Kesong puti is a famous white cheese made from fresh carabao milk, rennet, and salt in the Philippines. It has been produced for centuries in different regions of the country and is often eaten for breakfast with bread. The carabao is also used to make pastillas de leche, a popular Filipino candy.
In the Philippines, the carabao is a cash cow. Valued for its aid in raising rice as well as its meat and milk, this type of water buffalo is also the source of a famous indigenous white cheese called kesong puti. This soft, creamy cheese is formed from a simple combination of fresh carabao milk, enzyme-laden cheese starter called rennet, and a generous helping of salt.
The origin of kesong puti is unclear. Different regions of the Philippines have produced this lightly salted cheese for centuries, from Balucan and Cebu to Laguna and Samar. Since carabou formed the backbone of Philippine agriculture for centuries before the advent of the tractor, some suggest that cheese was made for almost as long.
Making kesong puti requires a fresh batch of carabao milk. Otherwise, the bacterial balance will be tilted towards a spicier tasting cheese. For every 1 gallon (about 4 liters) of milk used, 8 tablespoons (about 115 g) of salt are dissolved in it at the beginning of the process. All utensils and bowls used in the cheese making process are fully sterilized to exclude unwanted bacteria.
After the milk is salted, it is filtered and boiled for at least five minutes to achieve pasteurization. When cooled again, the rennet is mixed into the milk – about 16 teaspoons (or 240 mL) for every gallon. This rennet causes the milk to separate into curds or solids and whey, which is the liquid. The cheese cloth is placed over the kesong puti and the whey is temporarily drained off – for up to six hours – until the cheese has fully formed.
In commercial operations, kesong puti often contains vinegar instead of rennet. This leads to a slightly pickled taste similar to Greek feta or Egyptian damiata. Some add more salt for a saltier flavor or less salt for easier pairings with sweeter breads. A common way to eat this Pinoy cheese is for breakfast, with bread called pan de sal or savory bread.
The carabao isn’t just prized for its milk and cheese, though. A popular Filipino candy is called pastillas de leche, or milk candy. This is a simple hardened mixture of carabao milk and sugar. As with the popular native cheese, it may use another animal’s milk in 2011, as carabao is not used predominantly in Philippine agriculture as it was in pre-industrial times.
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