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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Mauritania

Camel-milk soft cheese

Camel milk is hard to turn into cheese, because it has little casein and its rennet curd forms two to four times more slowly than with cow milk. FAO trials made it work by heating the milk gently, adding calcium salts, a lactic starter and a large dose of clotting enzyme. The soft curd is drained in moulds for about a day, salted, and ripened 15–45 days under a white mould rind, the method behind Mauritania's Caravane. Made in 6 steps over 16 days – 46 days. The longest step, ripen under a white mould rind, takes 15–45 days (Ramet J.P. 2001) and runs at 12–14 °C (Ramet J.P. 2001). Salt is 1.5–1.8 % (Ramet J.P. 2001). Mesophilic lactic acid bacteria and Penicillium and Geotrichum surface moulds do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step15–45 daysSet[ramet2001]Ripen under a white mould rind
Temperature12–14 °CSet[ramet2001]Ripen under a white mould rind
Salt1.5–1.8 %Set[ramet2001]Salt
AciditypH 6.2–6.8Set[ramet2001]Add starter and clotting enzyme

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceAmounts per 100 kg of camel milk from the FAO soft-cheese summary, based on field trials in Saudi Arabia and Tunisia and on commercial production in Mauritania (Ramet 2001). The yield is 7–10.5 kg of cheese per 100 kg of milk.
100 kgCamel milk, whole or partly skimmed · Fresh or slightly acid[ramet2001]
10–15 gCalcium chloride or calcium phosphate · Added at least 30 minutes before the clotting enzyme; more gives soapy and bitter tastes[ramet2001]
1–3 kg (liquid) or 1–3 g (dried)Mesophilic lactic starter[ramet2001]
4–8 gClotting enzyme of strength 1/100 000 · Bovine pepsin clots camel milk well; calf rennet less well. Recombinant camel chymosin is a later option.[ramet2001][kappeler2006]
1.5–1.8 %Salt · Dry-salted on the surface, or brined for 10–30 minutes[ramet2001]
Penicillium and Geotrichum surface moulds[ramet2001]
Startermesophilic lactic starter; clotting enzyme (pepsin, calf rennet or camel chymosin); surface moulds

Total time across the recorded steps: 16 days – 46 days

Start
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62–75 °C

What changes: Camel milk is heated gently, cooled, and calcium salt is stirred in

Step 1 of 6
Heat the milk gently and add calcium
Time
1 min
Set
Temperature
62–75 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
Penicillium
Geotrichum surface

Milk with more than 0.22 % acidity or a pH below 6.50 is neutralised before heating, or it curdles on the hot surfaces. Output: heat-treated camel milk.

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

What makes this one different

Camel milk has less casein, a different casein balance and larger micelles than cow milk, so its rennet curd is weak and slow. The FAO method makes up for this with gentle heating, calcium salt and a large dose of clotting enzyme, then ripens the cheese like a small Camembert.

Milk
Camel milk, low in casein; its κ-casein to β-casein ratio is about 0.05, against about 0.33 in cow milk
Composition
Dry matter 40–50 %, fat 10–30 % (FAO soft-cheese summary)
Size
Flat cylinder of 150–300 g
Yield
7–10.5 kg of cheese per 100 kg of camel milk

Related ferments

Variants

  • Caravane (Tiviski, Nouakchott, Mauritania)A commercial Brie-like camel cheese with a bloomy rind, sold mostly in Mauritania and Senegal.
  • Fresh camel cheeseMainly acid-set over 16–48 hours, drained in cloth and eaten unripened.
  • Semi-hard camel cheeseSmaller grains, part of the whey replaced by water to remove lactose, pressed 2–6 hours, 1–2 kg, ripened 15–45 days.
  • Brined camel cheeseSemi-hard curd cured 30–180 days in 8–16 % brine or oil in clay jars or cans.

Safety

FAO advises thermising (62–65 °C) or low pasteurising (72–75 °C) camel milk for 1 minute to stabilise it and stop the curd from blowing, and a lactic starter to hold back coliforms and other harmful bacteria in raw milk.

Hazards the sources name: Coliforms and other harmful raw-milk bacteria, held back by heating and by the starter.

History and sources

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

Camel milk was long thought impossible to make into cheese, and only a few acid-and-heat cheeses were known in the Sahara and Sinai. FAO trials in Saudi Arabia (1985, 1990) and Tunisia (1987) worked out a method, and the first commercial production started in a purpose-built plant in Mauritania in the 1990s. Caravane, from the Nouakchott dairy Tiviski founded in the late 1980s, is the best-known result.

  1. [ramet2001] Ramet J.P. 2001, The technology of making cheese from camel milk (Camelus dromedarius), FAO Animal Production and Health Paper 113, Rome (chapters 2–4, soft-cheese summary)book
  2. [kappeler2006] Kappeler S.R. et al. 2006, Characterization of recombinant camel chymosin reveals superior properties for the coagulation of bovine and camel milk, Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 342:647–654 (abstract)paper
  3. [mbye2022] Mbye M., Ayyash M., Abu-Jdayil B., Kamal-Eldin A. 2022, The texture of camel milk cheese, effects of milk composition, coagulants, and processing conditions, Frontiers in Nutrition 9:868320 (review)paper
  4. [wp-caravane] Wikipedia, Caravane cheese (maker and history only)wiki