Komijnekass (Cumin Cheese) was a cheese recipe that I kind of made up as I went along. The base recipe was a farmhouse cheddar, whereby I added cumin and caraway seeds to during milling. I made two identical wheels from this batch.
This was way back in late October last year, and I have had this cheese in the cheese fridge/cave maturing for about 3 ½ months. I did intend on tasting it for Christmas, but time got away from me. I only remembered that it was probably time to try this cheese when I turned all the cheeses in the cave today! Better late than never.
So the komijnekass verdict.
De-waxing: There was no additional whey when I opened the wax, and the outside was very moist.
Texture: When I cut into it, I could tell that it was a little crumbly, but did not fall apart. The seeds were evenly distributed throughout, which was a good sign.
Taste: It had a sharp cheddar tang with nice soft cumin overtones that hit the palette after a few seconds. You could really taste the cumin after a while which took over from the sharpness.
It was a very nice cheese, that also got a big thumbs up from my wife and son. I vac-packed the rest after we demolished 1/8th with some crackers and wine! I find that by vac-packing the cheese and storing it in the normal fridge at 4°C, stops the cheese from aging and it keeps for a long time with no problems at all.
For those who want to replicate this recipe, you can find it at the original post titled “Komijnekass“. During maturation, I turned it every day for the first two weeks, then once a week after that. I kept it at around 13°C in wax.
Bon Appetit!
Gavin, I'm having trouble with my cheesemaking. This evening I cracked open a wheel of Jack that I had made on 11/11/11. It was better than the last two, but still pretty crumbly and sharp with what seemed to me to be a hint of iodine. I seem to have a lot of trouble regulating the temp while cooking the curds. It goes for a while with no temperature change and then jumps up too high. I am cooking them in a pot on a gas burner. Do you have any suggestions that might help? Thanks
Hi Holly,
I will write a short post about temperature control to answer your question. This way everyone will get to see the answer.
Gav
Thank you so much
excellent…sorry I missed the cheese tasting (with wine and crackers)! 😉
You are right.. I should have invited all of my friends over. Obviously you would have to pay for the flight, but the cheese and wine would have been on me! 😉