Bandel (cheese)
Bandel ( bengalisch ব্যান্ডেল ) or Bandal is a westbengalischer unripened cream cheese of cow's milk . To make the cheese, raw milk is thickened with lemon juice .
properties
Bandel is a soft cheese with small round loaves about three centimeters in diameter and two centimeters high. It has a soft and creamy texture, similar to a camembert. Its taste is mild and distinctly salty, while the smoked bandel has a distinct smoky aroma. Fresh bandel is white, smoked bandel has a brownish rind. The bandel is very similar to the Dhaka made from buffalo milk or cow's milk in today's Bangladesh , which also goes back to Portuguese influence.
history
The Bandel takes its name from the place Bandel in the Indian state of West Bengal , about 40 kilometers north of Kolkata on the banks of the Hugli . According to the Indian nutritionist KT Achaya , around 20,000 Portuguese lived in Bandel and other places in Bengal in the 17th century . They introduced the curdling of milk by adding acidulants and thus brought a new ingredient into the Bengali cuisine. The souring of milk was previously subject to a food taboo. According to contemporary reports, the Bengali cheeses Bandel and Dhaka were made on the basis of sour milk in addition to desserts .
The bandel was traditionally made in Tarakeswar and Bishnupur . It has always been a specialty with little distribution. Today the bandel is only available from two dealers in Kolkata's New Market .
Manufacturing
For the Bandel the salted is cow's milk with lemon juice added. Of the whey remote curd is filled into perforated molds and pressed by hand. The small cheeses are then placed in whey or water for several days. Part of the production is smoked. Although bandel is a fresh product, its salt content means that it can be stored for a relatively long time, refrigerated for several weeks. It becomes increasingly spicy.
consumption
The bandel is consumed as a spread or pure with afternoon tea. Fresh bandel goes well with strawberries. It is suitable to be grated and sprinkled over salads, pasta or rice dishes. In order to consume it pure, it is placed in water overnight, which removes part of the salt.
Web links
supporting documents
- ^ A b c d e Colleen Taylor Sen: Bandal . In: Catherine Donnelly (Ed.): The Oxford Companion to Cheese . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2016, ISBN 978-0-19-933088-1 , pp. 58 .
- ↑ a b Chitrita Banerji: How the Bengalis Discovered Chhana and its Delightful Offspring . In: Harlan Walker (ed.): Milk: Beyond the Dairy. Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery, 1999 . Prospect Books, Totnesa 1997, ISBN 1-903018-06-4 , pp. 48-59 .
- ↑ KT Achaya: Indian Food. A Historical Companion . Oxford University Press, Delhi a. a. 1994, p. 128-133 .
- ^ Colleen Taylor Sen: The Portuguese Influence on Bengali Cuisine . In: Harlan Walker (Ed.): Food on the Move. Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery, 1996 . Prospect Books, Totnesa 1997, ISBN 0-907325-79-3 , pp. 288-298 ( digitized version ).
- ↑ Jonathan Shapiro Anjaria and Mansi Jasani: India . In: Catherine Donnelly (Ed.): The Oxford Companion to Cheese . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2016, ISBN 978-0-19-933088-1 , pp. 372-374 .
- ^ Food. In: The Telegraph . May 3, 2013, archived from the original on May 8, 2013 ; accessed on January 25, 2020 .