Happy new year to all...
Here's a technical question. Whats the the technical difference between a washed curd tomme and a gouda? Are they slight variations on a theme or the same thing?
Thanks.
usually, milk is different... though classic tomme with skimmed milk and gouda is about the same. Also, gouda is washed more usually, and tommes vary. Also, cultures are often different, gouda being classically DL. The drain pH classically is also a little higher on tommes.
The origins are different. Tommes typically becan in France, Italy, Spain, that whole region where the cheese technology could be very primitive. Gouda is actually high technology, coming at cheesemaking from a more sophisticated Dutch approach where farms had more technology.
I had exactly the same question, looking at both recipes side by side the differences seem very small
Which recipes? I mean, sure, if you make tomme With DL culture, and wash it with 30-40% water, yes, that makes a sort of gouda, because it can never acidify properly when that much lactose is removed. But if you do a normal 10-15% wash, you will have a fairly normal tomme make and acidity schedule. A washed curd tomme usually doesn't ever get to 30%. Something like a garrotxa, for example, is 15-20%.