1 minute read
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
traditional cheese making. He acknowledged that getting consistent volumes of good quality milk was challenging at the start. They work with boutique farms who organically feed their cows, and he is using raw unpasteurized milk meaning the milk needs to be of extremely high quality. “Malaysia is not known for cheese making, so we needed to DIY most of our equipment since it can't be bought off the shelf. For cheesemaking, the ideal room temperature is 10++ °C, but in Malaysia you're probably looking at 20++ to 30++ °C.”
Dexter’s fondness for blue cheese and blue cheese strains means you will find a huge variety of produce infused with the Penicillium mold such as the Brie and Camembert which are available infused with the familiar blue hue of this variety. “I just like exploring and playing with cheese! I love blue cheese. It’s just personal preference as blue cheese cultures elevate the cheese to a whole new level!”. The Truly Malaysia series that he has created is a melee of Southeast Asian flavours and then some. There is the ‘Nasi Lemak’, which is an Asiago infused with lemongrass, organic coconut cream and biji halwa (fenugreek), and Jengkol Cheddar, which contains the crushed seeds of the jengkol plant, lots of spicy chili and garlic. Not to mention the gorgeous ethereal Kerabu cheese that counts torch ginger flower, citronelle and butterfly pea flower as ingredients. Is there anything that can’t be cheesed, I ponder. For Dexter, it certainly seems not. “I’m exploring more Asian flavors this year,” he says in answer, rattling off Japanese Curry, Thai Green Curry and Nonya as possible trials to be attempted, adding that he is also exploring a ‘super spicy’ series. “I recently made a Habanero-infused cheese and am waiting for it to mature. I'm also looking to incorporate durian into hard cheese. It's a little more challenging as I need to make sure it'll not accidentally introduce bad mold into it.” With more Malaysians opening up to artisanal products, Dexter hopes to continue feeding his wildest cheese dreams to his family and customers.
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26, Jalan Gangsa SD5/3b, Bandar Sri Damansara, 5200 Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Malaysia
IG: @artisancheesewithdex www.dartisancheese.com
