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Cheese from India, West Bengal

Bandel cheeseব্যান্ডেল চিজ

Bandel is a boundary entry, an acid-set fresh cheese with no reported ripening by microbes. Cow milk is curdled with an acid such as lemon juice, or a family's secret agent that may be soured whey. The curd is drained, kneaded and moulded into small discs, coated in salt and cured for at least two days; one version is then smoked over a cow-dung fire.

A short entry: the sources we found record only what is said here about Bandel cheese itself.

Short entryCheese2 days

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedFamily recipes with no published amounts.
Cow milk[homegrown2024]
Acid (lemon juice or a similar agent)Some families keep their agent secret; one account suggests lactic acid from whey[betterindia2022][homegrown2024]
SaltA generous coating[homegrown2024]
Starternone; the curd is set by acid, perhaps soured whey in some families

Total time across the recorded steps: 2 days

Start
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What changes: An acid splits the milk into curds and whey

Step 1 of 4
Curdle the milk with acid
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Made the way chhena is, by splitting milk with an acid. Output: curd and whey.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Bandel is a boundary entry, an acid-set fresh cheese with no reported ripening by microbes. Cow milk is curdled with an acid such as lemon juice, or a family's secret agent that may be soured whey. The curd is drained, kneaded and moulded into small discs, coated in salt and cured for at least two days; one version is then smoked over a cow-dung fire. Made in 4 steps over 2 days. The longest step, coat with salt and cure, takes at least 2 days (Drishya 2024).

Key numbers
Main stepat least 2 daysReported[homegrown2024]Coat with salt and cure

What makes this one different

Bandel is set by acid like chhena, but is then heavily salted and often smoked so that it keeps, where chhena is eaten fresh or made into sweets.

Related ferments

Variants

  • White BandelUnsmoked; creamy, like paneer
  • Smoked BandelSmoked over cow-dung fire; dry and crumbly; one account credits the Dutch with this version

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Accounts tie the cheese to the Portuguese settlement at Bandel, founded in 1579 near the Hooghly trading centre, and to local cooks who learned to curdle milk there. One account credits the Dutch with the smoked version. In 2017 a Jadavpur University team began studying hygiene and standard production, and a GI tag is being sought.

  1. [betterindia2022] Sethu D. 2022, A slice of Bandel cheese, The Better India, 10 October 2022web
  2. [homegrown2024] Drishya 2024, A brief history of Bandel, the Bengali cheese with a colonial past, Homegrown, 11 September 2024web
  3. [wp] Wikipedia, Bandel cheese (outline only)wiki