Finest Kind’s kitchen Fromage Frais (Maas Kaas) cheese

Fromage Frais is an exquisite type of cheese, similar to smooth cottage cheese, maas kaas or quark…

Finest Kind is sharing with you how easy it is to make. Following our instructions and utilising our equipment, you will be able to produce your very own Fromage Frais, no need to be in France. It is an excellent cheese to impress your friends with. Or make a tray of cheeses for a wedding, conference or restaurant near you. The cheese can be made to look beautiful by rolling them in Finest Kind Herbs or covering them in petals.

Equipment:

CODE	DESCRIPTION
H932	SMALL CIRCULAR MOULDS, 1 PER LITER
H108	FLOATING DAIRY THERMOMETER
H10B	FLOATING THERMOMETER COVER
H168	CHEESECLOTH 1 METER
H050	DRAINING GAUZE SQUARE

Ingredients:

CODE	DESCRIPTION
FD	FLORA DANICA DVS STARTER CULTURE
H064	LIQUID ANIMAL RENNET
HD001	ORANGE GEL
HD013	IODINE ANTIBACTERIAL

ADDITION OF STARTER CULTURE AND RENNET

• MILK: 3 liters full cream milk ( 3.5% butterfat ). Use milk directly after milking or use fresh full cream pasteurized milk.
• MILK TEMPERATURE:  18°C – 24°C
• STARTER CULTURE:  Add a teaspoon tip of DVS flora danica culture to the milk.
• RENNET:  Add 1 drop of rennet, H064 or H067, to 100ml cool water and add 50ml of the water to the milk.

STIR WELL !!!!

Let the milk stand undisturbed and covered at 18°C – 24°C until it has set like jelly and a little whey has appeared on the surface. It should have a dull appearance. This should occur within 12 – 24 hours or even longer, usually 16 hours.

DRAINING OR MOULDING

At this point one can either use:

A.  BAG METHOD (Maas Kaas)

Carefully ladle the curds into a cheesecloth lined colander, tie the four corners of the cheesecloth together and hang the cheese to drain over the sink. Once the cheese has drained to a dry enough consistency, mix the cheese with some salt and place in a 250gm plastic container for resale. One can make the cheese smoother by mixing it with a cake mixer. Mix in more cream if a cream cheese is desired. One can also add fresh or dried herbs as required.

B.  MOULD METHOD

• Carefully ladle the curds into 3-4 soft cheese moulds, H932.
• Fill the moulds to the top, wait a while and fill them some more.
• Place the moulds on a cake rack which is placed over a container so that the whey can drain into the container.

SALTING THE CHEESE

• Salt the surface of the cheeses. Turn the cheeses after 8 hours or when they are firm enough to be turned. Turn the cheese after salting by removing it from the mould onto the palm of your hand, turning it around by letting it fall into your fingers, and placing it back into the mould.
• If you are using a pyramid or roll mould it is not possible to remove and turn them. Simply let them drain as is. Salt the other side of the cheese. Turn the cheeses twice more with intervals of 8 hours. If you have a very hot climate you can place the cheeses in the fridge to drain. The cheese should drain in their moulds for a total of 24 – 36 hours or until they are firm enough to be removed from the moulds. Place the cheese on the draining gauze, H050, in the fridge or on gauze on wooden shelves in a drafty cellar or cold room at 10°C to dry.
• Make sure you do not have mouldy vegetables or strong smelling food in the fridge. Spores from the moulds that travel unnoticed through the air land on your cheeses! Turn the cheeses after 6 hours and then every 12 hours.

MATURING THE CHEESE

• This cheese can be eaten at various stages:

SOFT

• While still draining in the moulds with jam or sugar and fruit.

SEMI – SOFT

• When it has air dried for a few days it can be eaten as a spread on bread or crackers. It can be rolled in dried or fresh herbs such as stinging nettle, black pepper, The choice is endless. Have a look at our diverse choice of herbs. To make the cheese more interesting one can use different shaped moulds, such as H984, H901, H986, H985.
• If you use a roll mould, and spray the penicillum candidum, H060, mould onto the cheese while it is drying, you will have a Saint Maure  Here you must be careful as the mould prospers on all the cheeses in the fridge.
• The cheese can also be preserved in olive oil with a few dried herbs – ½ tsp. Thyme, ½ tsp. Rosemary, 4 black peppercorns and 1 clove of garlic per liter of olive oil.

MOULDY

• The cheese can be left to dry for some time. It will become quite hard and first get a white mould then a blue mould. The French love it like that, but it is an acquired taste!
• For re-sale purposes the cheese can be wrapped in H206 butter paper cut to size and tied with a thin blue ribbon (available at C.N.A) or natural raffia. One can even wrap them in vine leaves and tie them with raffia – soak the vine leaves in brandy overnight before wrapping – it gives the cheese a wonderful taste!

CLEANING

• Clean all equipment well after use. Rinse in warm water, wash in hot water with HD001 orange gel and then soak in a solution of HD013 iodine antibacterial. Air dry. Before use rinse well in clean water and towel dry with a paper towel. Be careful to avoid any anti- bacterial solution residue on the equipment.
• All equipment, ingredients and detergents are available from Finest Kind.