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

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

Postby cincinnatifermenter on Thu Oct 04, 2012 4:14 pm

Hello I have a batch of bulgur fermenting currently and am wondering if I need to add water throughout the fermentation process as it is absorbed by the wheat. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.
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Re: Any info on Keckek el Fouqara( Poor man's Cheese)?

Postby ManchesterSara on Mon Oct 08, 2012 4:16 pm

I am also attempting Keckek el Fouqara and am 3 days into the bulgur ferment and am wondering the same thing. I’m wondering how wet is it supposed to be. Are you using a closed container? I opted to put a lid on the bowl to try to retain moisture.
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Re: Any info on Keckek el Fouqara( Poor man's Cheese)?

Postby cincinnatifermenter on Mon Oct 08, 2012 5:55 pm

I have a cloth lid. I haven't added any water since the start and it seems to be retaining moisture just fine and is becoming almost like cream cheese as the bulgur dissolves. It smells great! What spices were you thinking of using once its done?
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Re: Any info on Keckek el Fouqara( Poor man's Cheese)?

Postby ManchesterSara on Thu Oct 18, 2012 7:19 pm

Mine is also starting to turn into a cream-cheese consistency and smells strong but pleasant. I’m right now trying to decide what spices to use. I’m thinking garlic, sage and rosemary. What are you thinking? How long are you going to wait before adding spices?
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Re: Any info on Keckek el Fouqara( Poor man's Cheese)?

Postby cincinnatifermenter on Fri Oct 19, 2012 4:25 pm

I ended up using an Indian curry powder consisting of coriander seeds, turmeric, chillies, salt, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, black pepper, garlic, ginger, fenugreek, cinnamon cloves, anise, and mustard. I added the spices at two weeks as my batch had a nice strong flavor at that point then tried rolling them into balls with no success so i just stirred the cheese with some organic olive oil in quart mason jars and it tastes very yummy. I'm letting it age for a month until I have another taste.
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Re: Any info on Keckek el Fouqara( Poor man's Cheese)?

Postby ManchesterSara on Mon Oct 22, 2012 9:31 am

That’s funny! I almost used a curry powder too. I decided instead to stick with rosemary, garlic, parsley & sage (I think I’m feeling Thanksgivingy). It tastes good. I ended rolling mine into balls and storing them in olive oil as described in the book but my consistency was wetter and softer than I was hoping for. I think that next time I try it I’m going to take the lid off a few days before adding spices and making balls to try to dry it out a little. We’ve got forced air heat so starting mid-october my house is arid. Let me know in a month how it tastes! I’m aging mine too so I will also report back. Since we seem to be the only two people on the internet making this, I’d love to hear how your’s turns out!
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Re: Any info on Keckek el Fouqara( Poor man's Cheese)?

Postby cincinnatifermenter on Sun Oct 28, 2012 1:25 pm

Deal! I tasted a little prior to storing in oil and it is already very tangy and delicious. I had the same problem with it retaining shape, it ended up being like a cream cheese in the end but it still tastes very good. I think I will try to air mine out a little more the next time as well, or maybe just use less water to begin with. I will report back in one month and tell you how it is.
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Re: Any info on Keckek el Fouqara( Poor man's Cheese)?

Postby emjaba on Tue Nov 06, 2012 12:07 pm

I've also been making this recently and interested to hear of other stories about how people are getting on with theirs as this is my first time. After about 3 weeks on my worktop I last night rolled them up into spiced balls and put them in the olive oil to age. I used the recommended garlic, carraway and cumin but added mixed herbs rather than just sage which I didn't have and also added some chilli flakes to about half a dozen of them too. I mixed a little more liquid than bulgar wheat - as suggested in AofF - but it was really just guess work and no measuring as such. I also added a very small amount of left over yoghurt. I stirred the mixture most days and only put it away last night after about three weeks as that's when I found the time and inclination to do it so I was a little worried that it might have gone off but it was fine; although a bit of a crust had formed when I didn't attend to it for a couple of days. I found the mixture was not too dry nor moist so rolled into balls very nicely - I hope I can repeat that next time. They look great in the mason jar in my cupboard and I can't wait to try them. I also used a cloth as a lid which was okay as my kitchen is generally more warm and moist in the air than dry and cold even in winter.
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Re: Any info on Keckek el Fouqara( Poor man's Cheese)?

Postby cincinnatifermenter on Thu Nov 22, 2012 3:09 pm

The cheese was a success. It developed a nice tangy bite after a month and does indeed taste like a cream cheese almost. The curry powder I used complimented it nicely as well.
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Re: Any info on Keckek el Fouqara( Poor man's Cheese)?

Postby lizu on Sun Dec 09, 2012 8:21 pm

Hi fellow keckek el fouqara attempters,
I was wondering if you added the extra water in the end when it seemed to be drying out, or just kept stirring?
I added a little extra water to moisten it on about the third day, but when I removed the (cloth) lid to give it its stir the next day, found it was full of mould :(
I'm about to try again. I'm in a very hot climate, so will try and find a cooler spot to keep it in this time... other than that, do any of you successful 'cheese'makers have any pointers?
Cheers!
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