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CHEESE TYPE BOARDS (for Cheese Lovers and Cheese Makers) => RENNET COAGULATED - Semi-Hard "Sweet" Washed Curd => Topic started by: handyface on October 26, 2009, 03:53:30 PM
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Went to a Cheese & Wine fair at the weekend, and managed to pick up a very interesting cheese.
From what I could gather from the stall-holder (who didn't speak much English), it had been soaked in wine for 48 hours then covered in "dried grapes" - looked more like some kind of seed though, and didn't have a great flavour.
Texture-wise it was relatively soft and quite mild, but with a tannin aftertaste which wasn't particularly nice.
This (as well as a port-soaked Stilton on sale) got me thinking - what else could you soak cheese in?
I've had a few ideas, but first i'd like to try and get a good wine-soaked one - potentially by decreasing the amount of time spent in the wine, but then I also need to understand how the wine will interact with the cheese during maturing.
Anyway - has anyone got any experience with soaking in various liquids? Any tips?
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A number of us have soaked cheese in wine, I did one in port. But like you I wasn't too thrilled with the final cheese. Don't know whether it was the cheese, the port I used, or just te conbination of both. Do a search and see what you find.
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There are only two things I have ever soaked cheese in wine and teriaki sauce. I know sounds weird but it was a nice young jack with finely chopped crystalized ginger and deep fried. It was very good!
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handyface, as Tea says, search on Cabre al Vino and you'll get a few hits with records.
One of the earliest members, daggerdoggie made a cheese with grape skins (http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,142.0.html), including pictures and records.
I posted a picture of a Pecorino Stagionato Nelle Vinacce Di Brunello (grape skins) here (http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,1695.msg12830.html#msg12830).
Might give you an idea what type of cheese you bought.
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As usual, Ch is a wealth of information. Love the pics you get too.
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Brilliant, thank you! I will have a read through those, and might just start reading from the beginning of the forum - my search skills seem to have failed me!
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You are welcome, Tea and I were one of the first members here so have better memories or what's been posted.
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Hi Handyface
A recipe you might check out is Tomme au Marc on Ricki Carroll’s website. I have made it several times (one still ripening) and can report the following results and comments.
The first one was made with grape skins and red wine; the second with grape skins and white wine (I also tried a small one with chopped acerola cherries and white wine); and the third with grape skins and red wine. There are photos below of each of these.
All of them had a strong taste of the wine, and my preference was for the white wine, but others have preferred the red, so the jury’s out on that issue. For the first cheese, I scraped the skins off the cheese before cutting it, but I didn’t do that for the other two. I think I will leave them there in future (I was impatient to try the first one and they do need some time to dry).
The first two cheeses seemed to harden up more than a similar cheese without wine, though No. 3 is considerably softer.
This is a cheese I will continue to make, if only for its interest value. The flavour is not the best one in the fridge, but it’s not objectionable either.
Best of luck with it.
B
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Those are nice looking cheese. I love the purple color!