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How do you like your cheese? Can I suggest serving it out of a hairy goat's skin bag? If you haven't tried it you should. Tulum peynir (cheese matured in a goat's skin) is my favourite Turkish cheese. If you enjoy a mature cheddar, this is the cheese for you. Finding a cheese that was actually made in an animal skin is quite difficult now, but the cheeses matured in more commercially suitable tins or plastic vessels are almost as good. I'm not keen on cheese made from goats' milk as I can always detect that 'farmyard tang' which lingers after the first bite, so I try and find tulum cheese made from sheep's milk. Take time to pick the one that suits you. Cheese stalls on markets or supermarkets will let you taste before you buy, so work your way through the display until you find the one that tickles your tastebuds. İzmir tulum is my favourite; not too hard or crumbly, it is easy to slice thinly and has a full flavour. Teo loved Bergama tulum; the older the better, with a sharp aftertaste that could bite back - ideal for a rakı meze. If you are looking for a cooking cheese, tulum will serve you well. It melts quickly and a little gives a lot of flavour. It also grates well and is a good substitute for Pecorino or Parmesan in pesto.
As pine nuts and Parmesan are so expensive in Turkey, my go to recipe for a pesto that doesn't cost the earth is:
A cup of sunflower seeds, lightly toasted.
4 cloves of garlic
Two handfuls of green basil
A cup of olive oil.
Combine these four ingredients in a blender or pestle and mortar until you have a rough paste, then add a cup of grated tulum cheese. Keep a bowl on hand in your fridge to use in pasta or spread it on toast, baked aubergines, peppers or courgettes.
I'm with Teo on Bergama Tulum. A serious bite back cheese. Can recommend Inci Peyniri shop between Yalikavak bus station and Korfez bakery. He's served the pazars of the peninsula for years and now has a shop too.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite cheese shop Terry - a local Mumcular business with a branch in Bodrum too. https://backtobodrum.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/cheesy-bodrum.html
DeleteMany of the villagers in the mountains away from the coast still produce these types of cheese - they are glorious in their diversity and long may they continue to tickle our fancy!
ReplyDeleteLucky you
DeleteGoat's cheese is like Marmite - you either love it or hate it. Me, I love it!
ReplyDeleteI love Marmite but goats cheese test my goat
DeleteI love Tulum, such a great idea to make pesto with tulum and sunflower seeds : ) Ozlem xx
ReplyDeleteThanks Özlem
DeleteB to B, We are also big tulum fanciers. I learned about the substitution of toasted sunflower seeds in pesto from a neighbor in the U.S. I like to use pine nuts or walnuts, but the ouch in the price for either one is tough. And for cheese, I use eski kaşar instead of parmesan, but I will try tulum next time. Thanks for the tip! J
ReplyDeleteI find it difficult to get a really mature kaşar which is why I use tulum
DeleteDear B to B, here in the mid-west of the USA we don't have a variety of cheeses to choose from. I wish we did. We get just the old standbys. We can get Feta now, which I appreciate, and goat cheese, but not sheep. Your posting made my taste buds salivate! Peace.
ReplyDeleteI have heard from other Americans that good cheese is harder to come by in the US than Europe or Turkey.
DeleteHey B to B ;) It doesn't look too apppetizing to my eye, but maybe indeed the taste wins over the sight. I wonder if I could find the cheese somewhere in Alanya. I'll have to check. Hmm...
ReplyDeleteGreetings from the other side of the coast!