Mission Camel Cheese
You may have read about it in the paper, or have seen the latest gossip on our twitter or Facebook page; we’ve accepted an extraordinary mission. We’re making the UK’s first camel’s milk cheese! It truly is an experiment. We’re not sure how it’s going to taste or what the texture will be like and, although we have made an educated guess, the proof will be in the tasting! We’re attempting to create a Brie style cheese but as this is a whole new venture we are inviting you to follow us, every step of the way!
Camel Cheese curds in moulds
The milk arrived fresh from Dubai. It is encouraging to see that the milk is labelled ‘Camelicious.’ If it says it on the bottle it must be true… We set about pasteurising it in our usual way then adding cultures which allow the milk to coagulate and form curds. We then cut the coagulated milk which allows the curds and whey to separate. It was at this point that we started to notice some differences. Usually it takes around two hours for the curds to separate, at which point we pour them into moulds. When dealing with camels it turns out those curds really take their time!
We had to leave them overnight before we could pour the very fragile solids into the moulds. The curds are definitely softer than those of cow’s milk. Once allowed to drain the camel cheese had a consistency similar to ricotta. When we make our Brie, we handle the cheese with ease. However the camel was much wetter and requires longer in the ripening room to grow its ‘fluffy jacket’ which once we wrap, becomes the outer white rind of the cheese.
Camel Cheese – the final product
The team have had a little taste here at Godminster HQ, just to see if we want to unleash our new wares on the public. Also, the judges at the Global Cheese Awards. The awards will be held at Frome Cheese Show on the 13th September. We can assure you that it is edible! We don’t know if everyone’s going to love it. However, we can’t wait to see everyone’s faces when they are offered a sample.
Jess
