Fermentationist Certification: Ferment 6 ~ Nut Cheeze....Not Cheese

Nut Cheeze....Not Cheese

Nut cheeze can be made with a variety of nuts; almonds, cashews, brazil nuts, macadamia nuts, walnuts or hazelnuts. The flavours are endless. Seeds, such as sesame, pumpkin, flax, etc, can also be mixed with the nuts.

Health Benefits

Nut cheeze provides the nutritional benefits of not only the nuts, but also those of the other ingredients you choose (nutritional yeast, probiotics, herbs, etc.). Because the recipe is so adaptable, you have the ability to tweak it and make an already nutritional product into something even more medicinally beneficial. Just as with nuts, though extremely good for you, moderation is key!

The minerals you will obtain from nut cheezes include copper, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and zinc. They also contain B vitamins, particularly vitamin B1 (thiamin). All nuts share the above in common, but you'll also get additional benefits from particular nuts. For example brazil nuts are the highest known source of selenium.  Macadamia nuts have a unique fatty acid profile that gives them antimicrobial properties; therefore protecting us from viruses, pathogenic bacteria, and yeasts in the gut.  You will also benefit from the probiotics in your nut cheeze, which may differ slightly depending on whether you use powder from capsules or kefir to make your ferment. The
addition of nutritional yeast will provide additional B vitamins and the herbs you choose to add will provide their individual benefits as well.  The options are limitless!

Step By Step

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups raw nuts of your choice (almonds, cashews, brazil, macadamia, etc). This will make 2 cups of nut cheeze.
• 1 Cup of water kefir or 1 Cup of water with 2 Capsules of probiotic powder of your choice.

Soak your nuts:

Nuts are best soaked or partially sprouted because they contain enzyme inhibitors that can strain the digestive tract when consumed in excess. Soaking your nuts makes them easier to digest and their nutrients more readily available. To soak your nuts, leave them overnight in salt water. Salt activates enzymes that neutralize enzyme inhibitors. Unlike other nuts, which benefit from an overnight soak, "raw" cashews should be soaked no longer than 6 hrs. Make sure to rinse well and discard the soaking water containing the enzyme inhibitors.  Many people blanch the almonds when making almond nut cheese to assist in taking off the shells. To do this, bring water almost to a boil and turn off the heat. Add the almonds and allow them to soak 35 minutes before you drain and rinse. The peels should slip right off. This makes the final product more similar to the consistency of dairy cheese.

Soaked Almonds

Soaked Brazil Nuts

Mix ingredients:

Blend all the ingredients in a high speed blender (I love my Vitamix for thicker recipes like this!) and continue to mix until smooth. Add more liquid if necessary to form a smooth, creamy texture.

Strain & Ferment:

Pour the mixture into a nut bag or cheese cloth lined strainer.  Allow to strain for 18-48 hours. You can hang the nut bag over a bowl or place it in a colander with a weight on top.  This will apply pressure and push out the excess liquid to save time. The longer it sits the more tart your nut cheeze will be, so feel free to give it a little taste along the way to suit your pallet. I like to let it sit for a couple of days.

Prepare your Nut Cheeze

After the fermentation process, remove your cheeze from the nut bag or cheesecloth. Now you can get creative with adding additional ingredients. I like to start with a base of lemon and salt every time and go from there. Check out some ideas below, but feel free to make adjustments if you feel called to. This is the fun part!

I used a muffin mould.

Basic Flavoring Ideas (for 2 Cups of nuts)

• 1 teaspoon lemon
• 1/4 to 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 to 2 teaspoon of nutritional yeast or miso (these helps give it a "cheesy" profile.)
• A pinch fresh nutmeg is excellent too!

Refrigerate the nut cheeze until ready to use. Season further or sweeten your cheese as desired
before serving.

Fennel, Parsley, Paprika & Cumin prior to dehydrating

Developing a Rind On Your Nut Cheeze (make a harder cheese) ~ not that this is optiontion
Put the cheeze in a nut milk bag lined mold. Refrigerate for 8 to 10 hours so the cheeze can
set. Then dehydrate at 105 degrees on a ParaFlexx tray for an additional 24 to 36 hours. I use an Excalibur Dehydrator.

Dehydrated vs Fresh Nut Cheeze

Storage:

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator; nut cheeze will last for up to two weeks.

Progress:

03.07.2016:  Start date ~ Started soaking my almonds
04.07.2016:  Prepared almonds to strain & ferment (used water kefir for the almonds)  ~ Started soaking the Brazil nuts (Note that I tried to dehull the almonds after soaking them overnight and they weren't coming off.  I left them to soak another 8 hours and still they wouldn't come off.  I didn't want to but I had to blanch them and then the hulls slipped right off.) ~ any pointers would be welcome!
05.07.2016:  Prepared Brazil Nuts to strain & ferment (used probiotic powder for the Brazil nuts)
06/07/2016:  Flavoured almond cheeze, put them into moulds & into the fridge to set
07/07/2016:  Flavoured Brazil nut cheese, put them into moulds & into the fridge to set
08/07/2016:  Dehydrated one of each to see the differences.
09/07/2016:  I personally liked the taste of using probiotic powder as opposed to water kefir.  The water kefir seemed more vinegary to me. I also liked the creamy texture of the non-dehydrated cheeze as it was more spreadable.  I found the dehydrated cheeze crumbled.  I think I would have to get a spray bottle and continue to spray to make the rind a little better next time!  I wish they had these science experiments in school!  The funnest part is tasting the outcome :)

Update:  I had the pleaure of serving my cheezes at a party.  I think everyone liked the spread-ability of the softer cheeze!  They liked the taste of both almond and Brazil options equally.