Fermenting soaked macadamia nuts with a single probiotic capsule over one to two days is what gives this preparation its tang and recalls the sharpness of a goat's cheese, without any dairy at all. The process asks for patience rather than skill: once the nuts are blended with water and the probiotic, the mixture drains through a nut milk bag at room temperature, developing its flavour as the culture works. Once fermented, shaping it into a log and rolling it through finely chopped tarragon gives the outside a sharp, herbal crust that answers the tangy interior, exactly as a classic chèvre log gets rolled in herbs or ash. The result has real body and spreads well, far closer to a soft cheese than to a raw nut pâté. It suits flax crackers or sprouted bread as a spread, or slips into a raw wrap with sliced tomato and greens for something more substantial. Since the recipe makes enough for six servings or more, it works for a gathering or as a reserve through the week - knowing that the flavour is strong enough that a little goes a long way on each cracker.
Fermented macadamia cheese rolled in tarragon
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Nut milk bag
€4.10
Ingredients
- 2 cups raw macadamia nuts, soaked
- 1 probiotic capsule
- 1/2 cup filtered water
- 2 to 3 tablespoons tarragon, finely chopped
Enough for 6 servings or more
Preparation
- Combine the water, the soaked macadamia nuts and the probiotic in a high-speed blender or food processor. In a blender you will need a tamper to keep the mixture moving.
- Blend until completely smooth.
- Pour the mixture into a nut milk bag and seal it tightly.
- Set the bag in a strainer over a bowl and weigh it down so the excess liquid can drain off.
- Leave at room temperature for 1 to 2 days - do not refrigerate during this stage.
- Once fermented, take the mixture out of the nut milk bag.
- Shape it into a log on a cutting board.
- Scatter the chopped tarragon across the board and roll the log through it so the outside is evenly coated.
- As soon as the coating is even, the cheese is ready - store any leftovers in the refrigerator.
Tip
Do not refrigerate the mixture during the one-to-two-day fermentation: it needs room temperature to develop its tang, and cold stops the process too early. Once fermented and rolled in tarragon, keep the log in the refrigerator, where it will last about a week.
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FAQ: your questions about fermented macadamia cheese
Which cheese is best for the microbiome?
Those that still contain live cultures at the moment you eat them, which immediately rules out anything pasteurised after ripening or heated at length. In practice that points towards raw-milk cheeses and unpasteurised fermented preparations, of which this macadamia cheese is one. A word of caution though: the presence of cultures is not enough to make a health promise, and the quantity of micro-organisms surviving the passage through the stomach varies enormously from one product to another.
Which cheeses are rich in probiotics?
On the dairy side, it is mainly fresh and lightly ripened raw-milk cheeses, along with certain soft cheeses, that still host a living flora. On the plant side the logic is different: a vegan cheese only has cultures if you deliberately inoculate it, as here with a probiotic capsule, and if the fermentation has genuinely had time to happen at room temperature. An industrial vegan cheese simply flavoured with citric acid brings nothing of the sort.
Which cheese is good for the gut?
The question of tolerance often matters more than that of cultures. People sensitive to lactose generally handle long-ripened cheeses, in which almost no lactose remains, better than fresh cheeses. A preparation like this one sidesteps the problem entirely: nut-based, it contains neither lactose nor milk proteins. Its tang and its richness in fat remain pronounced though, and a small portion is plenty on a first approach.
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