Chris is one of the most interesting celebrities to contribute to our blog and we are very grateful. (See below for more info about him).
When he sent us this recipe from his resort in Laos, he wrote, “Here is an interesting cheese… A specialty from Lapland, the area in Sweden, located above the Polar Circle. I think you will enjoy this somewhat peculiar cheese.”
Homemade Coffee Cheese
By Chris-Kridakorn Odbratt
Coffee cheese was originally made from warm milk, straight from a reindeer and used in coffee as a kind of snack. Irresistible for a Northern Swede in general and a Tornedaling (border to Finland) in particular! (At least if they belong to the middle-aged generation with a plus sign …)
If you have no barn, or reindeer, use whole milk or preferably raw milk. I have to admit that here in SE Asia it is virtually impossible to buy raw milk (I will get some milking animals late 2017…), so pasteurized is OK, just NEVER use UHT (Ultra-High Temp).
Ingredients:
2 liters of milk (2.114 quarts)
60 ml heavy cream (2 ounces)
2 tsp liquid rennet
Do this:
Pour the milk and cream into a 3-liter (3 quart) saucepan.
Heat to lukewarm (99F or 37 C).
Lift off the pan and mix in rennet. Let stand for about 30-40 minutes until the liquid has solidified (curdled itself ).
Stir gently with a slotted spoon while you heat up the liquid to lukewarm again.
Then, steer the cheese from the edges toward the center of the pan.
When the cheese is gathered into a ball in the middle, heat the whole thing up to near boiling point – but it should not boil! Take the pan off the heat just before the whey boils.
Place the cheese in a fine mesh colander / large strainer / or in a cheese mold if you have one of those.
Press out as much whey as possible from the cheese. Set a weight and leave for a few hours so the last whey is pressed out and the cheese gets dry.
Preheat the oven to 200C (392F). Press the cheese into a well greased casserole dish – cheese should be a maximum of 3 cm (1 inch) thick. Bake the cheese in center of oven until browned.
The cheese can also be used without baking, but I think it will be much tastier to bake it.
If the edges become hard – wrap the warm cheese in aluminum foil afterwards so it softens.
Whey may be used as liquid to bake soft bread.
When the cheese has cooled – cut into small cubes or strips, put a pile in the coffee cup and fill the cup with fresh coffee. Stir and eat with a spoon …. enjoy the taste and the sound (sqeegee… kind of…).
If there is anything left – package well and freeze or make dessert with warm cloudberries or raspberry coulis.
About Chris
Chris was born in Sweden, but, because of his father’s profession, he grew up in Pakistan, India, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the former Yugoslavia and many other countries.
He is a renowned chef with 2 professorships – 1 in Thai Cooking from Thailand and 1 in Culinary Arts from India. For many years, he ran a restaurant and school for Thai cooking (Royal Thai School of Culinary Arts) and was the president of the Thai Chef’s Association. Many distinguished chefs came to his school, including former President Clinton’s chef from Camp David.
Now, he has his own resort and restaurant in the jungle of Laos – Ban Lao Pako Eco Lodge.
Chris Kridakorn-Odbratt says
The production of Goats in Thailand more than doubled between 2002 and 2011. Totally from about 170,000 to 430,000 heads. Most of the Goats is for meat production – in 2011 there were only about 33,000 (8 %) Diary gouts in Thailand.
Boer Gouts, especially crossed with Native Northern or Southern breeds are popular for meat production.
The milk Goats are mainly Saanen or Alpine.
Thank you for sharing, this turned out good for us too
Very interesting – in Colombia they serve hot chocolate and agua panela (unprocessed sugar drink) with fresh farm cheese. You put the cheese in the hot liquids – then eat the softened cheese and drink the liquid. Will have to try with coffee… Like in Sweden.
I am from Panama and I have live in USA for 35 years and back home we put fresh cheese in our coffee my family find strange but they got just to about my coffe. I remember went I just go to the country to visit grandma. It was so delicious that I never forgot
Very interesting article! As a coffee addict myself I’ve tried recently to research a cheese that includes coffee. I’ve not found an references. I’m thinking of trying to make a cheese and soak the curds in cold coffee before pressing and see how this turns out. Thank you for sharing this article as there are many great ideas.
Mike,
Let us all know how that turns out.
Hi Bob!
I’ve successfully made and aged now 4 months a Cheese incorporating coffee. The method of soaking the curds in coffee has produced a cheese with coffee aroma and flavor. I’m especially excited since I found no reference to this being done like this method. I hope you are well.
Thanks,
Mike
I’m a coffee-holic but I never thought about putting cheese in it. Now I’m going to have to go buy a reindeer and a kaasa 🙂 You guys always have the most interesting articles!
This is a most interesting way to serve an “instant” cheese–no ageing. Next time I have some heavy cream I’ll try it. Does the cheese melt in the baking process? How about in hot coffee?
Nope, it doesn’t melt.
Very interesting method of making cheese. Don’t normally make quick cheese without culture because they don’t develop enough flavour for my liking but this one sounds like it should be good.
Never thought of combining cheese with coffee, both of which I enjoy.
Quote: [“I have to admit that here in SE Asia it is virtually impossible to buy raw milk (I will get some milking animals late 2017…),”]
You can’t seriously believe this. Do you? In less than 10 days we bought 120 liters of cow milk to feed our goat kids. We at Phukamyao Goat Farm in Phayao Province are producing 70 liters of raw goat milk weekly. It’s all for sale.
There are 100’s if not 1000’s of small dairies and co-ops all over Thaiand that sell milk, cow and goat.
We can also,sell you some goats if you can prove you know how to take care of them!
If you are interested in purchasing you can give is a ring @ +66.623100207