How Käse Cheese Shop is Leading the Way for Artisanal Cheese in Chennai
Editor’s note: In a story about cheese in India Käse got a brief mention. Today we are happy to focus solely on this cheese shop and learn much more about it.
Award-winning lavender infused Cheddar photo credit Käse
The hot and humid Chennai, an Indian coastal city, doesn’t look like a place to buy garlic-flavored creamy feta with beetroot or chili and cumin Gouda or ricotta with cranberry stewed with honey; but with over 40 varieties of cheese, Käse is your go-to shop for everything cheese related in the city.
Anuradha Krishnamoorthy and Namrata Sundaresan who have been friends for about a decade founded Käse, Chennai’s own fromagerie in 2016 where you can buy varieties of fresh, aged, and pickled cheese and in 2022 they earned an international award for one of the their cheeses.
Cheese Origins in Chennai
Anuradha Krishnamoorthy and Namrata Sundaresan photo credit Kase
It was a holiday at Acres Wild, in Coonoor, Tamil Nādu that gave Sundaresan a chance to learn cheese-making in November 2015. She loved the experience and promised herself that someday she would start making cheese unaware of destiny’s plans.
Both Sundaresan and Krishnamoorthy come from diverse backgrounds. Krishnamoorthy, a social worker, heads an initiative called ‘CAN DO’, that trains and provide employment opportunities for the differently abled. Sundaresan has a strategy consulting firm that specializes in international trade and investment and assists Indian companies to expand their business worldwide.
Krishnamoorthy, was looking for some options for skill training for her candidates and the duo decided to teach cheese making.
In August 2016 Sundaresan trained two girls with hearing impairment to make cheese. “We decided to start with quark, the German cheese, and then tried making feta and mozzarella” Sundaresan shares. Their first tasting session was greatly appreciated by friends and family.
A call to participate in a farmer’s market by Indian food writer, television personality, and restaurant consultant Karen Anand prompted them to think about having a brand. As quark was their first cheese, they decided to call it Käse (the German word for quark). Within a day they created their logo, and website and brand Käse was born.
The first day of the farmers market event was totally washed out due to a heavy downpour. They made a hundred kilograms of cheese for the event. However even then their first experience of selling their cheese was fantastic. "We received an award for the best taste of market" shares Sundaresan proudly.
Left with unsold cheese of 70 kilograms and were puzzled about what to do with it. They did not have a chiller to store the cheese and had never wanted to age cheese, as their primary focus was on making and serving it fresh. But the weather led to aging the cheese. "I chatted all night with cheese makers from the American Cheese Society online to explore methods of aging the cheese. That led to the creation of lovely, aged cheese with honey chili, mustard, and rye in three months at Käse” Sundaresan shares.
Artisan cheese isn’t very common in India even with so many dairies. The classic cheese that is available is sold by big brands and contains 20% milk product and 80% added fat. You also get industrial cheese mixed with stabilizers and emulsifiers for extended shelf life.
Artisanal cheese is handmade and only in small batches. The process of making artisan cheese gathered momentum in India in the 80s in Kodaikanal a hill station in Tamil Nadu, and Nilgiri Mountains (northwestern Tamil Nadu, Southern Karnataka, and eastern Kerala).
Cheesemaking in Chennai
In the West, great cheese is commonly believed to come from Europe. The sultry Chennai is hardly a place to think about making cheese, let alone aging it.
Regarding the process of cheese making followed at Käse, Sundaresan says “Our handmade cheese is made by following western traditional methods that are adapted to suit Chennai weather conditions. We use grass-fed cow’s milk and prepare it without preservatives, artificial colors, flavors, and emulsifiers. Young Cheddar, brined and matured for 3-12 weeks is our specialty.”
The quality of milk is crucial to make good cheese. “Sourcing good quality milk required for good cheese is challenging. We refrain from using milk contaminated with antibiotics and hormones and use milk from native cows that are sturdy and are not treated with hormones and antibiotics”, shares Sundaresan.
Types of Cheeses
They have about 40 different cheeses with categories like soft, semi-soft, bloomy rind cheese, washed-rind cheese, blue cheese, semi-hard, and hard cheese. Their specialty cheese is young cheddar, brined, and matured for 8-12 weeks.
Their lavender-infused Cheddar, a classic British style cloth- bound Cheddar is aged to almost 24 months. It is infused with dry organic lavender flowers from Kashmir.
Local flavor Cheese
A grazing table with Krishnamoorthy and Sunaresan photo credit Kase
They experimented with local ingredients adapting the cooking methods to suit Chennai weather which is totally different from traditionally cheese-making countries. “We explored unusual local flavors and made Cumin Gouda, Ruby Feta with roast garlic”, explains Sundaresan. As spices are an integral part of Indian food this cheese was well received
Their signature product, ‘Ode to Chennai’, a cheese rubbed with Milagai Podi, (a dry spicy condiment made with roasted lentils and red chilies served with Idly (fermented rice steamed cakes) or dosa, fermented rice pancakes) was a spontaneous invention.
“I was cutting a block of aged cheese and a friend from Green Peppers had sent a packet of Idly podi with flax seeds. I decided to dust and coat a block of young Cheddar cheese with it”, shares Sundaresan. The response was amazing, and the product became their flagship. Today, people from Europe, Singapore, and the United States demand this cheese.
In India, cheese isn’t looked at as a snack or food by itself but is often seen as an accessory, unlike the Western countries where people eat cheese on its own.
“Celebrate the cheese, and if it is a great cheese, you just have it with simple accompaniments that help you to enjoy the cheese much better”, says Sundaresan.
She recommends her clients look at cheese as a primary source of protein like meat and play around with it.
“We are often asked about how to eat the cheese, what to pair it with or serve with. Our revamped website addresses all of that (due for launch this month). Every cheese has pairing information and a list of condiments that are available on our website, including crackers,” Sundaresan elaborates. Have it as a main part of the meal and not like a garnish that goes into your soup, salad, or on a pizza, she adds.
Käse ships cheese across India packed in thermocol boxes with frozen gel packs helping it to travel for over 72 hours with the deliveries happening within 24-72 hours.
There is a wide variety of cheese available. Everyone will find a cheese they like. You need to explore the right kind.
“Époisses, a washed rind French style gooey sticky cheese and Jasper Hill Harbison are my favorites”, shares Sundaresan. These cheeses have a lot of character. They are umami, brothy, and gamey, depending on how mature they are, they have distinct textures, she explains.
Sundaresan is the trainer for India at the Academy of Cheese an industry body based in the UK. She teaches level 1.
They work with Sahjeevan an NGO that has a center of pastoralism with the pastoral community.
Looking Ahead
Namrata Sundaresan with the camel herding community at Rajasthan, India photo credit Käse
They plan to continue focusing on social benefit and empowerment, she says, “We want to keep it simple while scaling up and not just scaling up Käse cheese production but have a deeper social impact empowering pastoralists by teaching them cheese making and in working with them and helping them to come to the market and sourcing from them.”
In the UK, Europe and US artisan cheese is a recognized industry segment, not so in India. “However, I envisage India becoming a recognized industry segment in five years from now with mongers, traders, affineurs, industry bodies, and of course a number of cheesemakers across the country.”