Yak Cheese Tasting
Notes
updated January 30, 2002
Helping Tibetan nomadic yak herders to attain self-reliance
Click on images for higher resolution
page under construction-please check back soon for updates!
General Description
Rajya Metok is a natural, aged cheese made from the whole, fresh
milk of nomadic yak herds, on the Tibetan Plateau.
Milk Supply
The milk is from the nomadic communities in the region near Ragya,
an historic Yellow River village, home to a famous monastary and school.
in Golok, Qinghai Province.
Farming Methods
The farm families that supply milk to the cheese factory are Tibetan
nomads, who follow their herds into the high alpine meadows during the
short summer grass season of June-Sept. The yak are semi-wild animals,
and they graze on wild forage, consisting of about sixty species of wildflowers
and grasses. There is NO supplemental feeding of fodder, silage or grain-indeed
there is no capacity to produce these crops at these high altitudes of
3500-4000 metres (13-14,000 ft).
The pasturelands are truly wild-there has never been any sort of pesticide
or fertilizer use in the region. The yak have been grazing there for
at least 40,000 years, and are an intrinsic part of the biosystem.
Milk harvesting and transport
The milk is collected by hand-milking, twice per day. The calves
are fed first, and the nomad families keep as much milk as they can use
themselves. The milkers scald all milk buckets, etc with boiling water
before use, and their hands are washed with near-scalding water before
milking begins. Milk is transported to the dairy immediately after each
milking, in saddle-cans via horse, yak and motorbike.
Milk Quality and Composition
The yak milk is of the highest quality of all the milk I have seen
in my cheesemaking career-no wonder, given that these animals live on
fresh, biodiverse grasses and forbes, breathing perfectly clean air and
drinking pure, unpolluted water. The Tibetans are meticulously clean
and conscientious in the handlling of the milk, and our lab tests found
it to be far superior to Western microbiological and sanitary standards.
The composition of the yak milk varies over the season, but averages 6.7%
milkfat, and approximately 11% solids-not-fat, making it about twice as
rich as cow's milk and similar to ewe's milk. The milk is heat-treated
in accordance with traditional cheesemaking practices and internationally-accepted
standards, being held above 61 degrees Celcius for a minimum of 30 minutes.
Cheese Characteristics and Flavor
Ragya Metok is a full-fat, stirred-curd, naturally-ripened cheese,
formed in wheels of approximately 40 cm in diameter (16 inches) and
weighing between 4 and 6 Kg (9-13 lbs). Early acid development, in the
vat, lays the foundation for the development of delicate, complex flavors
in the ripening process.
It has a salt-formed rind, with sparse blooms of natural microflora,
The salt that is used on the rind is a locally-mined red salt known as
the "Tears of Drorma", a sea salt, from an ocean that dried up millions
of years ago! No liquid brine is used in the curing of the cheese. Curing
the surface with dry, coarse salt enables the cheese to form a good rind
without absorbing an undue amount of salt into the interior of the cheese.
The rind has a slightly reddish hue, from the iron oxides in the salt.
The aroma, at first encounter, has a mild animal scent, a clean spicy
note which is reminiscent of both sheep and goat. The cut interior
of the cheese has a much milder aroma, and this animal aroma is nearly
absent from the flavor of the cheese.
At first taste, the cheese is disarmingly mild, with a clean, delicate
milky flavor, which is totally different from sheep, cow, goat or mares'
milk cheeses. After about 30 seconds on the palate, the taster becomes
aware of a growing complex of herbal notes, with the flavor continuing
to develop and building to a crescendo in about 120 seconds. The afternotes
are a clean, pleasant, fading collection of milky, herbal and sharp-sweet.
Serving suggestions
Ragya Metok is a delicate, complex cheese of mild-to-medium-strength.
It will go well with most any wine, but will favor the lighter reds and
more complex whites, such as viognier-chardonnay blends. Bold reds may
overpower its more esoteric underpinnings, although a old vine Zinfindel
might tickle it in just the right places. Vin Santo may also do some interesting
dances with it.
The usual assortments of seasonal fruits and rustic breads go well with
Ragya. Dry apple crisps, made from just varietal Hudson Valley apples
(no sugar, preservatives, etc), go especially well with this cheese, and
are available with the cheese from GCC.
Ciders and ales of top quality bring a different light to Ragya. I encourage
experimentation, and invite reader comments.
Applications in the Kitchen
Ragya, being a stirred-curd cheese, melts well and would make
an excellent exotic fonude, it also will brown well in a gratin or raclette.
It grills well on sourdough toast, making a delicious crostini. It also
makes an excellent tsampah! Chef Ray Lim at the Courtyard in Beijing
cuts juliennes of the cheese, wraps it in nori and prepares a tempura. The
cheese has a unique protein structure that enables it to get crisp without
the cheese melting and running.
.
Copyright 2001 Jonathan S. White
For more information, please contact the
Author.
_____________________________
Jonathan
and Nina can be reached via
email.
