I'm thinking of making Appenzeller next week. I'm not having much luck gleaning info on it. I'm thinking a touch of PS should give it the nutty flavor it should have. I was thinking of using hard cider for the wash. Picking the spices is difficult, but after smelling around my kitchen I'm thinking an infusion of Bouquet Garni in the milk. What would lend a fruity flavor to the cheese??? If anybody has information or advice, I'm all ears!
Peppercorns give a great floral/fruity flavor to cheese. You only know it's pepper if you bite into a peppercorn. Sounds though like you won't be leaving any in, so the flavor will remain a mystery to your friends tasting the cheese.
Thanks for the input, I'll adds the peppers. I may switch to thyme, sage, and or oregano. I can't image a cow munching on bay.
Did some more web surfing and still cannot guess what those cows are eating in the pasture. Likely it's nothing I have around, so I think I will skip infusing the milk with herbs. Instead I'll steep them in the cider/brine. Definitely, this cheese should have PS added. I not sure why it got left off the recipe. 200 Easy recipes has left off PS in several swiss types that really should have it! Appenzeller can be skim or full fat, and age for a few months or longer than 6. It is supposed to be nutty, fruity and spicy. But I don't have any idea of what in the wash would make it spicy... could be a lot of things! I think I will delay making this cheese in the hopes of find more info.
Appenzeller has been made for at least 700 years, according to Wikipedia. That might give a clue as to what herbs they use. It seems to me that the medieval style of herbing wines, etc. was to use as many aromatics as they could get hold of, for a mix like you might find in bitters or vermouth. I saw in one source that the must from white wine is used in one maker's recipe, while others use cider. This makes me wonder if the yeast is also producing some spicy elements. There is a German wheat beer called Franziskaner that has a very citrus and spice flavor, which it gets from the yeast alone. Perhaps the local cider yeast has character like that.
Yes, that may be a more fruitful way to research. I'll give it a go.
I've seen Appenzeller made, but was shown the door politely when it came to the herb/spice wash. However, I did see dry sweet hay, summer savoury, borage flowers and coriander seed lying around the wash room. There were containers of others, but I've no idea what they were.
It's probably best to make up your own mix.
Coriander seeds are a great way to achive floral and lemony aromas. Its a beermaking trick accually.
Its my go to spice ,brings a layer of complexitiy and freshness.
On the topic of beer tricks... Hops in beer can give a lot of flavours and is not bitter when steeped in the brew without heating--dry hopping. I wonder if they may be used for washes??
Thank you for your input! Many heads are better than one in the planning stage.
Maybe try a cheeses that is traditionally packed in nettles, but pack in hops? Could be interesting!
Quote from: dthelmers on January 23, 2012, 02:40:14 AM
Maybe try a cheeses that is traditionally packed in nettles, but pack in hops? Could be interesting!
That might not be such a great idea:
"Hops bitter acids have antibacterial and antifungal activity important for the preservative function of hops in beer." (http://www.drugs.com/npc/hops.html)
Just saying.... ???
-Boofer-
Exactly what I was thinking of: the antibacterial properties of both hops and nettles. Nettles were used for this in beer when hops weren't available, and I think that the practice of wrapping a certain cheese in nettles was to keep it from forming mold. It doesn't seem to have any effect on yeast, though, as even my highly hopped IPAs left a very viable yeast colony. I wonder what would and wouldn't grow with this, especially if the hops were soaked in beer, packed the way they some have done with grape leaves and wine? I might give this a try. Maybe with Cheddar?
This would be fun to try with a 2 lb wheel just in case. I wasn't thinking about it as a preservative, but as a strong aromatic/flavor. I'm having trouble imagining the type of cheese this would taste good with... likely cheddar.
I was thinking of Cascade hops- very citrusy aroma. That's the aroma from Sierra Nevada ale. I'll get a bottle of that, and try it with a couple of different cheeses. Researching this could be fun!
Yes, that or centennial would do nicely. If the antibacterial properties would inhibit B linens, why doesn't washing with beer cause a problem??
Not enough hops in beer to act as an antiseptic, I'd think. and not on there long enough. Beer will certainly grow mold when a bit is left in the bottom of the bottle.
http://appenzeller.ch/production/#a-closely-guarded-secret/756/gallery (http://appenzeller.ch/production/#a-closely-guarded-secret/756/gallery)
LOOK AT THIS! Can anyone identify the herbs in these pictures? I think I see anise and chamomile flowers... And either caraway or cumin??? HALP!
Not sure, but that third seed may have been fennel, and I agree the first two looks like chamomile and star anise.
In looking at the bin labels, I think I see cardamom (is that really a "traditional" herb for appenzeller?) and... does anyone read German? Can you make out what's on those labels???
In order of appearance:
- piment ganz: allspice
- galgantwurzeln: wild type of galangal (maybe officianis)
- rhabarber: rhubarb root
- Zitwerwurzeln: zedoary root (it's a kind of rhizome aka white tumeric/curcuma)
- cardamomensaat: cardamom seed
chamomile, fennel, anise (obvious).. not sure what herb that is in the shot of the four... maybe something like mugwort
I saw in one commentary from the 1800's that they were stirring the cheese with a fir tree branch, so as to aid in coagulation, but the observer noted that it also flavored the whey and made it more palatable. I'm thinking that the use of fir tree branches may add significantly to the flavor profile. Think about the way pine sap smells...
Oh, for heaven's sake... *facepalm*
Many wines and beers in Switzerland have a very distinctive taste that is similar to "Alpine Bitters." Some of the Appenzeller descriptions say that they include the lees (yeast sediment) from local brews... LOOK at this recipe for Alpine (Swedish in this case but in the family.) bitters and think about what the flavor profile would be!!!
The Original Formula of Swedish Bitters is as follows:
10 gm. Aloe*
5 gm. Myrrh
0.2 gm. Saffron
10 gm. Senna leaves
10 gm. Camphor**(natural, white)
10 gm. Rhubarb roots
10 gm. Manna
10 gm. Theriac Venezian
5 gm. Carline Thistle roots
10 gm. Angelica roots
10 gm. Zedoary roots
* Instead of Aloe, Genetian root or Wormwood powder may be used.
** Only natural Camphor should be used.
This mixture is put into a wide-necked
2 liter bottle and 1.5 liter of 38% to 40% vodka,
rye or fruit spirits is poured over it.
The bottle is left standing in the sun
or near the stove for 14 days and shaken daily.
The liquid is then strained and poured into small
bottles, well stoppered and stored in cool place.
This way it can be kept for many years.
The longer it stands the more effective it
becomes! Shake well before use!
Alternatively some of the liquid can be
strained into a small bottle and the rest
left in the bottle until required.
It would make a great deal of sense if bitters were used as a base, and more aromatics and other herbs/spices/roots were added to round out the flavor and aroma profile. My guess is most of the ingredients are added in an even proportion.. say 5%. And the others either for chemical reactions or to round out flavors. No clue what the exact formulation is, but I think that's a great point you're making. I've had some swedish and alpine bitters concoctions, and can definitely see what you're getting at.
I'm going to order some alpine bitters herbs and make myself some experimental brine... But first... I have to do the fangirl dance of glee... LINUXBOY SAID I MAY HAVE A GOOD POINT! ABOUT CHEESE! OMG. *geektastic fangirl dance...*
*cough*
So... yes... Ordering some bitters...
lol... hilarious
It's really quite a brilliant connection. The Germans, Swiss, Swedish, Italians, French... all the people with access to a diversity of plants developed their own versions of digestifs or all-purpose medicines. Bitters is a classic example, because from what I recall, in the classic formulations, the approach to bitters was to combine three core types of plants:
- straight bitter-tasting roots and leaves
- aromatics like fennel, anise, ginger
- bitter/sweet things, classic one being gentian
It's not a far stretch to go from those type of multi-plant concoctions as medicine/digestifs to using the blend as a wash for cheese.. maybe mixed in with lees to thicken it up. So if formulating a wash or aromatic brine, it makes a lot of sense to start with a classic bitters recipe, and then tweak it to try and bring out different flavors. I think it's kind of like gin or absinthe... no two are the same, but you can get pretty close and then play with ratios.
Interesting list of bitters herbs. In trying to find out what on earth Theriac Venezian is, I discovered two possible answers:
1. An eleven-secret-herbs-n-spices-ancient-cure-all containing, well basically bitters ingredients plus a good dash of opium.
2. "Burnet Saxifrage" which is in the parsley/fennel/angelica family and apparently has a bitter-ish pepper/parsley flavour.
So aside from the modern "Theriac" lacking opium (which'd probably just make your cheese bitter anyway), I think these both sound like reasonable candidates for an Appenzeller brine.
Hmmmm. I'm rather inclined to think its the saxifrage for two reasons:
1. Go up about half a dozen posts and watch the video I linked... I was having trouble identifying the cut green herb still that appears as the last teaser of the "secret ingredients." But it totally fits your description of saxifrage.
2. This recipe comes from a modern sales website in the US. They are selling the mixed version of this recipe if you are not inclined to mix this up yourself... I doubt they're peddling anything with opium in it for that price...
Ed to add: I checked another bitters recipe, and it calls for Pimpinella saxifraga, which is another name for Burnet Saxifrage or Theriac Venezian...
You Rock Mighty Jesse! A cheese for your cleverness!
And as an even SHORTER shortcut, I'm going to buy a bottle of Angostura bitters (originally formulated by a German doctor and commented as having a flavor VERY similar to the Swedish bitters formulation I posted), and mix it (probably not the whole bottle, mind) into my Appenzeller wash... Because I've only got the ONE cheese so far, and I'm not sure I'm willing to commit to my own brewing operation just for ONE cheese. I might get more involved if this turns out to be amazingly close to the target flavor, but seriously... I try to keep the scope of my cheese projects MANAGEABLE.
Hmmm managable interesting word. Might have to learn that one! ;)
Good luck hon. Sounds very promising!
If you can, add some rhizomes. Part of that spicyness of Appenzeller is from all the compounds of the rhizomes (galangal, tumeric, etc). I just went and tasted a few drops of Angostura and I think it's missing a few dimensions of flavor and aroma, but it's in the same family. Maybe squeeze some ginger root and add it in?
If we could get Appenzeller bitters, I bet that would be even closer. Are they available in the US?
I have galangal and ginger both, and can add them to the brine along with the bitters. They won't ship the Appenzeller Alpenbitter to the US from any of the sites I've seen that carry it... :(
ED TO ADD: And now that I think about it... I'm also aging a very strongly ginger mead in my brewing cabinet... I might just decant a bit of that to add to the mix. It's been seasoned with a bit of nutmeg, cinnamon and clove that may also add to the spicy profile...
Quote from: mightyjesse on March 22, 2012, 11:49:28 AM
Hmmmm. I'm rather inclined to think its the saxifrage for two reasons:
1. Go up about half a dozen posts and watch the video I linked... I was having trouble identifying the cut green herb still that appears as the last teaser of the "secret ingredients." But it totally fits your description of saxifrage.
2. This recipe comes from a modern sales website in the US. They are selling the mixed version of this recipe if you are not inclined to mix this up yourself... I doubt they're peddling anything with opium in it for that price...
Yes, I was joking about the opium. And from the description, the Burnet Saxifrage sounds like it would fit in nicely with the other flavours. I just meant that the modern-day "Theriac" is basically just a bitters mix anyway.
But regarding that video, do they actually say anywhere that the herbs and spices filmed are the ones that go into the brine? It just seems bizarre that they would say "the ingredients are a great big secret, known to only 2 producers in the world" and then show them all neatly labelled! :o I had just taken that section of the film to be stock footage of "herbs and spices".
Well they didn't show all the labels just a teaser!
Quote from: tinysar on March 23, 2012, 03:57:02 AM
But regarding that video, do they actually say anywhere that the herbs and spices filmed are the ones that go into the brine? It just seems bizarre that they would say "the ingredients are a great big secret, known to only 2 producers in the world" and then show them all neatly labelled! :o I had just taken that section of the film to be stock footage of "herbs and spices".
The group of people that I was discussing the notion with toyed with the idea that it was stock footage as well, but being as what we can see in the video matches up with what we know of the flavor profile, and there are clearly more bins of spices in the room than the ones shown in the video. PLUS, they don't say a word about proportion or mixing technique... We decided that the herbs shown were likely correct, taking into account too that most people aren't as cheese obsessed as we are, the video was in English and the bin labels were in german, and for some herbs there wasn't a label at all...
Just think about cheese. EVERYONE KNOWS that cheese ingredients are milk, salt, rennet, and lactobacillus cultures... The only difference between a cheddar, a gouda, and a skyr is procedure... But it makes a heck of a difference in the end product!
There are a few German, herbal drinks that can be substituted for the Swiss variety are; Kuemmerling, Underberg, and Meyers Bitter.
Underberg can be found at most liquor stores. It comes in little 1/2 ounce bottles.
http://www.kuemmerling.de/index.php (http://www.kuemmerling.de/index.php)
http://www.underberg.com/de/sub/weltweit.html (http://www.underberg.com/de/sub/weltweit.html)
http://meyersbitter.net/ (http://meyersbitter.net/)
Thanks, Philip; brilliant! I hope some commercial cheeses come out of this discussion. Flavor differentiation is one of the cornerstones of artisan cheese startup profitability as we break the 4000+ cheese type mark for various cheeses that artisans make in the US. There's a great deal of unexplored territory here, and IMHO this type flavor R&D work should be a core strategy for the next wave of startups to take our craft to a next level of excellence.
I'm aging one going on a month now with bi-weekly scrubs of angostura with concentrated ginger, white wine, and b. linens mixed in... It's just started to pink/orange up...