Gourmet Cheese Goes Local
With 20 varieties of fresh, aged and pickled cheese, Kase is your got-to artisnal fromagerie in the city.
Buying cheese will no longer involve picking imported frozen blocks from gourmet supermarkets. Feta, halloumi, cheddar, gouda, brie, labneh—you name it and the city’s own little fromagerie, Kase, has it freshly made with raw milk. Located in Abiramapuram, the cheese makers are less than a year old in the business and are already selling 20 varieties of fresh, aged and pickled cheese.
It all started when Namrata Sundaresan, 40, took a small vacation course in cheese making in Coonoor. When she returned, her friend for a decade Anuradha Krishnamoorthy was looking to start something to employ the hearing and visually impaired staff that came to her BPO for training. “A bake unit perhaps, she said. And I said, I have learnt how to make cheese recently”, says Sundaresan. With that, the two started experimenting. “The first cheese we made was a German variety and hence the name ‘Kase’, German and Dutch for cheese", says Sundaresan.
In May 2016, they had their first tasting session and were soon processing 200 litres of milk to produce cheese. Today, they are at 500 litres a week. It isn’t only preservative-free fresh gourmet cheese that sets Kase apart, but the unusual local flavours that make it to the natural rind and the cheese itself. There’s Ruby Feta with roast garlic, a creamy pink feta cheese with sweet flavourful beetroot and fragrant garlic and Chilli and Cumin Gouda, and Ricotta with ranberry stewed in honey. There’s also Ode to Chennai, crumbly aged cheddar covered in molaga podi that is spicy and nutty on the bite. “The podi we use has flaxseed as one of the ingredients and has a slightly nutty flavour”, reveals Sundaresan.
They are currently operating out of a terrace workspace where they grow their own organic herbs. Their long list of products also includes relishes, salads, breads and desserts (on order). “Basically, everything that goes with or uses cheese”, says Krishnamoorthy. On one Friday each month, Kase holds an open house at their centre where people get to try and buy their cheese, salads and breads. “It is also a good way for us to know our customers and spread the word”, adds Krishnamoorthy. The cheese is currently delivered in the city and can also be picked up from their office.
Tel 917622 1898 Details eatmorecheese.in; facebook.com/kasechennai/