Cheese from coconuts
CHEESE is loved all over the world and even in Fiji. While the cheese that we know are commonly from animal products, The Fiji Times reported on May 13, 1983, that a Taveuni copra farmer had produced cheese from coconuts.
However, Brian Leonard of Nevaca Estate kept his cheese making recipe a secret.
Mr Leonard said it was the first time in the world that cheese had been produced from coconuts.
A dairy technologist for 15 years in Australia, Mr Leonard came up with the idea of making cheese from coconuts after he noticed the similarities between coconut meat and milk.
“Cow’s milk contains protein, fat, sugar and water, coconut meat contains the same,” Mr Leonard said.
The Fiji Times food connoisseurs and news gatherers, who were always on the cocktail circuit, had the opportunity to taste half a pound of cheese that Mr Leonard brought to Suva.
Mr Leonard had submitted samples to the University of the South Pacific for analysis.
He said he wanted to be sure of the new product’s quality before exporting.
“It has worldwide potential and would be much in demand with Seventh-day Adventists and Jewish people who try to avoid products derived from animals.”
Mr Leonard said he used stainless steel equipment from a milking machine to process the cheese.
“The manufacture of coconut cheese will revolutionise the coconut industry and will put coconut growers on firmer ground. Their produce will be consumed directly as a consumer food at a stable price. Copra planters are just scraping a living out of coconuts and are relying on the unstable price of coconut oil.”
Mr Leonard said an average of 1kg of cheese could be extracted from 12 coconuts.
“Something a cheesemaker looks for is a fresh nutty flavour and there it was, the clue to the solution, so I went ahead and made the cheese.
Mr Leonard said the process took about six weeks and the cheese was comparable with Philadelphia cream cheese.
“I have used it to make cheese cakes and the result has been excellent.”
Mr Leonard had patented the cheesemaking process in Sydney.
“There are more things we can do with it. This is just the start. I have not tried maturing the cheese for long periods yet.”
At full production, Mr Leonard said, he could produce 20kg of cheese in a day.
“We could have factories set up all over Fiji wherever we have coconuts.”
He said he was confident that more money could be made out of cheese than copra.
Mr Leonard said he was seeking aid from the Fiji Development Bank to get his project moving on a commercial scale.