Peculiarities of making Leiden cheese. Calorie content, vitamins and minerals that make up it. Benefits, contraindications for use. What to cook with this product?
Leiden cheese is a semi-hard Dutch cheese with a pronounced yellow hue with a bright spicy taste. It is made from skimmed cow's milk with the addition of spices - necessarily cumin and, if desired, additionally cumin, cloves, etc. The recipe was developed in the city of Leiden, Holland. Young Leyden cheeses have an elastic light yellow texture and taste very much like Gouda, while mature varieties that are matured for more than a year are darker, harder and drier, their taste is close to Parmesan.
Features of making Leiden cheese
The technology for making Leiden cheese is traditional and does not present any particular difficulties, although it is multi-stage and requires precision. You can cook it yourself at home, but you need to remember that the finished product will have to wait a long time - the cheese should ripen for at least 6 weeks.
In addition, some special ingredients and tools are required, but all of these can be purchased from the online store for amateur cheese makers.
The recipe for Leiden cheese is as follows:
- Prepare the cumin - boil the water and boil the seeds (1 tablespoon) for 10 minutes.
- Pour milk (8 liters) into a large saucepan, heat to 29 degrees - adjust the temperature with a special milk thermometer, turn off the heat.
- Put the mesophilic starter culture (1/4 teaspoon) on the surface of the milk, after 5-7 minutes, place it on the bottom of the pan using a slotted spoon.
- Dissolve calcium chloride (1/2 teaspoon) in cold water (25 ml) and transfer to milk, just like the starter, it must be carefully placed on the bottom.
- Finally, dilute the rennet (1/2 teaspoon) in water (25 ml) and, again, transfer and transfer to the bottom of the saucepan, then stir the milk well.
- Heat the milk to 29 degrees, turn off the heat and wrap it in a towel for half an hour.
- As a result, a curd curd will form, which must be cut with a long knife into cubes about a centimeter.
- Stir the contents of the pan, leave for 5-10 minutes - the curd mass will settle, the whey will separate.
- Drain about 10% of the whey, add the same volume of water heated to 60 degrees.
- Bring the contents of the pan to a temperature of 33 degrees, stir, turn off the heat, wrap and leave for half an hour.
- Now drain 30% of the whey, pour in the same volume of water heated to 43 degrees.
- Bring the curd mass to a temperature of 37 degrees, stir, turn off the heat, wrap it up again and leave for half an hour, but now stir occasionally.
- Leave the cheese for 10 minutes, in the meantime, line the mold with gauze, drain the whey and transfer the curd mass together with the caraway seeds into it.
- Tighten the gauze into a knot, place the mold under the press for half an hour.
- Remove the cheese from the cheesecloth, reshape the mold with new cheesecloth, put the cheese in it, wrap loosely with the cheesecloth, put the press and leave overnight (8-12 hours).
- Transfer the cheese to brine (water / salt ratio - 5/1) for 12 hours.
- Remove the cheese from the brine and leave to dry at room temperature for 2-3 days, turn every day.
- Transfer the cheese to a large container, close the lid and let it ripen for a week (temperature 10-12 degrees, humidity 85%).
- Cover the cheese with a few coats of special wax, put it back in the container and let it ripen now for as long as you like. The minimum period is 6 weeks. The head must be turned over every week.
As you can see, you will have to be patient to make a real Leiden cheese, but you will end up with a natural healthy product.
It is noteworthy that the production uses "puff" pressing: the resulting mass is divided into three parts, spices are added only to one. Laying in the press is done as follows: the bottom unflavored layer, the middle one with caraway seeds and the top one again without spices. During pressing, the layers are mixed.
Composition and calorie content of Leiden cheese
The calorie content of Leiden cheese is 300-350 kcal per 100 grams
The specific figure is determined by the raw material, the characteristics of the technological process, the ripening time, etc.
Like any other semi-hard cheese, Leiden contains a lot of protein and fat - about 25-27 g of both. There are practically no carbohydrates in it, but there are many vitamins and minerals. The product is especially rich in calcium, sodium, potassium, iron, B vitamins.
Useful properties of Leiden cheese
Despite the fact that Leiden cheese is a fatty and high-calorie product, it, along with other Dutch ones, is often allowed for moderate use in various therapeutic diets. This fact is explained by the good biological value of the product.
The benefits of Leiden cheese are as follows:
- Providing the body with high-quality protein … Cheese has a good amino acid composition, which makes it an excellent source of protein, the value of which is superior to that of many meat products.
- Prevention of osteoporosis … Leiden cheese is an excellent source of calcium, an essential mineral for the body. The daily intake of calcium required every day for a person significantly exceeds the need for other minerals. With a lack of calcium, the condition of nails and hair worsens, regression of development in children is recorded, and osteoporosis develops in adults.
- Prevention of anemia … If calcium is the most important macronutrient, then iron is the most important micronutrient for our body, as it participates in the formation of blood and oxygen supply. With a lack of iron, a condition called anemia develops, which in turn leads to numerous diseases, including even blood cancer.
- Regulation of metabolic processes … B vitamins are the most valuable group of vitamins, each of them has its own specific function, but in general the group plays an important role in the regulation of metabolic processes and the activity of the central nervous system. B vitamins improve mood and memory, increase overall energy levels.
- Normalization of the heart rate … Leiden cheese also contains a very important mineral for the heart - potassium, it helps to normalize blood pressure and rhythm.
It should be noted that the presence of caraway in its composition makes a significant contribution to the benefit of Leiden cheese. If other spices are optionally present in the product, then cumin is an obligatory ingredient; in Holland, Leiden cheese is even called cumin. This most valuable seasoning has a huge range of useful properties, the main of which are strengthening immunity, anti-tumor and anti-inflammatory activity, relieving stress on the liver and kidneys, and regulating women's health.
Leiden cheese recipes
Spicy Dutch cheese is versatile. It can be used in a wide variety of dishes, giving them a touch of originality, thanks to the presence of cumin and other spices in the composition. Casseroles, pies, pizzas, salads, hot dishes, soups and finally just sandwiches - everything will get better with Leiden cheese.
Let's take a look at some interesting recipes using cumin cheese:
- Fast and delicious casserole … Boil broccoli (10 pieces), grate potatoes (10 pieces). Coat a baking dish with oil, put a layer of broccoli, then a layer of potatoes. Sprinkle the casserole with Leiden cheese (100 grams) on top and send it to the oven, preheated to 180 degrees, for half an hour.
- Chicken in cheese and mushroom sauce … Rinse chicken fillet (500 grams) thoroughly, dry, beat off a little and cut into strips. Place the meat in a bowl, salt, add spices to taste, stir and leave for 10 minutes. In the meantime, tackle the sauce. Cut the champignons (300 grams) into thin slices, heat the vegetable oil in a pan and quickly fry the mushrooms. In the process of frying, a liquid will appear, you need to "work" with mushrooms until all of it has evaporated. Pour the ready-made mushrooms with sour cream (300 grams), cover the pan with a lid, reduce the heat and turn it off after 2 minutes. Quickly fry the chicken fillet in a separate skillet over high heat. Add the sauce to the meat, stir and simmer together for 5-7 minutes. Sprinkle with finely grated Leiden cheese (100 grams), turn off heat and cover the pan with a lid to melt. Serve with herbs and vegetables.
- Eggplant with nuts and prunes … Cut eggplants (2 pieces) into slices, fry in vegetable oil. Chop walnuts (100 grams), chop prunes (100 grams). Add nuts and prunes to the eggplants, as well as honey (2 tablespoons), whiskey (50 ml) and a little water. Salt, add spices to taste. Simmer until the whiskey has evaporated. Put grated Leiden cheese (50 grams), mozzarella balls (50 grams) and butter (1 tablespoon) in a saucepan. When the curd is melted, stir in the flour (1 teaspoon) and some water for the desired thickness. Put out a couple of minutes. Put the eggplants on portioned plates, pour with cheese sauce.
- Vegetable salad with pesto … Preheat the oven to 180 degrees, put walnuts (100 grams) on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. When the nuts are cool, transfer them to a blender along with garlic (1 clove), Leiden cheese (60 grams), Italian herbs seasoning (2 teaspoons). Turn on the blender and gradually pour in the olive oil (50 ml). The pesto sauce is ready. Pour dried currants (50 grams) with hot water and leave for 10 minutes. Until then, combine natural yogurt (100 ml), lemon juice (1 tablespoon), olive oil (2 tablespoons), salt and pepper to taste. Add a little water, if the sauce is too thick - you should get the consistency of thick sour cream. Chop carrots (150 grams), cabbage (150 grams) and parsley (30 grams), place in a bowl. Add currants there, pour pesto sauce and yoghurt dressing.
Of course, not all Leiden cheese dishes have to be as sophisticated and sophisticated as these. In the end, it is best to taste it by placing a slice on a slice of Borodino bread. Due to the spice, it will go well with beer, especially with dark varieties.
Interesting facts about Leiden cheese
Leiden cheese used to be made from a "by-product" of making cream. They were removed from milk, and skim milk was formed, it was used both for feeding calves and for making low-fat varieties of cheese. One of these was Leiden. By the way, in the old days, low-fat types of cheese were appreciated not so much for the opportunity to eat it and keep the figure, but because it was stored longer.
Mature Leiden cheese is especially valuable, but it is produced only in private farms and undergoes strict quality control, industrial cheese is always from young varieties - it is prepared according to a quick scheme, the ripening period does not exceed 180 days.
Originally invented in a small town, Leiden cheese quickly spread not only in Holland, but throughout Europe. Unsurprisingly, large cheese factories rushed to buy out the recipe, after which many variations of spiced Dutch cheese appeared.
Watch the video about Leiden cheese:
Leiden cheese is a famous Dutch cheese with a spicy flavor. In the Netherlands, it is sometimes called caraway seeds, since this spice is necessarily used in its preparation. Additionally, cumin and cloves are often used. Leiden cheese can be made on your own with the patience and purchase of a range of specialty ingredients and tools. The result is worth it, you will get not only tasty, but also healthy natural product.
