This is a week old Gouda (Ricki Carroll's recipe) which had Wasabi Powder added to the milk. Ph was 5.2 before brining. It has been drying for a week, and it has just been cut for vac bagging.
I have sometimes got some Shermanii in my milk (raw Jersey cow) but never this amount of tiny eyes.
I suspect the Wasabi powder is acting as a nucleation site? Paste is smooth and even, sweet tasting, no funkiness. Cheese has gone into warm ageing in case this is P.S. growth and I can exploit this.
Anybody else seen this before?
I seem to remember that wasabi gives off CO2 in a similar way that mustard does. Basically, the chemicals that produce the sharp flavour break down and CO2 is one of the products. In fact, with fresh wasabi, as soon as you grate it (or, really, crush the cells) it looses its bite in about 30 minutes. When I saw your packet of powdered wasabi, I was a bit dubious because I don't really know how they can powder wasabi and still retain the flavour. Usually wasabi powders contain about 1% wasabi and the rest horse radish and mustard powder. I've never seen 100% wasabi powder before (I live close to a famous wasabi growing region in Japan, so I'm lucky enough to get fresh wasabi whenever I want). I'm really curious to hear if the wasabi flavour disappears by the time the cheese ages -- however, the fact that it is out of the oxygen may actually save it.
Anyway, that's my guess for what's producing those holes.
Quote from: mikekchar on February 16, 2019, 04:19:15 AM
I'm really curious to hear if the wasabi flavour disappears by the time the cheese ages --
I can tell you that I have tried numerous times to make a horseradish cheese that retains its bite-but they never do. Doesn't matter what kind of horseradish or the amount I use (and I have used a LOT before.) By the time the cheese ages, you can't even notice the horseradish. Even with young cheeses.
HOWEVER, I've found that if I use Wasabi paste and put it in over the curds (like if you were putting peppercorns etc) that the lovely green color remains and there is remnant taste of Wasabi even after aging. It does get weaker and weaker after about 3 months, but before that you know it's there--mostly by flavor, not by knock-your-socks- off heat.