BALI: The popularity of cheese in Indonesia makes it only natural for the country to produce its own cheese, because milk as its basic material is sufficiently available.

Milk-producing cattle are widely raised in the country, and besides animal protein, cheese can also be made from vegetable sources of milk such as soybeans, almond seeds and other nuts.

The founders of Yogyakarta-based Mazaraat Artisan Cheese recently shared their experience in cheese-making in Bali.

Stressing the use of milk in making cheese, married couple Muhamad Najmi (also known as Jamie) and Nieta Pricillia turn to local organic milk as their basic material.

According to the young pair, only about six Indonesian families are engaged in cheese making.

Some 10 people gathered at a stall in Denpasar recently to learn how to make cheese as part of the cooperation between Mazaraat and organic shop Satvika Bhoga.

The equipment prepared included a portable gas stove and a stainless steel pan, in addition to milk and other nutritious ingredients. The four main ingredients needed are milk, kefir grain (to make kefir milk), rennet as an enzyme and salt.

According to Jamie, Mazaraat cheese obtains milk from cow breeders in Yogyakarta.

“Local organic milk is the best, with a maximum transportation distance of 30km,” he said, explaining that the farther the milk source is located, the less balanced its fermentation will be.

When facing difficulties securing fresh milk, such as in Bali, the closest material that can be used is pasteurised milk.

The second crucial ingredient is kefir, a cheese culture medium to be mixed with milk. Add kefir to one litre of milk, cover the mixture with cloth and leave it for 24 hours at room temperature. Before further processing, strain it with a plastic tea sieve to produce kefir milk and new kefir grains for further cheese-making.

Ten litres of milk are needed to make about 1kg of cheese. In the demo class in Denpasar, Jamie processed four litres of milk that was only mixed with 60mls of kefir milk.

An important ingredient is the enzyme rennet, the only one still imported as production requires special laboratory equipment. “It’s uneconomical to produce rennet, especially as Indonesia only has six cheese artisans so far,” said Jamie.

Mazaraat brought along five products that day to be sold at Satvika Bhoga: Colby, with its orange hue has the most solid texture, as well as Camembert, Gouda, Feta and Halloumi, which is like tofu and can be directly consumed or prepared as food.

Hira Jhamtani, an environmental activist and globalisation writer who owns Satvika Bhoga in Denpasar, said the public should be informed about how to produce cheese so as not to depend on imports and to appreciate local materials. This is why he is interested in collaborating with Mazaraat and marketing its products.

Jamie learned cheese-making in Canada for four months and when he returned, his cheese production at home frequently failed. It turned out that in addition to his skills and the cheese recipe, he still had to observe the temperature and examine the contents of local materials. Cheese in Italy, for example, can last when left in the open.

In November 2015, the couple’s introduced their premium cheese products at community and organic market events. Now they offer nine premium cheese varieties, but it’s not easy selling cheese at prices higher than those of factory products.

Jamie and Nieta hope more cheese artisans will appear in Indonesia so that local production of quality cheese increases.

The Jakarta Post / Indonesia

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2017