Ingredients
Cheese
- 6 litressheep’s milk, or whole cow’s milk
- ¼ tspcalcium chloride in 2 tbsp water, if using shop milk
- ½ tspliquid rennet in 50 ml cool water
To serve
- mămăligă, hot
- smântână
- or fried in slices
Directions
- Warm the milk to 32°C (90°F) and stir in the calcium chloride if using pasteurised shop milk.
- Stir in the diluted rennet with a few slow strokes, stop the milk moving, and leave undisturbed for 40 minutes until it gives a clean break.
- Cut the curd into 2 cm cubes, rest 10 minutes, then stir gently for 15 minutes while holding the temperature.
- Gather the curd into a cloth, twist the top, and hang it to drain for two hours at room temperature, then two more in the fridge.
- Add no salt at all. Caș is the unsalted first stage of shepherd cheesemaking, and salting it now would make it a different cheese — a salted, matured one.
- Turn it out. It should be white, springy and mild, and it squeaks faintly against the teeth.
- Eat within two days: crumbled over hot mămăligă with smântână, or cut in thick slices and fried until golden.
- To take it further, salt it heavily and pack it into a skin or a tub to mature into brânză de burduf — a preserve the atlas gives no method for.
Technique
- Unsalted is the definition. A salted version is brânză, not caș.
- Do not press it. Drained under its own weight it stays springy; pressed it turns rubbery.
- It keeps two days and no more. This is a fresh cheese with nothing preserving it.
Substitutions
- Cow’s milk, which is what most Moldovan households now use.
- Vegetarian microbial rennet.
Variations
- Salted and matured in a sheepskin it becomes brânză de burduf.
- Smoked lightly over beech, which is done in the Carpathians.
History
The first stage of shepherd cheesemaking: fresh curd pressed and drained, later salted or matured into brânză de burduf.
Frequently asked questions
What is Caș?
Caș is a cheese & dairy from Moldova: fresh unsalted sheep cheese eaten young or salted for keeping. The first stage of shepherd cheesemaking: fresh curd pressed and drained, later salted or matured into brânză de burduf.
How long does Caș take to make?
Caș takes 40 min plus 4 hours draining of preparation and 20 min of cooking. The recipe makes makes about 700 g. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Caș?
Yes, within limits. Cow’s milk, which is what most Moldovan households now use. Vegetarian microbial rennet.
What is the most important thing to get right in Caș?
Do not press it. Drained under its own weight it stays springy; pressed it turns rubbery.
