Fresh seasoned cheese recipe

The gomolya or gömölye, is a spherical fresh cheese. Its name is derived from the Hungarian word "gömbölyű", which means spherical, ball-like. Gomolya originates from the shepherds of the Alföld and Transylvania. It's made from sheep's, cow milk, or a mixture of the two.

The shepherds make it the traditional way to this day. They add rennet to the fresh, still warm milk. After that, they cut or break the curd up, then put it in a cheesecloth, and press most of the whey out with hand, then by tying cheesecloth into a bundle, they hang the cheese and let it drip. The cheese made this way is ball, loaf shaped, 2-3 kg in weight. It's aged by hanging it in a windy place for 5-6 days. Gomolya is the most simple cheese, but it's more than you think: A lot of people season them with their favourite seasonings, nuts, dried fruits, it can be smoked, aged further, after 2 weeks it can even be grilled.

Gomolya recipe

INGREDIENTS:

• 10 litres of fresh, raw milk
• 2,7 ml natural rennet
• 1 capsule mesophile starter culture (recommended)
• iodine free salt (cheese salt)

The recipe:

Use high quality, whole milk. This can be cow, sheep's, goat milk or a mixture.
Traditionally gomolya is made of unpasteurised, fresh milk, but there are situations where raw milk is not recommended.
To pasteurise the milk, heat it to 63-65 °C, keep it there for 30 minutes, then at 38 °C you can start making the cheese.

1. CULTURING:

Gomolya is traditionally made with the mesophile bacteria naturally found in milk.
Milk from smaller farms usually contain enough to enable making Gomolya.
Incase of modern farms, because the disinfectants used, and the automated  milking, there isn't enough bacteria.
This is why we recommend adding mesophile starter to the milk. 
After heating the milk to 38°C, add 1 capsule of mesophile starter culture, that you have pre-dissolved in some lukewarm water, to the milk.
Mix well, cover with a lid, let it rest for 10 minutes.

2. COAGULATION:
At 38°C, add 2.4-2.5 ml of natural rennet for every 10 litres of milk.
Keep the milk covered, so it doesn't cool as fast. Let mixture coagulate for 25-30 minutes, while keeping it at 38 °C.
If you only use a small amount of milk, I recommend putting the pot in warm water.
During coagulation do not heat, stir, or move the milk!

3. CUTTING THE CURD:
Cut the coagulated milk to 1,5-2 cm curds under 8-10 minutes.
Make sure that the curds are even in size.
Do not break, only cut the curds! Otherwise a lot of protein will darin out with the whey.
This will make the cheese dryer.

4. SEDIMENTATION:
Lett the curds settle at the bottom of the pot, this takes 10-15 minutes.

5. SHAPING:
Put a colander on top of the curds. The whey will flow into it. Ladle out as much whey from the colander as possible.
After that, gently mix the curds with your hands.
Do this until all the curds that stuck together separate.
Put some of the curds into a colander, an amount that you can comfortably work with.
Slowly, evenly press the curds with your palm 3-4 times.
If you want to season your Gomolya, season it now, add your chopped seasoning and mix it with the curds.
Be careful not to crush any curd. Put the curds into a cheese mould.
Make sure to pack it evenly.
When everything is in a mould, flip immediately. Don't worry, it shouldn't fall apart!
After flipping, put a follower on the it and weigh it down with 1x the cheeses weight. 10 litres of milk makes 1 kg of cheese, so use a 1 kg weight. 
Now starts the flipping sequence! A pretty cheeses secret is systematical flipping. Even flipping makes the cheese even too.
Flip the cheese after the first 10 minutes, then 20-30-60-120-240 minutes, and so on. 
Do the flipping and pressing at room temperature, 21-23 °C, for 24 hours. At this temperature the cheese will sour rapidly.

6. SALTING:
Make a 20% brine. (to 200 g iodine free salt, add as much 15 °C- water, to get 1000 g altogether)

Use a bowl big enough, that the cheese can float in the brine.
Salting is not only important to season the cheese, it also stops the souring process, and preserves the cheese.
Soak 1kg of cheese for 8-10 hours, but depending on your taste, you can play around with the timing.
Halfway through flip the cheese.
The brine, after straining, can be stored in a fridge and reused 2-3 times.

7. AGEING:
Age at 17-19 °C, 85% humidity, for 5-6 days, on a wooden board. Flip the cheese every day.

8. STORAGE:

Can be stored in a refrigerator, wrapped in wax paper and foil, for 2-3 week, but this depends mostly on what you've seasoned the Gomolya with.

Happy cheesemaking! :D