I am developing a cheese aged in a sheep or goat skin (Tulum) in Turkey. It is a crumbly cheese with a sharp taste. I have found some research papers and derived this recipe. There is also a blue version of this cheese, which is the most sought-after.
When I am developing the formula, I have taken two cheeses of this type as a base, one is aged in a sheep stomach, and the other is aged in a goat’s skin. Both used a mixture of goat’s and sheep’s milk. As I am using cow’s milk, I am adding lipase.
The additional butter and yogurt are to add flavour during the 4 months of aging.
For casing, I will be using cow bungs, which are large enough (about 6 or 7 cm) and fill them with my sausage stuffer.
CaCl2 is also added to fix store-bought milk.
Both recipes I used require a tremendous amount of pressing to remove as much whey as possible. I am keeping temperatures on the higher end to remove the whey, and also using an extended period of pressing with smaller cube sizes during the cutting process.
One recipe also uses whey ricotta mixed with this cheese before stuffing.
There is no indication of bacterial flora for this cheese, and I suspect it will be diverse, given that they used fresh milk. I have decided to use mesophilic flora Danica type. The later addition of cultured butter and yogurt will introduce the required thermophilic bacteria for ripening. Butter will also help prevent excessive moisture loss from the casings.
Ingredients
20 litre cow’s milk
Mesophilic starter
1/8 tsp Lipas
1/2 tsp CaCl2
Rennet
%3 cultured butter
%2 or %3 salt
%20 Yogurt (clean, unopened box)
Making
Add CaCl2 and lipase to cold milk, stir well.
Bring the milk to 34 °C and add the mesophilic starter according to the factory’s default dosage.
Wait an hour for the milk to ripen
Add rennet according to the factory’s default dosage and wait about 1.5 to 3 hours for a clean break.
Cut to 1cm cubes, keep the temp at 34 °C
Stir slowly and wait for 10 minutes. Do this 3 times.
Place the curd in a cheese cloth-lined colander and allow it to drain by gravity for 10 to 36 hours.
While the cheese is draining, make ricotta from the remaining whey. Drain ricotta as much as you can.
Mix cheese and ricotta by breaking them into small pieces by hand.
Prepare your press and press the mixture with 30kg for 2 days.
At the end of the press, weigh your cheese and calculate how much salt, yogurt and butter you will need.
Mix the cheese, yogurt, and butter well, then add salt slowly. You may not need to add all the salt. Keep it to your preference. More salt will keep the cheese better and longer.
Some recipes of Tulum also incorporate roasted onion seeds. You can add them now.
Fill these mixtures into cow middles.
Get your cave working on %70 or %80 humidity and 5C to 10C degrees and hang your cheeses. This is to simulate cave conditions. Weigh each cheese to calculate the amount of water lost.
Aging will take approximately 2 to 3 months, depending on the atmospheric conditions.
