And the clock strikes 12! Yes this is the last month of the Cheesepalooza challenge. Twelve months of cheese making, well I joined it a bit late so I have 10 entries. It was my first time taking on a year long challenge and I am proud to say I made it to the end. Lots of people vanished along the way. Making a cheese, even once a month, requires determination and devotion.
Every month we were given a type of cheese to make. Along the whey (pun) we learned several different techniques, each resulting in a specific type of cheese. On this last month we were left on our own to choose what to make. We were asked to invent our own cheese (or do something creative). I chose an unusual cheese which is actually made exclusively with whey. Let’s take a look at the Geitost, or Norwegian goat’s milk cheese.
Such an environmental cheese! All you really use is whey (unless you add a touch of cream). How can that be? Well whey is somewhat opaque right? An opaque liquid means there is solid matter in there no matter how small the particles. And how do you get the particles to take form? Evaporate the heck out of it to remove all the water. Geitost is made entirely of goat milk or a blend of goat’s and cow’s milk. If you used only cow’s milk then you would be making Mysost.
Once you have all the water out you are left with a fudge like mass that is basically made up of protein, fat and sugar. The longer you cook it the more caramelized the flavor will be due to the sugar content. The result can be quite sweet. I did not caramelize it so much (I was afraid to burn my pot) so my resulting flavor was a mix of sweet, sour and salty; the definition of unami. Actually the taste and texture resembled miso paste but a tad sweeter. Good but in small doses only.
Geitost (Norwegian Goat Milk Cheese)
Ingredients
- fresh whey goat or a mix of goat and cow
- heavy cream 1/2 cup per 2 liters ratio (optional for creamy texture)
Instructions
- Use only fresh whey for making this cheese. Place the whey in a heavy bottom saucepan quite bigger than how much liquid you have. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a med-low simmer. Stir often.
- If you are adding cream you should mix it in when the whey has reduced by about 3/4.
- Leave to simmer until the liquid is reduced to a fudge-like consistency.
- Place in a bowl as a mold and let it cool completely. Once cool enough I hand rolled it into a cylinder which I then wrapped in a sheet of aluminium.
Notes
By using cream you will get a creamier and smoother texture. It is a matter of preference.
I had 3 liters of whey and it took me 8 hours. So make sure you are free for the entire day. You do not have to watch over it constantly but you need to be at home. I measured the height every hour and it steadily decreased by 3/4 inch on the hour:
3pm at 2.75″
5pm 2″
7pm 1.25″
9pm 1/2″
11pm done
So of course I had to end up on a Norwegian food blog called Antje Radcke to find a recipe that uses Geitost. It’s a pretty simple pate inspired recipe that adds a few extra flavors with apricots and pistachios. Since my Geitost has a strong unami taste I tried to slice my pate as thin as possible.
[mpprecipe-recipe:415]
In case you are newer to my blog let me mention the cheese I made over the last year. My most successful and delicious cheeses were the Fourme d’Ambert, Gouda and Farmhouse Cheddar. The Camembert, Feta Cheese and Goat Cheese all turned out well too and were lovely to taste. The Mozzarella was a challenge, it took me 3 tries and was just OK. My still edible failures, in my personal opinion, were the Ale Washed Trappist Cheese and the Romano because they got contaminated with the blue cheese bacteria. Cheese is fickle but fun.
This is a very interesting post! Such an unusual cheese. It’s very unique!
Nice work! And what a pretty dish this one makes.
I’ve learning so much about cheese from you, Evelyne! I had never heard of this one before. I think if I don’t read blogs, my knowledge is not as good as one right now. So interesting and fun to read your blog as always. You are such a great cook!
OMG, this is a very refined recipe.
Love the balance between sweet and sour ingredients, the soft goat cheese and the crunchiness of the Pistachios.
Wow, another cheese Evelyne…you always amaze me with your techniques of cheese making. I absolutely love the idea of the layers of apricot and pistachio in between the cheese…
Have a great week my dear 😀
I loved all your cheese posts Evelyne and I think you made an amazing job with each one of them. I have never heard of this cheese and thanks for all the info along with the instructions of how to make it!
You are a pro at this! The cheese is really unique and sounds very interesting.
Very impressive!!!
Would love to try it!This is an interesting cheese,Evelyne!
I’m not sure if I’ve had goat cheese before, and if I have, what I thought of it.
Still, curious as to what this would taste like. I usually eat cheese by itself.
I wish I could have found time to do the cheese – I swoon every time I see a new one. Well done!
this is so colorful,so bright…everything with goat cheese is a big big yes from us,beautiful recipe
You are the cheese queen, for sure…love the look of this one!
What an interesting cheese! I must give this a go next time I have some whey! 😀
Making cheese is so cool. It never seems as difficult as you would think, but for some reason, we still haven’t done it. Love that you were part of the challenge! Now you can probably make almost any cheese you want.
WOW Evelyne, once more I’m impressed! Looks like this cheese making year made you an expert! I’m jealous (in a good way, of course), I wish we had better quality milk available in my area. Hats off to you!
As I have mentioned before, you are a cheese-making master! This one seems relatively easy and it has turned out so good.
Such an unusual cheese! It is no surprise you chose something unique…and then made a beautiful pate from it. It’s really stunning.