Any info on Keckek el Fouqara( Poor man's Cheese)?

[cincinnatifermenter]

@lizu. I added two cups of bulgur and slightly less then two cups of water in a glass jar covered in a cloth lid and mixed. I stirred and two or three times a day for about three weeks and then proceeded to spice and jar the "cheese". I never encountered any mold but I live in a very temperate area so maybe the heat had something to do with your's molding. I was wondering about adding water as well but refrained from doing so and it turned out fine.

[lizu]

thanks!
I didn't add any extra water to the second batch and it seemed to work a lot better...
It wasn't tasting very cheesy when I jarred it but fingers crossed it'll cheese up after maturing a few months... looking forward to trying it!

[BizMarkie]

I'm trying a batch of this.
Following the directions in AoF, I just added a bit more water than bulgur by volume, in a quart mason jar (jar was about half-full once the bulgur initially absorbed the water).
I was conflicted about whether to lid the jar or use a cheesecloth covering.
I opted for the cheesecloth. So far, no mold or any other issues.
I'm not sure I'd use a mason jar again because it's difficult to stir, and residue inevitably builds up on the walls of the jar and then dries. But doesn't seem to have an adverse affect so far.
After about a day I was concerned that it needed more water, but I resisted the urge. Two weeks into it, I'm glad I didn't add more water.
The mixture is plenty moist.
I've been stirring precisely once a day. I'm struggling to find something to compare the consistency to, but it's mostly homogenous mush, with maybe a cream cheese texture, I'd say.
The smell is quite pungent! My wife is getting a little tired of it, but I love it.
So at this point I'm wondering the best spices to use . . . any suggestions?

[korakora]

I live in the tropics, current ambient temperatures this (rainy) season are 25-29 degrees C. I started a keckek el fouqara experiment yesterday. I have two jars:

Jar 1: 1 cup of cracked wheat, 1 cup water and 1 tsp salt.
Jar 2: 1 cup cooked rice (well packed into the cup), 1 tsp salt dissolved in 1 tbsp water and ginger from a young ginger bug.

The method of Keckek el Fouqara reminds me of burong isda, fermented fish with rice - but sans the fish.

Sandor mentions burong isda in Art of Fermentation, page 356.

I have successfully made burong isda. Some info available at http://korakora.org/2013/06/taste-test-burong-mustasa-and-burong-isda/.

Since the method of burong isda resembles keckek so much, both involving lactic acid fermentation in a mildly salty environment with carbohydrate as substrate, I decided to treat keckek similarly - sealed in jars.

I don't stir, but I will open the jar and pack in the mixture after 3 days (which is what I did with burong isda). Lacto fermentation is anaerobic but can do with some oxygen coming in.

Burong isda is cooked after fermentation, though. Cooking assures me of its safety especially with the use of raw fish in the ferment.

The rice keckek can probably do without cooking, since there is no raw fish involved.

For flavouring - I am thinking of basil and garlic.