Characteristics of Kelle cheese, production features. Calorie content, composition, benefits and harms to the body. Cooking applications, history of the variety.
Kelle or Mihalic is a Turkish cheese made from unpasteurized sheep's milk. It is difficult to attribute it to some kind of fermented milk products. It can be white or pale yellow and look like soft feta cheese, but its texture is tough, crumbly and crumbly, with many round, clear small eyes - 3-7 mm in diameter. There are so many of them that the cheese looks laced or carved. Taste - spicy and fatty, with an oily aftertaste, salty; the smell is sour, with the aroma of "barn". The crust is natural, thin, white, smooth. The heads are in the form of bars or tall cylinders, weighing 2-3 kg in summer, and 3-4.5 kg in autumn. It has no standard form and no protected name.
How is Kelle cheese made?
The sheep does not give a lot of milk, and in order to make 1 kg of the product, you need to prepare 5 liters of raw materials. If cheese farmers do not have enough sheep to start making Kelle cheese by milking them once, then it is allowed to collect milk after 2-3 milkings. In this case, it can ferment on its own. This cheese will be even tastier.
The feedstock is filtered. For heating, use a water bath, open fire and sometimes hot stones. Another heating method is allowed - dilute it to the desired temperature of 30-32 degrees. Subsequently, the liquid is removed.
Kelle cheese is prepared like other hard Turkish rennet cheeses. Pour in lactic acid gas-forming starter culture, allow to spread over the surface and pour in prepared cheese yeast. This is the secret of the original taste of Turkish cheeses - milk lamb rennet is dried, cut and poured with sheep's milk. Used after fermentation. During this process, they analyze how quickly the coagulant acts, on the basis of which the time for the formation of dense calcium is calculated.
Cutting is carried out using a sharp knife with a wide blade, first in the vertical direction, then in the horizontal direction. The temperature is kept constant all the time. In this process, Mikhalych peynir is not made like English varieties - they do not spend a lot of time on it. To the required size - rice grains - is brought further, while stirring with thin wooden stirring sticks. The serum is drained but not disposed of. It can be useful to increase the acidity of the intermediate after washing.
To form a porous structure, the whey is replaced with warm boiled water - not hot, as in the manufacture of "plaits". The molds - usually porous baskets - are covered with cheese cloth and the curd mass is placed in them. Tighten the knot, trying to squeeze out as much liquid as possible, and leave for 8-12 hours for self-pressing, turning over every 3-4 hours. The monoliths are then laid out again on a drainage table covered with clean cloth and compacted by hand rolling. The serum is squeezed out using a wide rolling pin.
After separation of the liquid, dense curd is suspended for 10-12 hours. It is because of this process that the cheese got the name Kelly, which literally translates as "head". At this time, the bags are pierced with probes, determining the quality of the cheese mass. When it is sufficiently compacted, it is laid out in shapes, pre-pressed, and then immersed in 20-25% cool brine, in barrels or vats, in several layers, for 2-3 weeks. Even 20-30 years ago, instead of an artificially prepared salt solution, cheese was immersed in sea water.
Then the heads are installed on racks in chambers with a temperature not higher than 4-5 degrees at a humidity of 80-85%. With prolonged aging - from 6 months to 1.5 years - the texture becomes hard, "lime". Tasting is not earlier than in 4 months. To reduce microbiological hazards, cheese is often vacuum-wrapped. This manufacturing method is preferred in large cheese factories. In this case, mold is practically not formed on the crust.
Composition and calorie content of Kelle cheese
Wherever cheese is made - in small farms or in dairy factories - ingredients from the GMO group are not added. Fat content relative to dry matter - 40-45%, humidity - 30-33%.
Calorie content of Kelle cheese is 340-387 kcal per 100 g, of which
- Proteins - 27-30 g;
- Fat - 30 g;
- Carbohydrates - up to 1.5 g.
Of the vitamins, most of all are A and E, choline, pyridoxine, calciferol, folic acid.
Minerals per 100 g:
- Calcium - 700 mg;
- Sodium - 720 mg
Kelle cheese also contains potassium, iron, magnesium, manganese and phosphorus.
Dairy plants often use a mixture of sheep and cow's milk or only cow's milk as feedstock. In this case, the energy value decreases and the chemical composition of Mikhalych peynir changes slightly. However, the main characteristics remain unchanged - taste, texture and lace cut surface.
A daily portion of Kelle cheese should not exceed 100 g. This amount meets half the need for protein and animal fat, but only 1% for carbohydrates. Therefore, use is recommended to be combined with herbs and vegetables. In addition, this amount is sufficient to provide energy for half a day.
To burn the calories from your daily "dose" of Kelle cheese, you will have to do 2 hours cleaning the house, run 35 minutes without stopping, or devote almost an hour to cycling or training on various types of simulators.
Useful properties of Kelle cheese
First of all, this variety is a storehouse of calcium, a mineral necessary to support bone density and mineralization of teeth. Salt retains precious moisture in the body, prevents its loss, increases skin turgor, slows down aging. But this is not the only benefit of Mikhalych Peinir.
Consider the health benefits of Kelle cheese:
- Increases the tone of the body, prevents the development of depression.
- During menopause, it helps women cope with mood swings and avoid sad thoughts.
- Normalizes the functions of the nervous system, accelerates the conduction of impulses and the response to external stimuli.
- Increases blood clotting, stimulates the production of red blood cells.
- Reduces susceptibility to ultraviolet radiation.
- Stimulates the production of digestive enzymes and increases the acidity of gastric juice.
- Prevents the development of atherosclerosis, helps to cope with emotional exhaustion and physical stress.
The fats of Kelle cheese are easily digested, with high vitality they do not cause weight gain and the formation of cellulite, orange peel. This quality is very beneficial for women.
Note! Kelle can be added to the diet for people who cannot tolerate milk protein.
