I am wondering if anyone here has tried covering a Caerphilly with nettle or wild garlic leaves, as they do with Cornish Yarg? I want to try this but I can't find any instructions for how to treat the leaves prior to painting them on or the best way to age the cheese. Apparently freezing nettle leaves denatures the stings but its the wild garlic I really want to try as its all coming up at this time of year.
I dont know anything about these but long ago a user named Tiarella did alot with leaf wraps and other rind arts. I would look up her old posts.
blanch in boiling water and then chill in ice water. Ageing should be pretty normal but with the garlic stems on there you might need to bandage the cheese. Or chop them and incorporate into the cheese at moulding, keeping them away from the exterior.
well I have no idea how it will turn out. Its certainly the most attractive cheese I have made but ... will it survive. I coated it with PVA because its partly permeable and also I want to see what is going on rather than do it 'blind' with wax or muslin/lard. Thanks for your suggestions Jason. What I actually did was to sterilise the leaves with the product we use to disinfect vegetables during Covid and then thoroughly wash, spin in a salad spinner and freeze.
When defrosted they were easy to apply to the cheese. I didn't want them to dry out but neither did I want them to 'weep'. A bit of a balancing act. The Caerphilly only needs 2 months to age so I won't have to wait long to judge the finished product.
That look really cool! I can't wait to hear how it tastes and see pics of the final product.
I hope it tastes as good as it looks but I am flying blind !
at two months ageing i removed the PVA and the garlic leaves to reveal a perfect Caerphilly with a pleasant hint of garlic both in initial taste and in aftertaste. Altogether a very satisfactory result considering I was 'flying blind'
What Caerphilly like? Ive never had it before. What does it look like on the inside? Like a cheddar?
its much dryer, flakier and more acidic than a cheddar - 2 months is considered enough ripening unlike a cheddar which is hardly beginning to develop at that age.
I find Caerphilly a bit tart, and definitely doesn't need much aging.... When you consider it was made for the lunchboxes of Welsh coal miners, it was perfect to help replace lost salt & acidity and supply energy for a long afternoon.... definitely a cheese with a purpose.... 8)
Bob
I love anything with a purpose. It's fascinating how humans used what they had in terms of ingredients or environment to develop items, foods or otherwise, to help them survive. It's such a big part of the history of man and the item itself. I am saddened when I see people not understand or appreciate where there food originated. For them, it comes from the supermarket and that's it.