This is a basic cheese recipe, but it requires clever planning. You need to soak the nuts overnight, allow two days for the probiotic cultures to work, and another three to four days for the cheese to mature. Calculate at least one week before the venue you are planning. This cheese can be eaten right after it was cultured but to really enjoy the taste and aroma of the herbs and flowers, it should be left to mature for a few days. Once you make it, you will see the difference. If the time allows, let the cheese mature for up to two weeks. You can also create a rind if you put it for a day into dehydrator.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups macadamia nuts
- 1 tsp probiotic powder
- 2 Tbsp freshly pressed lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast, add more as needed
- 1 Tbsp garlic powder
- 1 Tbsp onion powder
- 1 tsp Celtic sea salt
to coat the cheese
- 1/2 cup mixed Corsican herbs (marjoram, thyme leaves and flowers, sage, myrtle, oregano, olive leaves, mint, ground juniper berries)
- 1/3 cup dried edible flowers (lavender, blue cornflowers, wild rose, camomile, marigold)
- 1/3 tsp freshly ground pepper medley (green, black, pink)
- 2 Tbsp wild bilberry powder
- 1/3 tsp Celtic sea salt
Method:
- Soak the macadamia nuts overnight in purified water. The nuts will swell up to about 21/2 cups.
- Pour the water out and rinse the nuts.
- Toss the nuts into a jar of your blender. Add 1/2 to 1 cup purified water and blend on high speed until as smooth as possible. Unlike cashews, macadamias will retain a slightly grainy texture. Add probiotics and whiz again.
- Place sterilized cheesecloth over a large bowl. Transfer the macadamia mass onto the cheesecloth, twist the ends and squeeze with clean hand to remove as much liquid as possible. You can use nut milk bag if you prefer.
- Once the excess moisture is squeezed out, twist the ends of the cheesecloth tightly over the remaining macadamia mass to create a tight bundle, and place it in a sieve. Hang the sieve over a large enough bowl and place a heavy weight or jar filled with water on the bundle. Place the bowl in a warm place and allow to the probiotics to work for 24 to 48 hours. The time depends on the temperature of your kitchen. Use the way that collected in the bowl to make a healthy salad dressing.
- Transfer the cultured nut mass into a bowl. Add nutritional yeast, salt, lemon juice, and onion and garlic powders. Mix well. These ingredients will flavor your cheese and "camouflage" the macadamia taste. Test the mixture and add more nutritional yeast or spices as needed.
- Transfer the nut mass into a small cake pan (I used 4.5 inch springform) and form a nice round cheese loaf. Wrap the form with parchment paper and place it in the fridge to set for 24 hours.
- In a large dish, mix all the herbs, spices, bilberry powder, and dried flowers. Remove the cheese loaf from the cake pan and pace it in the dish. Gently roll the cheese in the fragrant mixture to coat it on all sides.
- Wrap the coated cheese in a parchment and place it in fridge. Allow the cheese to mature for at least three to four days. The added probiotics shall prevent any spoilage, but check daily to make sure that the cheese isn't contaminated with bad bacteria.
- If you are satisfied with the outcome, re-wrap the cheese with fresh parchment paper and store in fridge in a sealed glass container. The aroma develops over time.
- Serve the cheese with raw food crackers, raw chutney, or with raw yuzu marmalade. It also goes well with radishes, celery sticks, grapes, nuts, and berries. Use it in sandwiches, in salads, or as topping on a raw courgette pasta. Make it a part of a larger (vegan) cheese platter and enjoy in good company!
Tip: Do not discard the liquid you squeeze from the blended nuts. What you have here is macadamia nut milk enriched with probiotics. Also, once you blended the nuts and transferred the nut mass into a cheese cloth, you will notice that there is something left in your blender under the blades. Vitamix has a special utensil that allows you to remove as much of the stuff from under the blades as possible, but even if you use that tool you will see some precious food left in the jar. Macadamia nuts are rather expensive. If you don't want to waste anything, simply add more water or nut milk to the blender and whiz. Pour the liquid out and save it in fridge for later use in raw smoothies, salad dressings, or soups. Remember that solids will separate from water. Simply shake the jar and use it as quickly as you can.
I used Corsican seasoning known as the herbs of the macchia or Herbes de Maquis. The inspiration came from a book by Daniel Silva where the protagonist visits Corsica and is "assaulted" by the scent of the aromatic vegetation that covers great part of the island. These herbs are used in Corsican cuisine so I was intrigued. You can use herbs of Provence, Tuscan herbs, or a medley of wild herbs. Add dried edible flowers and spices of your choice and have fun creating your own fragrant mix.
In radiant health, passionately raw - Dominique
Dominique Allmon©2022