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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Philippines

Kesong putikesong puti

Raw carabao milk is set in 20–30 minutes with rennet extract, or in some places with vinegar, and the soft curd is scooped out, drained, salted and wrapped in banana leaves. It is eaten fresh within days. No starter is added and little acid forms, so kesong puti is a boundary case, closer to a fresh rennet or acid-set cheese than to a fermented one. Made in 7 steps over 2 days – 7.1 days. The longest step, keep cold and eat fresh, takes 2–7 days (Moreno M.C.R 2021) and runs at 0–4 °C (Abella M.P. 2017). Salt is 2–2.2 % (Aquino E.M 2011). Lactic bacteria from the raw milk, highest in raw carabao-milk cheese - Lactobacillus helveticus, Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, L. rhamnosus, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, L. plantarum and others; their counts rise as the pH falls does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step2–7 daysReported[moreno2021]Keep cold and eat fresh
Temperature0–4 °CSet[pcc2017]Keep cold and eat fresh
Salt2–2.2 %Measured[aquino2011]Salt and beat the curd
AciditypH 6.2–6.3Measured[aquino2011]Keep cold and eat fresh

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe DTRI (University of the Philippines Los Baños) method as demonstrated to Lumban cheese makers in Aquino et al. 2011. Traditional makers use about 1.5 L of whey-based rennet extract for about 20 L of raw milk and salt by taste.
2 LRaw carabao milk · Strained through cheesecloth[aquino2011]
40 g (2 %)Salt · Added to the milk before pasteurising in the DTRI method[aquino2011]
40 mL (about 3 tbsp)Rennet[aquino2011]
Starternone; traditional rennet extract (bahay asim) is dried abomasum soaked in the previous day's whey; vinegar is used instead in some places

Total time across the recorded steps: 2 days – 7.1 days

Start
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Close-up: water moving into a pieceshapes, not to countLactic acid bacteria

What changes: Pieces of dried calf stomach soak in yesterday's whey, and the rennet seeps out

Step 1 of 7
Prepare the rennet extract (bahay asim)
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
Lactobacillus helveticus
Lactococcus lactis
L. mesenteroides

Fresh abomasa are stretched on bamboo sticks like a kite and sun-dried. Pieces about 2 × 3 inches soak in the previous day's whey; each day one new piece goes in and one old piece comes out. Output: rennet extract in whey, filtered through cloth before use.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

the whey carries lactic bacteria from the day before

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

Kesong puti is set in minutes with rennet, or vinegar in some places, and eaten within days without any starter, so its pH stays near that of milk. Traditional makers keep their rennet in the previous day's whey and wrap the cheese in banana leaves. With vinegar it is an acid-set cheese rather than a fermented one.

Milk
Carabao milk, or cow milk or a mix
Coagulant
Rennet extract from dried abomasum soaked in whey; vinegar in some places
Ripening
None; eaten fresh

Related ferments

Variants

  • Vinegar-set kesong putiSet with vinegar; slightly sour and softer; an acid-set product
  • Rennet-set kesong putiFirmer and not sour
  • Kasilyo (Cavite)Local name for the small Cavite cheese

Safety

Raw-milk kesong puti has carried E. coli, S. aureus and coliforms far above the Philippine limit of 10 cfu/g. The Philippine Carabao Center method pasteurises the milk at 72–75 °C for 15 seconds and keeps the cheese at 0–4 °C.

Hazards the sources name: Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, found in Cavite kesong puti; Coliforms, too numerous to count in raw-milk Lumban cheese; Listeria species, reported in Laguna kesong puti in an earlier survey.

History and sources

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

Kesong puti was made before the 20th century and is one of the oldest cottage industries in the Philippines. In Lumban, Laguna, two families studied in 2009 had made it since 1900 and 1928.

  1. [aquino2011] Aquino E.M., Tapay N.E., Barraquio V.L. 2011, A case study of the indigenous technology for making white soft cheese kesong puti in Lumban, Laguna, Philippines, Philippine Journal of Veterinary and Animal Sciences 37(1):89–100paper
  2. [pcc2017] Abella M.P. 2017, Factors affecting the yield recovery and quality of kesong puti, iASK series B-02-2017, Philippine Carabao Centergov
  3. [kisworo2003] Kisworo D., Barraquio V.L. 2003, Characteristics of lactic acid bacteria from raw milk and white soft cheese, Philippine Agricultural Scientist 86(1) (abstract)paper
  4. [barraquio-cavite] Barraquio V.L., Villanueva D.C., Almazan E.N., Detection of Escherichia, Salmonella, Shigella, Staphylococcus and Yersinia in kesong puti from Cavite Province, Philippine Agricultural Scientist (abstract; repository record)paper
  5. [moreno2021] Moreno M.C.R., Emata O.C. 2021, Effects of varying concentrations of calcium chloride on the quality of Filipino white cheese (kesong puti) made from frozen-thawed cow's milk, Journal of Agricultural Research, Development, Extension, and Technology 3(1):88–95paper