Tomme/Toma style cheese made from water buffalo milk

[Aris]

This was my first attempt at a tomme style cheese using my own recipe. Fortunately it came out better than I expected. I initially want it to be like a Tomme de Savoie but the cheese doesn't have a smooth rind and has numerous crevices because it was unpressed. I fear that wild molds will dig into the cheese so I tried to base it off Toma di Gressoney instead which is a washed rind Tomme/Toma. I used kefir and yogurt as starter culture. This was washed with 3% brine until natural B. linens appear then sweet white wine several times. I eventually stopped washing to let natural molds grow. This was aged for 64 days.

[mikekchar]

Looks amazing!  Resident tomme expert linuxboy was a big proponent of having some b. linens on the rind of a tomme and I have to say, having tried it, I'm a fan.  Looks like you got it about right :-).  64 days is a *bit* early, I think, but definitely where it starts to get that nice tomme character.  If you do it again, you might want to try aging it for another month or two.  But, I'm very jealous....  I have no tomme and it's moving into the rainy season where it's hard to make one...

AC4U!

[Aris]

Thanks! Ah Linuxboy, I learned so much from him. I agree that 64 days is a bit early. It developed some hairline cracks and I got worried it might develop a thick rind so I opened it. The rind wasn't really that thick and it could have aged a month longer without an issue. It was also starting to develop a nice coat of white mold which could've made it better if aged longer. It still has a decent flavor, taste and texture at a young age. Since it is too big for me to consume quickly. I shaved off the rind and vacuum packed it to age longer. I will try again this month which will be a bit bigger and will be aged for 3-4 months. This cheese has a flavor profile similar to Raclette so I had to melt it and put it over a potato.