Let’s make Armenian string cheese, Chechil! Chechil is a traditional Armenian cheese, made from stretched curd and known for its unique stringy texture. It’s often braided or twisted into ropes and sometimes smoked.
Ingredients:
- 20 liters of milk
- 1/5 of a 100L package of dry rennet, Carlina 1650, dissolved in 50ml of water
- 1/2 teaspoon of calcium chloride solution (if you pasteurized the milk, as it enhances coagulation and helps form a denser curd)
- 1/5 of a 100L package of citric acid, dissolved in 50ml of water (optional)
- Salt for a 10% brine solution
Instructions:
- Acidify: Add the citric acid solution to the milk (8-12°C) and stir well.
- Heat: Heat the milk in a pot to 38°C (or cool pasteurized milk).
- Add Cultures: Dissolve the calcium chloride in 50ml of water and the rennet in 50ml of water. Add both solutions to the milk, stir gently, remove from heat, and let it rest at room temperature for 40 minutes.
- Cut Curd: Cut the formed curd into small cubes and let it rest for 30 minutes to separate the whey.
- Drain: Line a colander with 2-3 layers of cheesecloth or a synthetic cloth, transfer the curd, and let it drain for 1 hour.
- Brine: Prepare a concentrated 10% salt solution (or more concentrated if you prefer saltier cheese).
- Stretch and Salt: Place the curd in hot water (70°C) and, wearing gloves, stretch it into strings and immerse them in the cold brine.
- Rest: Leave the strings in the brine for 24 hours.
- Shape: Remove the strings from the brine, braid them, or shape as desired.
Your Armenian string cheese, Chechil, is ready! Enjoy!