Description of Imeretian cheese, preparation features. Energy value of the product, benefits for the body, possible harm when consumed. Culinary uses, history of the variety.
Imeretian cheese is a product of the national Georgian cuisine. The local name is Chkinti Kveli. Taste - soft, spicy, salty; smell - weak, fermented milk; color - white, creamy, sometimes with a slight yellowness; texture - elastic, brittle, many eyes with uneven edges. Heads in the form of flat cylinders with a height of 2.5 to 3.5 cm and a weight of 0.5 to 1.5 kg.
How is Imeretian cheese made?
In the manufacture of the product, milk from cows, goats, sheep or buffaloes, as well as a mixture of milk yields, can be used. Collected raw materials give this variety a special taste. A mixture of cow and buffalo milk yields is pasteurized for 76 seconds, heating to 76 ° C, cow and goat milk - up to 90 seconds at 72 ° C. Special conditions are required for collection from cow and sheep milk - heat treatment is carried out in vats with constant quality assessment. When heated above 68 ° C, milk may curdle due to increased acidity.
For the rest, the production of Imereti cheese by technology does not differ from the production of brine varieties. The feedstock is pumped through a milk pipeline first into a cooling unit and then into a heating apparatus. The milk is cooled again and is fed through the milk line to the maturation tank, where dry bacterial starter culture and calcium chloride are added. At the same stage, rennet is added.
The intermediate product enters the machine for the production of curd, for the formation of kale and slicing. Pieces of cottage cheese together with whey are pumped into a vertical unit, where the curd mass is formed.
When preparing Imeretian cheese, self-pressing is carried out, during which the whey flows into the pan, separating the curd. On the conveyor, it is sent to the molds, which are filled with a dispenser installation.
The cheese is placed in a pool with 20% brine, where it is kept for up to 2 hours, and then it is also placed along a conveyor into a ripening chamber. Fermentation is short-lived - the next day you can already carry out pre-sale preparation - packaging and packaging. All manufacturing processes are automated.
Every Georgian family has its own secret of how to make Imeretian cheese. The easiest way: ferment milk or milk mixture in a warm place, add whey with already active mesophilic bacteria, drained during the preparation of the last batch. Instead of cutting the kalya, it is broken with a stirrer, the pieces are allowed to settle, and then the contents of the container are thrown onto a sieve covered with gauze. Thoroughly squeeze the cottage cheese and, together with the cloth, transfer it into a mold. When self-pressing, the molds are turned over every 40 minutes.
For salting, you need a refrigerator or a cool cellar. The head is immersed in 18-20% brine and put on a shelf (or in a basement) for a day, turning over every 3 hours. Before tasting, the surface of the cylinder is soaked with a paper towel or linen napkin. You do not need to store the product in brine - it will become too salty and lose its beneficial properties.
It is possible to make Imeretian cheese from raw milk with natural souring only if the animals are absolutely healthy and all dishes and kitchen utensils are sterilized.
A more complex recipe for making Imeretian cheese using milk-clotting enzyme, mesophilic starter culture and calcium chloride
- Pasteurized feedstock is heated to 32-34 ° C, calcium chloride is poured into it and dry sourdough is added. For activation, it is necessary to maintain a constant temperature regime. It is best to use a water bath for this, or wrap the pan in a blanket and place in a warm place.
- After 1 hour, rennet is poured in and the calcium is formed. When it is dense enough, they begin cutting the curd grains - the dimensions of the edges are 1x1 cm.
- Stir for 20 minutes, raising the temperature to 36-38 ° C by 1 ° C for 10 minutes, until the curd settles. Drain the whey so that it only covers the surface.
- Pressing Imereti cheese at home and salting are carried out according to the same algorithm as in the already described recipe. Storage recommendations are the same.
Flavor improvers are often added to the cheese mass - herbs and spices. Since the product is eaten fresh, undried herbal ingredients can be used. Knowing how to cook Imeretian cheese with additives, you can always delight your home-made original dish. An ampoule of calcium chloride, 100 ml of unsweetened lettuce yogurt or the same amount of yogurt is poured into whole cow's milk heated to 38 ° C, which has stood in the refrigerator for 24 hours, and allowed to stand for 30 minutes, removed from the heat. At this time, pour 0.5 tsp. caraway seeds in a third glass of boiling water and dissolve rennet - 0.05 g in 50 ml of water. The coagulant is poured into the prepared feedstock, left until the calcium is formed. When making Imeretian cheese at home, you can check for a clean break in this way - forcefully insert your gloved finger into the curd curd. If the grains of curdled milk are not stuck, you can start cutting the kale. The finer the cubes, the more moist the final product. Knead for 20-30 minutes, maintaining 38 ° C, allow the curd mass to settle 2-3 times, and then transfer it to a sieve covered with a cloth. Roll up the knot, squeeze it again with your hands and put it in a mold, mixing it with strained cumin and paprika flakes. Pressing and salting - as described earlier.
When making Imeretian cheese at home according to recipes from friends and from the Internet, you can add something of your own - for example, experiment with flavors. When there is not enough time to hold the feedstock, pepsin is poured in. To speed up the separation of the whey during the self-pressing stage, you can sprinkle the curd with salt. In this case, the concentration of the brine is reduced to 15% or its tsatkhi is replaced. To prepare tsatkhi, dissolve 1 tbsp in 1 liter of boiled chilled water. l. sugar and salt and immerse the head in this solution for 3 days. Please note: in this case, fermentation takes place in a dark place and takes 3 days. The Imeretian homemade cheese made according to this recipe is denser than the classic, rich yellow color on the surface and light straw in the middle, with a sharper taste and a pronounced sour cheese smell. In addition, the eyes in it with smooth, well-defined edges. In addition, during the short-term exposure, the milk protein content decreases. But the cooking method does not affect the storage duration - a week, no more, and only in a cool place.
