 2 in English. The English ones are well made and with great explanations but do not describe very simple things like faisselle.

I received my molds yesterday and I ordered a cheese press. I'm still waiting on some ingredients.

I recently found this forum and I'm still browsing the numerous and very interesting posts. Is there a recipe category?

Cheers

cats

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Re: Rocamadour / Cabecou Cheese Making Recipe
« Reply #7 on: December 07, 2010, 03:55:07 AM »
1st day, evening: milk the goats and bring the milk to 10°C
2nd day, morning: milk the goats and mix with the yesterday milk, should be round 18°C, then add whey and rennet
3rd day morning: in the last 24Hrs, the curd has set and is ready to be molded. Take the curd with a ladle and put in molds. Later in the day, when some whey will be drained, the mold are filled up again.
4th day morning: the cheeses are turned in their mold and the top face is salted
5th day morning: the cheeses are taken out of their molds, flipped down on a grill and the other face is salted and they are left to drip for 24 hours
6th day morning: the cheeses are turned over on the grill and put in a dryer at 14°C
7th day morning: the cheeses are turned again and put in a ripening room at 10°C
for the five next days: cheeses are turned every 2 days
the last day: cheeses are ready and are at their best.


Well this is a translation from http://www.fromag.com/produits/cabecou.html.

It's a traditionnal method used in Perigord.
I can not exactly remember how was doing my grand father because he died when I was 7, but as far as I can recall this was an easy recipe made with raw milk from the farm.
We used to eat some passed under the oven grill on a slice of bread ( I mean real french bread with a thick crust ) zith provence herbs, garlic scrubed on bread, olive oil. And when served at table, we used to put some black cheeries marmelade or honey.

This can seems a bit weird to mix cherries with goats cheese, but it's really wonderfull when it's all homemade.

Looks like I'll try to adapt this receipe for in house cheese making, because I really miss cabecous.
No other cheese has the same taste here.

iratherfly

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Re: Rocamadour / Cabecou Cheese Making Recipe
« Reply #8 on: December 08, 2010, 08:56:05 AM »
Pinkcell that sounds terrific!

You may be able to get these at Whole foods though it's quite a drive. I assume your zip code is around 06382 so these are the stores closest to you: http://wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/store-list/?zipcode=06382  when I buy it there is't usually $6.99 for a 2-pack. Quite expensive considering the 70g size.

Cats - THANK YOU for the recipe!  There are no quantities or specification of which culture to use though. It seems to me however like very traditional French natural acidification and semi-lactic process.

To make these. you will require special molds to form this cheese because these are such small disc-shaped wheels. The good news is that you can probably make about 15 of these from a gallon of milk with such recipe.  I think you can use chevre mix or 3 drops of rennet + 1/16 tsp PC per gallon and it will get you pretty close to the french result. The small size is essential so get the molds first. If it's too large it may take longer to age and drain and may also have more chalky qualities like Valençay or Crottin. Cabecou is far smoother and creamier.  Perhaps forum member Francois who is also in CT has access to the accurate recipe and has some insight about the cultures to use?

Here is a photo of an ad-hoc attempt I made last year with leftover of crottin curd. I think the mix was right but the aging process should have been slightly different. It was very good but kind of a cross between Cabecou and a young Crottin frais.
« Last Edit: December 08, 2010, 09:04:13 AM by iratherfly »

pinkcell

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Re: Rocamadour / Cabecou Cheese Making Recipe
« Reply #9 on: December 08, 2010, 12:59:18 PM »
Beautiful pictures! thanks for adding proportions to the recipe. Thanks Cat!
 For the molds I'm not sure how to find them maybe online on a french website. Good to know about wholefoods. I found some online 6 of 1oz for about 7 bucks but the shipping... http://www.gourmet-food.com/gourmet-cheese/cabecou-cheese-100504.aspx

I'll give the recipe a try as soon as I can. By the way I did my first attempt to crottin but the taste was really strong and the mold part was falling a part from the core of the cheese. I also made them to small. Do you have any idea what could have gone wrong?

Thanks again for all your help

Offline DeejayDebi

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Re: Rocamadour / Cabecou Cheese Making Recipe
« Reply #10 on: December 11, 2010, 06:05:16 PM »
You might try looking through this website they have tonnes for French cheese prcedures. Cheeses are  PRODUIT=3262 to 32304 from what I have seen.

http://www.inao.gouv.fr/public/produits/detailProduit.php?ID_PRODUIT=3290

pinkcell

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Re: Rocamadour / Cabecou Cheese Making Recipe
« Reply #11 on: December 11, 2010, 06:40:50 PM »
that's great!!! thank you so much. This week end is dedicated to camembert and reblochon, I will try to test this next week end if I can. I guess I could use a chevre mold even though the height to too high but the diameter is the closest to what is required (6 cm). I can't find the molds for these online unless someone knows....

Offline DeejayDebi

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Re: Rocamadour / Cabecou Cheese Making Recipe
« Reply #12 on: December 11, 2010, 06:55:49 PM »
Got to the kitchen section at Walmart they have these little plastic food containers with screw-on lids for lunchboxes or something. They are the perfect size. I used a small drill to makes some holes in the sides and bottom for draining but a hot needle will work too. They will look a bit rounded on the bottom when you first remove them from the molds but they will flatten once they sit a bit on something flat. At first they look like tiny goudas but they make cute little cheeses. I think they are only like $1.50  for two of them. They may be Glad brand or something but they are in that section.

susanky

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Re: Rocamadour / Cabecou Cheese Making Recipe
« Reply #13 on: December 11, 2010, 09:48:06 PM »
Someone also suggested  (sorry don't remember who deserves credit) frosting containers.  The ones that you buy prepared frosting in.  They also seem to be the perfect size, and are sturdy.  Just need the holes.  I don't buy them, but had someone save me their containers.
Susan

pinkcell

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Re: Rocamadour / Cabecou Cheese Making Recipe
« Reply #14 on: December 11, 2010, 10:31:51 PM »
I see the ones you're talking about. The brand is ziploc. I guess I'm going to walmart soon! Excellent suggestions by the way